In theory, custom palettes are up my alley, and I’ve always enjoyed putting them together, but when it comes to physically putting together… laziness kicks in. I think it’s because it’s not really something I’d get to use that often, as I am reviewing products as they come in. For ease and convenience, I definitely end up using pre-made palettes most.
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As I commented the other day (and so did Celesta), I am probably better off with premade palettes. The few I’d put together myself (I’m picturing the 3 Buxom ones I have) are made up of pretty similar shades because I just do not have a good eye for coordinating shades and I tend to be drawn to the same colours all the time. The others I’ve put together (smaller quads) are generally just random shadows I’ve liked but with no rhyme or reason as to why they’re all together! If I can get a premade made up mainly of colours that really appeal to me (ABH Mario or Sultry rather than Modern Renaissance, for example) with maybe one or 2 shadows that are out of my comfort zone, that’s what works best for me.
Although I like the concept of a custom palette, it just seems like too much work for me, so I’ll have to say pre-made. (The one exception would be if I could make a custom version of ND Glam, eliminating some shades and double-sizing others.)
Yes, double sizing some of the shades of Glam would be excellent – for me it would be the shimmery pearl shades and the gold shades. I wouldn’t have the black matte in there, but have a neutral taupe shade like Smog from UD or Woodwinked from MAC.
Genevieve, we’re so opposite! Lol! I’d double-size the mattes and get rid of a few shimmers. But I agree that Woodwinked is a beautiful shade that would be a great addition to Glam.
I like to make them, definitely. I’m picky as all get out concerning shadow color. Plus, I’m 49 and wear predominantly satin or matte. And neutrals, peaches, pinks. I love MAC and have been wearing them for 25 years. Vanilla and Velore were my very first. Colourpop is good too and fortunately does not irritate my eyes. I truly miss the Stila single shadows. The colors were sublime for me—-Puppy, Bouquet, Hollygolightly, Puck, Grace—-at a time before tons of high end palettes in the 90s these were where it was at. I had several hand designed cardboard 4 pans and metal 9 pans,
You’re not alone in missing Stila single shadows! I lament it all the time. Grace, Puppy, Golightly and LaDouce are still among my favourite shadows and both Genevieve and I really treasure the “In the Garden” palettes we have. I wonder why they got out of the powder shadows game almost entirely, especially when the ones they made were so excellent.
Custom made, there’s always some shades that don’t work for me in a pre-made palette and no way to replace shades I finish faster.
Raises hand 🙋🏻♀️
I’m a lazy daisy myself on most of my purchases and even usage. Just takes too much brain energy these days!
Besides, these days, there’s great options for premade palettes than back in the day.
I prefer the ease and economy of a premade palette. They can also force me to try color combinations I hadn’t considered before.
I often get overwhelmed by possibilities when making my own pallettes. Or else I gravitate to the same types of shades. I have to have a really clear vision in mind to make a custom.
Custom only, premade have so many colors I won’t wear like reds and pinks and yellows and oranges. I won’t buy them .
You should join me, Genevieve and several others in the “NO MORE red, orange, pink eyeshadow” brigade! But every now and then, a palette with none of those colours is released and is so very welcome!
With only in the past few years I have been able to access excellent singles (thank you SG for shipping to Australia) I do have a small singles collection and If I were starting over again, I would probably start with them, as many of my pre-made palettes contain so many shades (and particularly finishes like matte) that I just don’t use and therefore are a waste.
However I do like a good pre-made palette and I do choose to buy ones that contain far more shimmers than matte and have the majority of colours that I now know that I would wear. ND Glam and ABH Sultry are good examples.
I agree with you about ABH Sultry though for the life of me, I don’t understand the inclusion of Bloom (I think that’s the name of the coral matte shadow) which seems so incongruous in that palette.
Premade palettes – I still can’t pick a cohesive lineup for an eye look. I have accepted I probably won’t be able to since there are so many nuances to depth and shading and I seem to be undertone-blind. Premade takes all of the guesswork out of it for me and I can just go to town with a column/row/quad. The only exception for me would be if I had help from a makeup artist to coordinate a palette with me.