If you find yourself prone to purchasing on impulse or often feel like you purchase products that are well-reviewed, popular, or buzzed about but don’t actually find you love them like you feel you should, this list of tips might help you figure out how to better understand your own preferences and needs and purchasing behavior.

Step 1: Create a Makeup Inventory

Before you even think about purchasing another product, STOP! Let’s work through what you’ve purchased in the past, how that’s worked out (or not worked out), and what the takeaways might be from past purchases.  By figuring out where you’ve gone right and where you’ve gone wrong, you’ll know what areas have room for improvement.

It’s a good idea to have a good recollection of what products you have as this will ensure that you’re using the products you have regularly.  If you get to the point where it’s hard to remember it all, you might want to consider a more formal inventory process, like a spreadsheet, bullet journal, or use Temptalia’s Vanity.  The upside to any digital version is that you can easily find or sort by various parameters (like finding out what eyeshadows you have or what MAC products you have).

If you’ve purchased products and returned or otherwise removed them from your stash and you can remember them, consider keeping an additional tab on a spreadsheet or use our Archive functionality in the Vanity (for products you have tried but no longer have).  Knowing what didn’t work can be just as useful in building up self-knowledge as knowing what has worked well!

If you’ve destashed a dozen liquid lipsticks and kept one, maybe liquid lipsticks aren’t really your thing so you can mentally note to temper excitement in the future if you see a color that catches your eye but comes in a liquid lipstick formula.

If you’re setting up your own spreadsheet or journal, here are some characteristics you might want to include:

• Brand + Shade
• Type of Formula (e.g. Lipstick)
  • If a type has enough variety in formulas, you may want to include additional information like loose vs. pressed or liquid vs. cream.
• Color
  • Depending on how many products you have and how you think about color (or how you decide what to use), additional parameters like undertone and finish may be useful.
• Price
  • You might put the price you paid if you want to keep track of spending or the retail price at the time you purchased.
• Photos/Swatches
  • If you’re feeling particularly industrious, you could include your own photos/swatches of the products you own!

Step 2: How to Declutter Your Makeup Collection

It’s entirely possible that you’ve already done so or have managed to make fantastic purchases and have nothing you want to part with, and if that’s the case, congratulations, and you can skip ahead!  For those who have felt like they’ve just accumulated a little too much or haven’t been as discerning as they’d like, now that you know what you have, it’s a good time to work through what you have with a more mindful eye.

Let me introduce you to: makeup decluttering or makeup destashing.  What is decluttering? It’s removing products that you no longer use from your makeup collection — clutter.  They’re products taking up space, that might create noise and make other products harder to find/see, and are no longer, rarely, or begrudgingly used.

I’ve touched on some of my recommendations and advice on fine-tuning the products you own previously when I wrote about how to organize your makeup collection, so you may find some of the tips below familiar.

If and when the amount of makeup you own starts to give you negative feelings or reactions, that’s when it’s time to reassess what you have, why, and whether it’s time to let it go.  If you love everything you have, and there’s no outside reason to downsize, there’s nothing wrong with having more products.  It’s not a competition of who has the most or who can get by with the least.

It’s about getting to a size that you find manageable, whatever that means for you; it doesn’t have to be manageable for someone else, just you.

First, these are the five questions I think are important to ask about products I’m trying to decide whether to keep or declutter…

1. Does this product work well for how I want to use it?
2. When was the last time I used this?
3. Did I like it last time I used it?
4. Do I have other products that are similar to it (whether in color or function) that I use more often and/or prefer to it?
5. Do I see myself using it again?

What are the obvious things to declutter?

The easiest products to let go are the ones that are expired, whether you follow strict use-by dates (on most labels) or if you go by smell/texture/performance tests.  If there are particular products that are sentimental to you (and that’s why you’ve been keeping them long past the expiration date!), go through your memories and evaluate if keeping the product adds to that memory or if you really hold the memory in yourself already.

Consider separating these types of products out and finding a way to display and honor them, if they are so sentimental, instead of keeping them in a box or drawer that you forget about.

The products that worked terribly for you should be the next easiest to say ta-ta to. These are the ones that you’ve tried, hated, and shoved in the back of the drawer and never reached for again.  These are products that you feel look bad on you (wrong color, one star!), wore poorly, were difficult to work with, etc.

If there are products that did not work for you and you cannot let go, then set them aside and make a point to use them again, then reassess if it’s really adding usability and/or joy to what you have.

What else should you declutter?

Based on what I’ve seen readers and others in the community speak about, and what I’ve personally experienced as I’ve become more and more discerning about what I keep myself, these are the types of products that can make you waffle a little…

Expensive flops.  The money’s spent.  Keeping a product you don’t like and don’t use just takes up space and doesn’t pay you rent. You aren’t getting your money back by keeping it.

So-so products.  If it’s so-so but you don’t use it, it’s likely because you don’t like it much on yourself, you rarely have reason to use it (e.g. maybe it’s the type of color you only like for special occasions, which leads me to my next point…), or have a better-performing product that is comparable in purpose (color, finish, function).

Unicorns.  These are going to be products that you just have the one of, maybe for you it’s a super, glittery highlighter.  The question is whether you use it, enjoy it, and does serve a purpose in your collection. There might be a reason why you only have one, and it might be because you don’t really enjoy that type of product but felt compelled to give a chance for a myriad of potential of reasons.

But limited edition.  Use it or lose it. What good is that gorgeous limited edition that you love every time you wear it but only allow yourself to wear very occasionally for fear of running out of it? How many products you do you actually finish? What is the real likelihood that you’ll finish? Just how amazing and unique and utterly special is this one limited edition item that even if you used it regularly and finished it that you’d be destroyed because it was no more? There’s always something new and shiny right around the corner in beauty, and our tastes and preferences change over time – you might be sick of that shade after using it ’til the bitter end!

What if I have trouble decluttering?

There are some common excuses I’ve come across for why a product that seems like it doesn’t have a good purpose for someone is otherwise kept (and rarely or never used), which I’ve summarized and countered below.  I do, however, want to make it clear that curating your makeup collection is about making you happier, not more miserable.  If you find yourself struggling, that’s okay; everyone’s journey is different and certain parts may be harder for some than others.  Maybe for you success is destashing one product–just make sure you’re putting in a conscious effort to make your collection work better for you.

For those where the mental block goes beyond just feeling like you wasted money but goes deeper and is more rooted in a fear of no longer being in the position of being able to afford products, consider decluttering as a way to remove the noise from what you have today but store the decluttered products in a safe place until you are able to move past that fear (to whatever degree you may be able to).

Decluttering is not about minimalism or capsule collections or aspiring to a specific aesthetic or size of a collection.  Anyone who takes what they have and adopts a minimalist lifestyle by the acquisition of more things is doing so from a place of privilege.  Adopting more mindful purchasing habits, being more aware of how and what we use in our collections, and having the willingness to accept that sometimes products don’t work for us or we shouldn’t have purchased something (so we can let go of it) are the goals.

