How do you eyeshadow duos, trios, and/or quads fit into your routine?
I love pairing them with a larger palette! It’s rare that I’d reach for one and only wear it, though.
— Christine
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Nowadays I mostly wear duos/trios when I’m in a massive hurry and on those days when getting out of bed is hard let alone facing a large palette- they save me the anxiety of having to decide-, and sometimes I’ll wear just one of the shades.
I also find them very handy when I know I might want to add sth to my eye look but I’m not home so I’ll take these in my handbag (I love their small size).
I have to admit I very much used to be an eyeliner person! My idea of an eye look was a bright eyeliner with one eyeshadow or a funky eyeshadow as eyeliner, but mostly wore just eyeliner every.single.day. So duos and trios are welcome in my life, and quads are basically what I used to buy because I didn’t wear much eye makeup so 4 was fine for me as I never wore more than 3 shades at any given time. Now I have one which is in shades of green, which isn’t sth I feel comfortable wearing everywhere but I still enjoy every now and then.
Same. I treat them as add-ons as opposed to palettes meant for a look.
I don’t 😂. I think the smallest amount of shades I have in a palette is 9 which is the lowest I can go before I forget to use them (many a super shock shadow has suffered this fate 🤧). I also feel limited somehow when I only see exactly 3 or 4 shades to use. Palettes with more pans help me feel like I have a choice. I will say tho that within my palettes I end up reaching for the same 3 or 4 shade combo, so those are my trios and quads lol
Quads are the backbone of my eyeshadow routine!
For me a quad is a perfect travel companion. It can have a highlighting / illuminating shade, a crease shade, an all over lid shade and a darker shade for deepening the look or lining the eyes. It’s all that I need for a quick on the go make up and something a little bit extra if there’s a night out.
I am getting some good ideas for how to use quads from this thread! I usually buy larger palettes but got PMG’s Eternal Eden quad and I have been able to create different looks I like using just those 4 shades.
The 2 Nars duos I have must be used with other shadows pulled from either other palettes or my slew of self made quads of MAC Pro Pan singles or CP singles.
Now, as for my Chanel Empriente du Desert, I only need to pull in MAC Orb or ABH Tempura for my browbone, and MAC Kid or Soft Brown as a transition shade.
Oops! I totally forgot about my 2 PML quads! I mostly use Nocturnal Nirvana as an auxiliary palette, and can get most of a look using Interstellar Icon, but I still have to pull in at least a browbone shade to get a complete eye look from it.
I use quads or small mini palettes daily because I’m almost always in a hurry getting ready and can get a nice fast look with my quads- especially Charlotte Tilbury ones- they are my favorites, I have 6 of them and have actually hit pan on a couple of them. Plus I agree with Andrea, I get anxiety looking at a huge palette so mine are just gathering dust in a drawer.
These days I look for Quads that I can make a quick complete look with , right now I’m using PMG Venus in Fleurs .
My hooded eyes are too flat to get any benefit from a duo. But I love a trio/quad for a no-thinking involved 1 eye look!
Quite a few of my eyeshadows are in quads and quints and I tend to use them in an all in one eye look. It’s only in the past few years (thanks to your inspirations Christine) that I have mixed and matched shades and colours from differing palettes.
As I also have larger palettes, mostly I try to use from that palette, but will occasionally borrow from another to create the colour story I want
They’re the cornerstone of my makeup routine! When I’m working, I leave the house at 6:15 am so I don’t have a lot of time to fuss with a look. Most of my smaller palettes have just enough shades to give me overall lid and crease, and I can add a brightener in the corner or some depth at the outer edge if I have time. To be honest, my preferred palettes range from 2-9 shadows because those are small enough for me to just put together a quick look without having to think and possibly swatch (because I forget what certain shades look like and how they would look together). Even so, I love my NARS duos for a quick morning look but wouldn’t want to travel with them — too limiting. I prefer my 9 pan palettes for travel.
You’ve pretty much expressed my thoughts to a T. And the comment about 9 pans (and slightly larger but not massive and unwieldy palettes) kind of explains why so many people (me included) went wild for the original UD Naked palette – it fit the needs and lifestyles of so many in a practical way.
I don’t have very many but the reason I have bought a few is for the colors and then I use them for a simple eye look. Sometimes with me less is more.
*Duos — I rarely buy them, and I depot the ones I do, as I find I don’t use them by themselves, and having to look through a bunch of duos in a drawer is annoying. The exceptions are a few light neutral duos with one matte and one sparkly shade that are mistake proof for grabbing and putting on in the car if I have to.
*Trios — I don’t buy these much any more, and I depotted most of the ones I had. I don’t find them very versatile on their own,. If I were to buy them now, they have to be special shades
*Quads — I usually use these on their own for a specific look or a quick and easy look. I’ll also use them for short trips or when space is an issue. It depends on the quad, though. I sometimes use them with another palette, if either is missing a brow highlight or I want a bright color or special shade. I have a few sparkly, glittery, duochromes, and special shades quads that I bought expressly for use with other palettes.
Trios, quads (and 5 pans) really are the backbone of my “getting ready” routine. I don’t do extreme eye looks – it’s not my style and doesn’t fit with my work life either. So a well put together smaller assortment is the sort of thing that makes getting ready for work, casual or even fancier outings much more streamlined and creates less mental confusion about what do pair with what…
I have very few, if any, duos or trios. I like quads and quints, they can , depending on the shades included be versatile enough to use on their own, but most of the time I have to add crease and upward (to the brow) colours from other palettes or singles, or add something shimmery if I use an all matte quad/quint.