“I already spent money on this, so I should have to use it because I wasted money on it!” If you have additional products that you could be using, there’s no reason to punish yourself for past mistakes. This is supposed to be a fun, creative outlet.  You want to learn from mistakes you’ve made in the past to make better decisions in the future; that’s what you should be taking away from bad purchases.

“What if I need this product-I’ve-used-once-and-doesn’t-fit-my-preferences-at -all someday?”  That excuse can work a few times, but it can’t be the excuse used for every single item you have and never use.  Is this someday a real, feasible event? Maybe you don’t love neutrals but are about to graduate school and will be entering a career that often requires neutrals you can grab at this excuse, but if you think teal eyeshadow looks awful on you, want to remove it every time you wear it, then what is this someday you’re looking for?  You want to realistic about potential changes, especially when it comes to personal preferences.

“I’ll regret it if I get rid of it!” Take everything you’re willing to part with but are afraid you’ll regret parting with and put it into a box.  Take that box and put it somewhere you rarely see, like the back of a closet or under a bed.  Leave it for at least a few weeks, and then think about whether you actually missed any of the products you put in it.

“The packaging is so pretty!”  If you find the design/packaging/presentation attractive, then it’s not makeup, it’s art. You bought 3D art, and art is meant to be enjoyed, e.g. be on display, not tucked in a drawer or bin or wherever so you better find a place to display it!

Step 3: Questions to Ask Before You Purchase

When adjusting purchasing habits, one of the keys is to be more diligent about the process before the purchase.  This is the time spent deliberating over the purchase, which may be subject to a number of questions, checklists, steps, and processes based on your individual needs and what works for you.  Here are some actions I like to take when making purchasing decisions, both big and small, that can be applied to beauty purchases but also purchasing in general:

Is it within my budget for beauty (or “fun” money) for the time period?

Creating a budget is an excellent tool to see where your money goes each month, as this helps see if you’re over-spending in a particular area while providing a better idea of cash inflows and outflows.  If you have the ability to do so, you can set a spending amount for a time period for a category, like $X per month allowed on makeup.   If you find it harder to reduce spending, you may find stricter rules and specific limits to be more useful than more arbitrary ones.

How would this purchase impact my financial goals?

I always find having a financial goal in mind helps to curb excess and unnecessary spending because I have a bigger picture in mind.  This might be something like taking a great vacation, paying off student loans, contributing to retirement, buying property, or any number of worthy goals.

I like having both short-term and long-term financial goals setup so that I have more immediate satisfaction of contributing to a short-term goal while also working towards a long-term goal.  For example, I try to contribute as much as I can to pre-tax retirement each year for my long-term goal of being able to retire early (which is really the goal of working because I want to, not because I have to).

How will I use this product? Where does it fit into my collection?

If you’re adding a product to what you already own, then ideally, it should be adding something of value. It should serve a purpose and be a product you expect to use and enjoy.  A lot of what I ask myself here are the same questions I ask about whether I should keep or destash a product: will I use it, how often will I use it, do I have anything similar to it (do I really think this is going to be better? why?), etc.

Have I done my research on it?

If you can find reviews, swatches, or even try it in person, you should be attempting to do so!  You might have to set aside some time to be more proactive finding reviewers that you trust and align with, or to filter and skim through dozens of consumer reviews on various retailer websites.  If it’s a brand new product, you’ll want to consider your history with the brand and their products, whether you’re comfortable purchasing blindly or if you’d really rather wait for some reviews.

Step 4: Track New Purchases Critically

If you thought the process stopped there, you’d be so wrong — that’s how products we don’t love and use accumulate!  Once you’ve decided to purchase something, the next step is to try it and see how it works for you.  This will allow you to see exactly how it will or will not work for your needs and within your collection of products.

If you’re fortunate enough to live in a region that allows returns or exchanges, returning a product that does not work for you, that was hopefully purchased mindfully (not everything works out!), in a timely manner is a good way to avoid accumulating products that do not work for you.  The ability to try and return is a nice-to-have, but it isn’t an excuse to buy products willy-nilly because you can return (as in beauty, most returned products are destroyed/thrown away/disposed of, not resold), which results in unnecessary waste.

If you keep the product, make sure you have a place to put it, as an organized stash leads the way to a more well-loved and well-used collection of products. If you’re keeping track of what you own, add it to your inventory. And enjoy!

Here are some other helpful posts:

• How-to Create New Shades with What You Own
• How-to Declutter Your Makeup Collection
• How-to Shop Your Stash
• How-to Use Temptalia to Save Money

How-to Create Your Makeup No Buy Rules

If you haven’t already, outline the “rules” of your no-buy, low-buy, or what exactly you’re reducing or limiting purchases of. You’ll want to determine what you plan to allow yourself to purchase, if anything, and under what circumstances. It’s your plan, so it can be as specific or as broad as you want to be, though I recommend trying to be less broad where it makes sense to make it easier to stick with the plan. Think about the length of time you want to commit to the plan; it might be an initial commitment of six months or a year or even just a month.

If you’ve tried a no-buy or low-buy, and it did not work out, perhaps the guidelines need some work; think about what rules worked and which ones didn’t and try to retrace why those rules didn’t work (perhaps too confining or perhaps too much too quickly). Here are a few suggestions:

• Replacement only: if and when a product that is well-loved and well-used is finished, it can be purchased again
• One-in, one-out: if and when a certain product is finished, something can be purchased to replace it (could be finishing a lipgloss and getting a lipstick)
• Fill in the Blanks: there are certain gaps in your stash, make note of them, and only if an item meets that need you have can it be purchased
• [Product Type] only: this could be skincare or haircare, basics, and often is related to replacement-only kind of low- or no-buys
• Set budget: determine the amount of money you’re allowed to spend per period (week, month, year), whether unused money can be rolled over, and so forth
• Planned purchases only: either purchases you’ve mapped out well in advance of starting the low- or no-buy (e.g. “that palette releasing in December”) or if you’ve thoroughly researched a product, determined it fits within your guidelines, and so forth
• Project Pan: purchases can’t be made until certain items, a certain number of items, etc. have been used up (panning, de-tubing, etc.)

Unless there is a dire financial situation, try to set reasonable guidelines; it is better to start off with a more moderate low-buy and succeed than go cold turkey and fail within a week.

Create + Focus on Your Goals

There’s usually some reason why one consciously changes how and what they’re purchasing. When you created your guidelines, you may have set goals, or you may have a goal in mind that has set off the need for reducing your beauty purchases. This could range from shifting your money to something different (e.g. buying a house, paying down debt, taking a vacation) to feeling overwhelmed by what you own to curbing impulse buys to simply wanting to spend less when it comes to beauty products. Whatever your goal may be, when you’re tempted, think about the goal you’re trying to achieve, look at the progress you’ve made, and reaffirm why that goal is a priority for you.

Here are some suggestions on keeping your eye on the prize:

• Track expenses: go back and track how much you spent prior to your new plan, and then track what you’ve spent (or not spent!) since
• Track progress: whenever possible, tracking and being able to reflect on the progress made toward a goal is useful and can make a goal seem a lot more tangible and doable
• Track usage: go through and inventory your collection (you can even use our vanity system!), see what you’re using (or not using), see how often you use certain things, and it can help make the driving force behind the need for a low- or no-buy clearer
• Find support: let friends and family know about your goals and ask for support; look for online communities like /r/MakeupRehab with like-minded individuals

How to Stop Buying Makeup – 5 Steps

To be successful at reducing purchases, especially when making significant reductions, is to think more critically about your purchasing habits and what purchases you actually make and why. We don’t want to buy things on a whim any more; we want to buy products that fit our guidelines and are, ultimately, going to be products we love and use often. Are you READY?

• Research: Thoroughly read/watch reviews, look for swatches, learn more about the brand/formulation
• Explain: Why do you want this product? What need will it fill? Why is it tempting? Why now?
• Apply: How does it fit into your plan? How will it affect your progress? How does it fit into your collection? How often will you use it?
• Dupes: Do you have similar shades or something that is functionally the same?
• You: Will it make you happy or will it make you feel guilty? Will the happiness be from the acquisition or from actually using the product?

How to Resist Buying Makeup – 9 Tips

1. Unsubscribe from as many mailing lists as you can; these brands exist to sell to you, and some brands are particularly aggressive with daily emails, talk of FOMO, etc.
2. Make an inventory of all the products you own. It is helpful to know what you have, but it may also give you greater insight into what you have too many of (for you), products you seem to gravitate toward (and ones you can’t remember ever using).
3. Shop your stash for dupes or layering combinations to recreate whatever shade it was that made you feel tempted. You would be surprised just how far the art of layering can go to getting you close enough to just about any shade.
   • If you’ve made your inventory using Temptalia, you can view dupes in your vanity but also dupes between what you own and what’s on your wishlist, too!
4. Get through the clutter in your stash. I’m a big believer in destashing products you don’t like or don’t work for you; unless it’s truly necessary, sometimes recycling, trashing, or passing on to someone who would enjoy it more is far better than using it up. You paid for it already; you are not saving money by using it if you have something else you’d rather use. Do you know how long it takes to finish most color cosmetics? There’s little need to own 10 coral blushes and keep four you never use because you have six still to use! By removing the “noise” in your collection, it’ll let you appreciate and enjoy what you have more thoroughly–no wading through mediocre products, no more trying to use them just to say you did.
5. Save it for later, whether that’s to a real or mentalwish list and revisit in a week, two weeks, etc. and see if the pull of temptation is really there or was it just a knee-jerk reaction.
6. Try to avoid emotional shopping because you aren’t in the right headspace to do so thoughtfully. If you’re having a bad day, week, or month, try to find different ways to bring a smile to your face (watch a sappy movie, spend time with friends/family/pets, do your makeup instead, look at your progress, exercise, etc.) rather than simply buying something new and shiny. New and shiny lasts about as long as it takes to open the box.
7. Read reviews, look for swatches, and watch tutorials of products you’re interested in. Reviews can indicate whether it’ll even be worth acquiring, while watching tutorials can show you how something can come together (or not) and often show that, “Yeah, I can create that look with what I have” rather than, “Wow, that’s different than any other look I’ve ever, ever seen!!”
8. Accept any weaknesses and make adjustments. If it’s hard for you to physically go into a Sephora without making a purchase, avoid going to Ulta until you’ve made more progress toward your goal. Change doesn’t have to happen overnight!
9. If a sample is available of a product, see if that helps curb the need for it; you can try it without buying it, which will give you more hands-on experience using it. This could be an actual, deluxe-sized sample or just going to a counter and swatching (but maybe leave your form of payment at home to avoid impulse buying!).

5 Reasons to Skip Value Sets + Kits

1. You aren’t going to use everything in that set/palette.  10 lipsticks at a steal of a price, but if you’re only going to use two of them, that’s not really worth it, is it?
2. Why are you trying something you had no interest in before?  Just because it’s a good value or it’s on sale doesn’t mean you need it.  If you weren’t interested in it at full price, is it really something to be considering?
3. Limited edition is here today, gone tomorrow but repeated forever.  After awhile, a lot of the holiday sets and palettes start looking the same, especially by certain brands.  If you can’t partake this year to meet your goals, there’s always next year, and frankly, at the rate the industry is going, spring and summer and fall are going to turn into release bonanzas anyway.
4. The quality isn’t always the same in holiday sets as in full-sized products.  Again, even if it’s “cheaper,” is it really worth buying when the quality is lower? Why would you want a medicore or so-so product in your collection? There are so many excellent products that there’s no reason to settle for so-so!
5. You can dupe it.  No, seriously, do you know how many dupes I pull for most products?  It’s getting to be obscene.  A 15-pan palette might result in adding 500+ dupes to the database.  And if you can’t dupe it, maybe there’s a reason why you don’t already own something like it (e.g. doesn’t work for you, not practical, etc.).  Always check our Dupe List!  You can also compare two palettes to see similar shades (or even dupes).

Keep Going! Forgive Yourself for Mistakes.

If you purchase something that wasn’t part of your plan, don’t give up on your low- or no-buy. Be kind to yourself by thinking about what happened, what you can learn from it, whether there should be adjustments made to your guidelines/plan/goals, and how to do better in the future. You want to avoid making the same mistakes over and over again, so the focus should be on how to improve and move forward.

Have you tried a low- or no-buy? How did it go? Do you have any advice to share?

I highly recommend using our Color Stories tool to create and rearrange your own palettes, assuming you’re working from products I’ve photographed/swatched! You can also start in the Swatch Gallery, compare selected shades, and then “save as color story” those compared shades into a Color Story to rearrange, remove, and refine.

I also wrote a post on how I built my own 24-pan ColourPop palette here.

Here are some things I look at when I want to create a Color Story…

Theme

I find it is easiest to create a color story when I have a theme. It could be something like “space” and then choosing colors and finishes that remind me visually of space. It could be based around a color, like greens, or it could be based on function, like “work-friendly.”

Number of Shades

When you build your own palette, it can contain anywhere from a handful to a few dozen eyeshadows, depending on the size of the empty palette you’re starting with! Four is a good minimum to think of, and if you’re newer to building your own palette, I’d say 12 to 15 shades is really plenty to start with!

Cohesive or Complementary?

If you want a cohesive palette, then you’ll need to start with a smaller “core” set of shades–these are the themed colors–and then add your necessary transition and brow bone shades based on your skin tone. Complementary palettes are ones that can be paired with products you already own, whether that includes other singles or a standalone palette.

Create Individual Looks

For example, if you are using the theme of “work-friendly,” then you might look for a brightening shade for all over the lid, a darkening shade (for crease/transition), and a brow bone highlighter. It might be useful to put together trios or quads of colors that you’d use in a look, and then start grouping them together. You can then eliminate shades that overlap more than necessary, or if you find you like one type of shade more than the other.

Step by Step: 12-Shade Green Palette

Here’s a look at the process! I started with different “quads” of looks from past color stories I’ve created using Sydney Grace single eyeshadows. I love green, so I went for a more green-themed palette. I figured I’d look to get to 12 shades for the final palette, so I ended up starting with 7 “quads” of looks I think I’d enjoy using, which resulted in 28 eyeshadows for consideration.

Step 1: Kitchen Sink

Gallery Options

Products

Swatches

Lemon Sorbet

Take the Time

Meadow

Island Paradise

Recruit

Midnight Gold

Hot Chocolate

Peanut Butter

Bravo

San Diego

Caramel

Haystack

Deep Desire

Commission

Evergreen

Levy

Herky Bird

Midnight

Back Woods

Rustic

Trailhead

Wildlife

Escape

To Earth

Somber

Cadet

Timber

Enjoy the Ride

The first thing I did was pull out shades that didn’t work well with most of the shades that I’m interested in. Shades like Lemon Sorbet and Deep Desire were pulling yellower and more orange, so I didn’t think those made sense to include.

Next, I looked at all of the matte shades to see if there were any shades that were similar or overlapping to the point where both were superfluous. Haystack and Back Woods were similar with one being yellower and one being a little more olive green, and I felt like the warmth of Haystack would be more versatile as a crease color for me; plus, Wildlife and Bravo were both similar but greener, so I could layer Haystack with either.

I liked the depth of Bravo a bit more for my preferences, so I could also eliminate Wildlife. Island Paradise and Trailhead were also similar, but the quality of Island Paradise seemed better. Hot Chocolate and Caramel were comparable, and I decided to go with Hot Chocolate for the extra bit of richness it brought.

Then, I repeated the process by looking at all of the shimmer shades to remove overlapping shades. Levy, To Earth, and Timber were all darker, cooler greens, but I liked the finish and contrasting gold shimmer of Levy that I didn’t think it was as similar to the other two. As a result, To Earth seemed a bit darker and not as metallic, so I felt like it offered more contrast against Levy. I loved all of the other shimmers too much to make any moves yet… I managed to narrow it down to 21!

Step 2: Initial Refinements

Gallery Options

Products

Swatches

Take the Time

Meadow

Island Paradise

Recruit

Midnight Gold

Hot Chocolate

Peanut Butter

Bravo

San Diego

Haystack

Commission

Evergreen

Levy

Herky Bird

Midnight

Rustic

Escape

To Earth

Somber

Cadet

Enjoy the Ride

Now, the “quads” I created are out of sync, so the next step was to recreate the quads of “looks” and see how that came together, which makes them look more cohesive so I can have a better sense of the direction of the color story.

Step 3: Reset

Gallery Options

Products

Swatches

Take the Time

Meadow

Island Paradise

Midnight

Recruit

Midnight Gold

Hot Chocolate

Peanut Butter

Commission

Rustic

Herky Bird

Bravo

Escape

Levy

Evergreen

Haystack

Somber

Cadet

To Earth

Enjoy the Ride

San Diego

With a reset of the remaining shades into “quads,” I saw that the more taupe-like shades like Somber and Enjoy the Ride stood out, and I had to figure out if I really want to go in that direction–and I didn’t, so I was able to remove those two shades. I felt San Diego would complement the cool/warm vibes I have going on more than Peanut Butter, which was warmer, so off that one went. Take the Time and Meadow looked less and less like they belonged as they were brighter, grassy greens, and I had so many more muted, warm browns and olive greens. This brought me to 16 shades.

Step 4: Further Refinements

Gallery Options

Products

Swatches

Cadet

To Earth

Island Paradise

Midnight

Recruit

Midnight Gold

Hot Chocolate

San Diego

Commission

Rustic

Herky Bird

Bravo

Escape

Levy

Evergreen

Haystack

To get to the final 12 shades, I tried to think about how I’d use the palette and what other products I own or what other palettes I could use with it. A shade like Midnight was all well and good, but I have a lot of black eyeshadows and I rarely use full-on black eyeshadow enough for it to take up a whole spot, so away it went!

Midnight Gold and Rustic would likely serve a similar purchase for me, so I kept Rustic as it had a stronger olive undertone. Evergreen was a gorgeous color, but functionally, I’d use it in the crease with shades like To Earth, Herky Bird, and Levy–the same shades I’d use with Island Paradise. Island Paradise gave me more of the muted vibe I was going for, though, so Evergreen was eliminated.

Now, my palette ended up more shimmer-heavy, so I started looking at similar shades again: Cadet, Commission, and Herky Bird were similar enough, even though they weren’t the same. I think Cadet was more like a lighter version of Herky Bird, and I like the yellower tone that Commission brought to the party (more versatile), so that meant goodbye to Cadet!

Step 5: Reassess

Gallery Options

Products

Swatches

To Earth

Island Paradise

Recruit

Hot Chocolate

San Diego

Commission

Rustic

Herky Bird

Bravo

Escape

Levy

Haystack

The last step was to revise and reset back into quads again and make sure that it gives me the looks I want. Once I did that, I noticed that Hot Chocolate was too red and just didn’t work as easily with other shades in the palette. I still wanted a brownish tone but something warmer (but still with depth) so I ended up bringing in Tippy Taupe instead for the final 12!

Step 6: Final 12

Gallery Options

Products

Swatches

Escape

Levy

To Earth

Island Paradise

Commission

Herky Bird

Bravo

Haystack

Recruit

Rustic

Tippy Taupe

San Diego

Here’s part two explaining how I look at, classify, and understand color, which reflects how I describe products in reviews and how they’re classified in the Swatch Gallery (which is truly a work-in-progress as I refine and get a better understanding of depth, undertone, and how relative that is within each color categorization!). You’ll want to make sure to at least read through part one for a primer on color theory.

Green | Cooler

Gallery Options

Products

Swatches

Emerald #2

Lagrimas

Mint (26)

Sweet Tooth

Cooler-toned greens will lean blue, they might sometimes like more like teal if you tend to see teal as an equal mix of blue and green. “Emerald green” is often a cooler-toned green, but I find it translates into cooler and more neutral-to-warm shades in makeup. Lighter, cooler greens can look like “mint green,” which I’d classify under “cool aqua.”

Green | Neutral

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B3 (Norvina Vol. 2)

Transform

B2 (Norvina Vol. 3)

Level Up

Neutral-toned greens are balanced between blue and yellow undertones, though some will use the term “neutral” to really mean muted or “dirty” – these would be more olive greens, but they tend to contain more yellow/brown undertones (making them more warm than balanced between cool and warm).

Green | Warmer

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Olive U

Gold Earth

Antheia (286DC)

Wicked Envy

Warmer-toned greens have stronger, more noticeable yellow or golden undertones. They can get so yellow that they get into chartreuse territory, which is a true yellow-green mix. The lighter, brighter, and yellower-leaning, the more likely it is to be more of a “cool” yellow than classified as a green. With more shimmer to them and some depth, very yellow-toned greens start looking like “cooler” golds.

Teal | Cooler

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Boom

Formation

Mystic Ice

Bring It

Teal is created when you mix blue and green together, and teal tends to represent more of a mid-tone to deep amount of darkness (lighter teals are often classified as “aqua”). Cooler-toned teals are ones dominated by blue rather than green. They might sometimes read as “warm” blues rather than true (very blue through and through) or very cool-toned blues (that lean purple).

Teal | Balanced

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Livius

Narrow Path

Slay-farer

Venice

Balanced teals are neither blue-leaning nor green-leaning and seem to strike that perfect, 50/50 mix of undertones. Most teals are cooler-toned than they are balanced or warm-toned. Sometimes this area is better classified as “warmer” blue. In makeup, more balanced teals are often the result of a cooler base color and warmer shimmer.

Teal | Warmer

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Toad-ally

Fruit Dove

Marine Waters

Hug Life

Warmer teals are a mix of blue-and-green that seem to have a higher amount of green than blue. They are often “too blue” to be classified as “cool-toned” green.

Aqua | Cooler

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Aqua

Fluorescent

Mint #9

The Next Morning

Aqua is a mix of blue and green, whichi often overlaps with what you might think of as “mint green.” Cooler-toned aquas will lean bluer and less green.

Aqua | Neutral

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Art

Mint #3

Make Magic

Mint 4 U

More balanced aqua hues will have a more equal mix of blue and green tones with less of an obvious slant toward one undertone.

Aqua | Warmer

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Mint #8

Mint Green

Lookin' Fresh

Flux

Warmer aqua shades lean greener, and these are often described as “mint green.” They’re very light, more pastel (or white-based) greens that have less warmth to them than true green shades have.

Blue | Cooler

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Dream Catcher

Marina

Chris

Slow Dive

Cooler-toned blues are ones that start leaning purple, and they might be described as “periwinkle” or “cobalt.”

Blue | Balanced

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Laguna

Drip Drop

B5 (Norvina Vol. 2)

Les Portes Bleus

True blues are ones that look dead-on blue, so they don’t lean purple nor do they look like teal (mix of blue and green) — but these are still cool-toned as blue itself is a very cool-toned color.

Blue | Warmer

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Chameleon

Crux

Smoke (65V)

M240 Prussian Blue

Since blue is really a cool-toned color, there are only a few “warmer” varieties, and in makeup, this is typically the result of a cooler base color paired with warmer shimmer, which gives it a “warmer” appearance overall. “Warmer” blues tend to be better described as blue-based teals (as warmth is introduced by mixing with green into blue).

Berry | Cooler

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Venom

B4 (Norvina Vol. 3)

SF

Heron Chic

Berry is like plum’s cooler-toned sister. Berries are cooler-toned most of the time when referenced, and I think the way to think of “berry” is to think “raspberry” rather than “strawberry” or “blueberry.” I also think that “grape” as apt here. Cooler-toned berry hues lean purple, whereas warmer berries will tend to lean redder, and this space can overlap with warmer purples, too.

Berry | Balanced

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Betrayal

Watermelon (10)

Pinker

Risque

Berry shades balanced between purple and red still tend to be dominated by red but lack some of that brightness that cooler-toned berry shades do. A lot of raspberry-hued colors are more balanced than strongly purple.

Berry | Warmer

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Senorita

Shake It Off

Mauve

Like

The more “strawberry” it starts looking–which means there’s more and more red to it–the warmer it is. I generally don’t find that a lot of cosmetics fit into “warm” berry and tend to better correspond to other color classifications (pink, coral, plum).

Plum | Cooler

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Exo

Semsa

C4 (Norvina Vol. 1)

Pink Diamonds

Plum is a mix of red and purple, which means that cooler plums lean purpler, but they are not strongly cool-toned–really “cool-toned” plums are often described as berries or purples.

Plum | Balanced

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Care 4 You

Juno Moon

Wittle

Maroon (22M)

These are more “true plum” so they tend to lean slightly redder but not approaching orange or brown in warmth.

Plum | Warmer

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Teboulbou

Dollhouse

No Plum Intended

Vegas

Warmer plums get redder, more orange, or browner. A very warm plum can look almost like a red-based brown, which may appear too red to be brown but not red enough to be a red.

Purple | Cooler

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B2 (Norvina Vol. 2)

Rest More

Eve

Electric #4

Purple is a secondary color created when you mix red and blue together, and so the more blue that is in the mix, the cooler-toned the purple appears. This is why you’ll sometimes see people use the term “blurple.” With a lot of blue, it may also appear as a “cooler blue.”

Purple | Balanced

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Amethyst #6

Pandora

Gravity (Wired)

Cannes

“True” purples are balanced between red and blue undertones and are often still slightly warmer than they are cooler-toned in cosmetics.

Purple | Warmer

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Sista

143

Astrid Lust

Calypso (GPV2 #15)

Warmer purples are ones that have stronger red undertones to them, and I also read this as appearing pinker.

Lavender | Cooler

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Baby Doll

Pegasus

Seattle Fog

Flowery

Lavender is a lighter, pastel take on purple, so cooler-toned lavenders are bluer.

Lavender | Balanced

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Zena

Haze

C4 (Norvina Vol. 4)

Lilac #9

More balanced lavenders are a mix of blue and red, but in makeup, this presents mostly as slightly warmer vs. very warm (or dominated by pink/red).

Lavender | Warmer

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Neon Pink #5

A2 (Norvina Vol. 4)

Spitfire

Shock

Warmer lavenders are dominated by red (and to some degree, pink, when they are lighter); they can sometimes look like cooler-toned pinks. When they get deep enough, they can start appearing more like true fuchsias.

Brown | Cooler

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Eastern Rise

Hades

Caravaggio

Cafecito

Brown is created when you mix complementary colors together, e.g. blue and orange, red and green, or purple and yellow. This is why classifying brown is difficult, but it is helpful to think of cooler-toned browns as appearing bluer, purpler, or redder. When one undertone has enough brightness, it may end up being easier to think of it as another shade.

Brown | Neutral

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Aristocracy

Rockin' Robin

Charades

Cheens

Browns that seem to lean neither cool-toned nor warm-toned are neutral, and I think a lot of them get classified more as a taupe than a true brown. This meeting of cool/warm tends to look like a muted red or a sallow green.

Brown | Warmer

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ME654 Cauldron

Beyond Bronze 003

Distilled

Sextrovert

Warmer browns tend to look more red, orange, or yellow. I’ve tried to classify very red- or orange-toned shades that are more mid-tone as coppers in the last few years to help clean up the spectrum of brown to reflected slightly more de-saturated undertones.

Taupe | Cooler

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The Free Spirit No. 11

Rowdy

Moment-o (590)

Officer

Taupe is officially defined as a “brownish gray” per Merriam-Webster. When it leans cooler-toned, it tends to be more like a plummy gray to plummy brown — there’s a purplish influence to the undertone.

Taupe | Balanced

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Sculpture (226CM)

Ever

Sweet as Candy #1

Somber

True taupes tend to lean slightly warmer (browner) than gray or purple.

Taupe | Warmer

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Stud

Halo (2)

D562 Taupe Platinum

Daydream

Warmer-toned taupes are more muted variations on “brown” that can lean a little gray, silvery, or golden (when they get very warm-toned).

Mauve | Cooler

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Countess

Clubhouse

Winter Wonder

Undress Me

Mauve is a mix of red and purple, but it is primarily marked by a dusty, de-saturated quality, especially in makeup. Sometimes the easiest way for me to think of mauve is that it encompasses colors that are too warm/red to be listed as lavender and too brown to be listed as pink. Cooler mauves will lean purpler, sometimes appearing a bit brighter or more saturated than its warmer friends.

Mauve | Balanced

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Nebula

Rose Bud

Orchid Mist

Sterling (Amethyst #5)

More mauves appear balanced between red and purple, though they still seem to lean more “warm” to my eye, so they tend to be “less warm” or “less brown” relative to very warm-toned mauves.

Mauve | Warmer

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1st Date

Cloak

Chai Tea

Raspberry Cocoa

Warmer mauves tend to pull redder, which often translates into a pink, rose, and brown melange in beauty.

Pewter | Cooler

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Funny Bunny

Silver Screen #1

Seduce Glow (Enhance)

Glam Green (18M)

Pewter is a metal alloy that uses mostly tin with smaller amounts of other metals, like copper, lead, or antimony. If you google “pewter,” you’ll find it ranges from a darker, warmer gray to a silvery-gold. Because of its metallic background, in cosmetics, pewter often reflects lighter, brighter warmer grays to darker, cooler golds. Cooler pewters tend to lean bluish-green to gray.

Pewter | Balanced

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Cyborg

Vape

Blind

Bijoux Royal #1

More balanced pewter shades tend to look like warmer grays with a hint of beige/gold.

Pewter | Warmer

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Hairspray

Wanderlust

Wondrous Knight

Amazon Basin

Warmer pewters might be though of as “tarnished,” and they can have a “cooler gold” leaning, so they have a yellow to yellow-green leaning to them.

White | Cooler

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M126 Chalk

Young Love

Flat White

Porcelain

Cooler-toned white hues can look “icy,” almost bluish, and they tend to be quite bright.

White | Balanced

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C1 (Norvina Vol. 1)

Bump

Foil Eyes #1

Optic White (000)

More balanced white shades will look less bluish and may lean almost grayish at times, but they don’t look warm; they won’t lean ivory or beige or yellow. Most white shades in makeup lean cooler-toned or warmer-toned with less in the narrow space between the two.

White | Warmer

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Yves

Pearl

Diamond Darling

Clutch Pearls

Warmer whites have a touch of beige or yellow to them, they can look almost “golden” but they still remain quite light (and sometimes bright). Once they darken a bit, they tend to enter beige or white gold territory.

Silver | Cooler

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Parallax

Sterling

Sugar Bells

Firefly

Cooler silvers are a lot like cooler grays, just with a lot more shimmer, in my experience, which means they look icier, bluer, and often have some brightness to them.

Silver | Balanced

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Smoky Canvas #2

Silver Coin

Jingle Bells

ME116 Silver

True silver sits in the middle as a more balanced undertone–doesn’t visibly lean blue or cool-toned and doesn’t have any champagne, beige, or gold cast to it (which can make it appear more pewter or taupe).

Silver | Warmer

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The Stage

In Doubt

Blue Garden #4

Grand Tiara

Warmer silvers tend to be slightly darker , not quite as bright, and have a touch of beige visible in the undertone. I tend to classify these more on the spectrum of pewter or taupe rather than silver as silver is a more defined color (compared to other colors!).

Gray | Cooler

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Stone Face

Lost at Sea

Smoke

Thunderbird

Cooler grays have stronger, bluer undertones, they’ll look almost like a very faded or dusty blue–super de-saturated and washed out as far as a “blue” goes.

Gray | Neutral

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Stone

Grey Stroke

Souris

Shadow (Mega Pro 4)

More neutral-toned grays are balanced between cooler, bluer undertones and warmer, beige undertones. I’ve found that most shades I’d classify as gray tend to be cooler or warmer and very rarely truly neutral.

Gray | Warmer

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Blurry Blue #2

Filthy

Polished Silver

Jardins de Lumieres #3

Warmer grays can look brownish or greenish, depending on the depth and finish.

Black | Cooler

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Catwalks

Moskova #3

Euphoria

Is It the Beat

Cooler-toned blacks tend to be almost bluish or purplish, and there aren’t that many as most fall into a more balanced space. They may often get categorized as darker grays, deep, cool-toned browns (or taupes), or blackened navy blue.

Black | Neutral

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Midnight

Xtreme Black

E5 (Norvina Vol. 2)

Blackout

True black doesn’t is balanced between warmer (browner) and cooler (bluer) undertones.

Black | Warmer

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Noir Satin (26)

Glamour

Crave

Night Dream

Much like cooler-toned blacks, warmer-toned blacks are often better described and classified under the darkest depth of other shades, e.g. darkest brown. Warmer blacks will appear slightly tinged with brownish warmth (but you might classify them as a cooler brown!).

How I Understand Colors & Undertones in Makeup (Part 1)

When divided in half, you can see the warmer vs. cooler undertones of the color wheel.

Here's a desaturated version of the color wheel--colors that described as muted, faded, dusty.

Here's a darkened version of the color wheel, which starts to show the depths of colors and where they fall.

How I Understand Colors & Undertones in Makeup (Part 1)

When divided in half, you can see the warmer vs. cooler undertones of the color wheel.

Here's a desaturated version of the color wheel--colors that described as muted, faded, dusty.

Here's a darkened version of the color wheel, which starts to show the depths of colors and where they fall.

Describing colors and undertones is a challenge. It’s something that I’ve been working on for almost 15 years, especially because no matter how well I might calibrate my colors on my end… I can’t control how they’re viewed on a plethora of devices, screens, and lighting conditions. (Seriously, just tilt your screen slightly and see how colors adjust; then what happens if you turn your brightness down or, if you have an iPhone like me, turning on and off “true tone” — this is why I actually try to get a “happy medium” between multiple screens/devices I have.)

It has helped me to think of each color as a spectrum that ranges from light to dark, cooler to warmer, which means that even though a color might be a warm color, there are “cooler” versions and “warmer” versions as well as “balanced” versions. It’s also useful to know that there are multiple ways to describe colors sometimes, so you might say “that’s a deep peach” and someone else might say “that’s a muted coral.” Go google “coral” or “peach” or any non-primary color and see the gamut these colors run. You might try typing in random colors into Pantone’s Color Finder (which is a system used by a lot of industries).

I think of warmth and coolness as relative rather than absolute in most instances; red is a warmer color per color theory, but there are cooler-toned reds and warmer-toned reds along with reds in the middle (often referred to as true or neutral). This is true across primary, secondary, and tertiary colors… and all of the in-between colors we’ve come to use.

There are a lot of external resources if you want to understand color theory, but here’s a summary: the color wheel starts with three primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. When you mix two of these shades together, you create three secondary colors: orange (red and yellow), green (yellow and blue), and purple (blue and red). Then there are six tertiary colors, which are created when you mix primary and secondary colors together (like yellow-green or blue-purple). The color wheel defines warm colors as reds, oranges, and yellows with cooler colors as blues, greens, and purples.

Colors that are opposite of each other on the color wheel are considered “complementary” (like orange and blue), whereas colors that are beside each other (yellow, green, blue) are considered analogous. With respect to makeup, colors that are analogous are usually easier to blend together, where as complementary colors can muddy more readily.

Burgundy | Cooler

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Velvet Midnight

Full Blooded

Ursula

Deep Secret

Burgundy is a deep red, and when they’re cooler-toned, they tend to look almost purplish with a lot of depth and darkness (and are less vivid/bright) compared to true red hues.

Burgundy | Balanced

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Black Cherry

Goddess (30)

Siouxsie

Prune Power (89)

Neutral burgundies are somewhere in-between; I find neutral to be a narrower spectrum in this color category compared to others. They often only look neutral when put against very cool or very warm-toned burgundies.

Burgundy | Warmer

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Pencil Me In

Brandy

Infinite Best

Malt Shake (29)

Warmer-toned burgundies have less purple, more red or brown to them. When these tones appear in lighter shades, they can be better described as plum.

Red | Cooler

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Nine Lives

Hi Striker

My Icon Is

Sour Cherry

Cooler-toned reds have strong, blue-based undertones, and when they get very, very blue-based, they look more like pink-reds (and sometimes could be classified as magenta, when they’re brighter, or berry or raspberry if they are deeper).

Red | Balanced

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On LipsLip Swatches

Inappropriate Red

Survivor (10)

Passion Pop

Uncensored

Neutral reds are ones that have a balance of blue and orange undertones; to my eye, they can lean one way or the other depending on one’s coloring or whatever it is paired with. It is always easiest to determine when you put a neutral red against a very cool or very warm-toned red, though. You can also sheer it out and see how the base blends out, which is another helpful way to see undertone (in general).

Red | Warmer

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Demand

Dolores

Scarlet Rouge

Rita

Warmer-toned reds have stronger, orange undertones; deeper, warm-toned reds can look almost brown.

Fuchsia | Cooler

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Tropic Tantrum

Beauty Junkie

Girl About Town

Sweetener

Fuchsia is best thought of a vivid take on pink, whether it’s a brighter, lighter pink–think bubblegum or cotton candy but make it neon–or more mid-tone (which I’d say is closer to true fuchsia), which is a vibrant, medium-dark pink with stronger, cooler, bluer undertones. The deep fuchsia gets, the more it starts to look like other shades; cooler, deeper fuchsia shades could also be lighter, cool-toned berries.

Fuchsia | Balanced

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Candy Venom

Crush

Psycho Candy

Pretty Vain

“Balanced” fuchsias tend to appear like richer, more vivid true pinks than really purple or blue-based.

Fuchsia | Warmer

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Love Wins (09)

Cherries in the Snow

Runaway

I Am Bold

Neutral-to-warmer-toned fuchsias look like pink-reds and blue-based reds (and may be more aptly described as magenta, which is redder compared to true fuchsia, which is purpler).

Pink | Cooler

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Westie

Fab Pop

Snob

Dressed to Thrill

Cooler-toned pinks have blue-based undertones, and they are often described as “cotton candy” or “bubblegum” (but they will be lighter and/or more muted, less neon, compared to lighter, cooler-toned fuchsias!).

Pink | Balanced

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Pixel Pink (205)

Primrose (21)

Feeling Fizzy

Anna

Neutral pinks are, you guessed it, more balanced between blue and yellow undertones, though I find that within the industry, neutral pinks tend to really mean more muted pinks and can lean warmer more so than true neutral.

Pink | Warmer

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Name Drop

Fascinator

Anita

Rose Muse (211)

Warmer-toned pinks have yellower-based undertones, and sometimes, they get into a peachy/coral range. Lighter, very warm pinks can be described as pinky peaches or true peach, while deeper, very warm pinks can fall into pink-coral or true coral territory.

Coral | Cooler

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Tuxedo Rose

Flamingo Dream

Flowerboy

Boo Bird

Coral is either a pinkish or reddish variation on orange, and in cosmetics, there are pink-leaning corals (which are “cooler” on the spectrum of coral) and orange-leaning corals (which are “warmer” on the spectrum of coral). The pinker a coral shade leans, the closer it is to a very warm-toned pink.

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Good Vibes

Still Shot

Strawberry Milk

Bubblicious

Neutral is when there’s a balance between pink and orange undertones, and these are often referred to as “true corals.” They’re less likely to be described as “neutral,” since coral is really a warm-toned shade — so it’s more like a “cooler” vs. “cool-toned” when you’re describing how pink or orange a coral hue leans.

Coral | Warmer

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Lay Low

Dream Maker

Oh So Sassy

Coral #8

Copper | Cooler

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Fired Up

Rose Gold 005

Blaze

Mesmerising Maroon #3

Copper is often thought of as a “reddish-brown,” but in the makeup industry, it runs from a richer, deeper gold to rose gold to brighter, warm red-orange. Cooler coppers lean redder or rosier; they’re closer to rose gold or warmer reds rather than dominated by orange or gold/yellow.

Copper | Balanced

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Coral Amber

Nude Medium #5

Copperized

Crest (267M)

Like other warm-toned shades, “neutral” is relative–it’s more of a copper balanced between red and yellower undertones; I classify more orange-leaning coppers here.

Copper | Warmer

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Penny (259M)

Hot Wire

Bronze 005

Atria (107M)

When coppers start moving from orange to more golden, they seem like they get brighter as well as warmer. They’re further away from red undertones, which are “cooler,” so this is how I’ve come to identify more golden coppers as warmer.

Orange | Cooler

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Chronos

Augmented Reality

Notorious (408)

Parachute

“Cooler” oranges have strong red undertones, so they may even look more like an orange-leaning red to your eye. They will look less true orange–like construction cone orange–and will not lean yellowy either.

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I Desire

Velvet Morning

Hot Fire

Wild Ginger

With respect to orange, “neutral” is more like a true orange, one that is balanced between red and yellow undertones.

Orange | Warmer

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Orange Boite (33)

Forbidden Sunrise

Sun Snatched

Pumpkin Rose

Warmer oranges have yellower undertones that pull the color away from red-orange and given it a more golden hue, which can sometimes mute the brightness of orange as well.

Peach | Cooler

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The One

Reflection

Nesting

Georgia

If you think about peach as a fruit, it just makes you wonder if we’re referring to the flesh of the fruit or the skin of the fruit? The skin is quite varied depending on the peach variety, whereas the flesh definitely tends to be yellower more often. Between more typical understanding of “peach” by readers as well as how it’s used in the industry, I’ve come to understand peach as more of a washed out, lighter concept of coral, which means that “cooler” peach shades are pinker.

Peach | Balanced

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First

Highway Queen

Topaz #5

Bermuda (130CM)

This results in more “neutral” peaches to be the “true peach,” which are more balanced between pink, orange, and yellow.

Peach | Warmer

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Soft Peach

Zested

Dawn

Ben

Warmer-toned peaches go between orange and yellow–lighter peaches seem to get more noticeably yellow, whereas very warm-toned, darker peach hues tend to get more orange-leaning. They can sometimes be thought of as very, very light oranges or the space where yellow and orange meet.

Gold | Cooler

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Aura (25M)

We Jammin'

Fool's Gold

Citron

When we speak of “cool” golds, it’s about looking at it on a spectrum of cooler and warmer gold hues, so these are cooler but may still be classified as a warm color overall. I’ve found that when gold gets closer to truly cool, they end up looking more like a lighter, brighter taupe (sometimes described as platinum), which I’ve classified as “pewter” (will be described in part two!). These types of golds tend to look almost greenish or more champagne, white-based.

Gold | Balanced

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Rascal

Here We Go Again

Aurum

Incandescent Gold 003

Because gold is a warmer color, there’s no true “neutral” undertone so much as a balance between what can make a gold cooler or warmer; it is the space where “true gold” lies–where the yellow undertone is most prominent, so it doesn’t appear greenish nor does it appear more orange.

Gold | Warmer

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Earth

Bold Rush

Gold Fortune

Monkey Business

Warmer-toned have stronger, more orange undertones coming through. Lighter, very warm-toned golds may appear “peachy,” where as darker, very warm-told golds may look “copper.”

Yellow | Cooler

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Products

Swatches

D2 (Norvina Vol. 4)

A1 (Norvina Mini Vol. 2)

A2 (Norvina Vol. 2)

A1 (Norvina Vol. 3)

Cooler yellow are ones that have a hint of green, they also run lighter rather than deeper on the light-to-dark spectrum. If you’re familiar with the typical “highlighter yellow” markers, that’s the vibe. I have found that cooler yellows still pull yellow enough that they don’t get into “chartreuse” territory (yellow-green), but to some, that might be a closer descriptor of a “cooler” yellow.

Yellow | Balanced

Gallery Options

Products

Swatches

Wax

Barbados

D4 (Norvina Vol. 2)

Lemon Drop

A balanced (rather than “neutral”) yellow is a true yellow, so it doesn’t pull green and doesn’t have orange or red undertones mixed in.

Yellow | Warmer

Gallery Options

Products

Swatches

Citrine

Electric #5

Sun Belt

Rhizome (273CM)

Warmer yellows are ones that approach very light orange, so they will have brighter, more vivid tones and see a mix of yellow and orange undertones.

Beige | Cooler

Gallery Options

Products

Swatches

On LipsLip Swatches

Calm Heat

Bosom Friend

Phantom

Love Love (07)

Cooler beiges range from having an almost grayish cast to a muted, pink tone to it. I think the key to understanding beige is thinking of it as a very, very light brown, like 20% brown and 80% white. Otherwise, it tends to be more useful to think of as pink, peach, or brown.

Beige | Balanced

Gallery Options

Products

Swatches

On LipsLip Swatches

C103

A/W '16 (Lip Color)

Peachy Peter

Blush Nude

More balanced beige shades tend to look less gray and have pinker, rosier tones to them. They always put me in the mindset of a more muted, washed out pink or pink-peach.

Beige | Warmer

Gallery Options

Products

Swatches

On LipsLip Swatches

Bare Bling

Leave Me Breathless

I Wish

Sand

Warmer beige tends to lean slightly peach or yellow-orange–true yellow may be more of a balanced beige than particularly warm, as when beige itself is a lighter color, it often has a muted quality when there is a yellow tone to it. “Warmer” beige is a color I don’t find exists as often as “cooler peach” does.

Head on over to part two, which will cover green, teal, aqua, blue, berry, plum, purple, lavender, brown, taupe, mauve, pewter, white, silver, gray, and black.

How I Understand Colors & Undertones in Makeup (Part 1)

When divided in half, you can see the warmer vs. cooler undertones of the color wheel.

Here's a desaturated version of the color wheel--colors that described as muted, faded, dusty.

Here's a darkened version of the color wheel, which starts to show the depths of colors and where they fall.

How I Understand Colors & Undertones in Makeup (Part 1)

When divided in half, you can see the warmer vs. cooler undertones of the color wheel.

Here's a desaturated version of the color wheel--colors that described as muted, faded, dusty.

Here's a darkened version of the color wheel, which starts to show the depths of colors and where they fall.

Have you ever seen two products and thought it was impossible to decide between the two of them? Do you have two similar shades in your stash but haven’t been able to explain why one stands out to you over the other?

There are more obvious ways to compare between two products, like looking at the price, size, whether the brand is accessible (or desirable to have or purchase), and so on.  There are also more nuanced ways of really looking at how you use your products, what you like the best, what might be driving you to use one product over another, and so on.

Initial Comparisons: External Factors

I consider these to be external factors since they’re less related to actual product performance since even if one product was vastly superior, it doesn’t actually make it a real choice to someone.

Price: What role does it play in your enjoyment of a purchase?

Most people have a finite budget for beauty spending, so it’s important to weigh whether a product is “worth it” to you and your budget.  A $125 palette might be easy to justify to someone who spends $200 a month on beauty but require infinitely more soul-searching if $200 is one’s entire annual budget!

A palette you’ll use every single day, love to use, and fulfills a need you had may very well be “worth it” if you know that you’re unlikely to be tempted by much more during the year.  If you’re someone who likes more variety and has a tendency to go from product to product, it might make more sense to stretch out the budget across more products than all in one.

Size: Does the amount of product provided for the cost make sense?

There’s no point in purchasing a $100 bronzer that contains 16 oz. of product if you plan to use it once a month. It would be better to purchase a $10 bronzer that contains 0.10 oz. (which is double the size of the average eyeshadow) to use once a month. You would still struggle to finish that size!

On the flip side, if your favorite cleanser is available in a jumbo-size and you’ve been loyally using it for a year, spending more upfront but getting a better deal price-per-ounce would make sense.  The cost/size ratio also depends on the type of product as some products have shorter shelf lives than others, so spending less for less product is often the better move for something that is hard to use up quickly (whether because a little goes a long way or you won’t use it daily).

Brand: Is the brand accessible or one I’d purchase from?

More brands are more accessible globally than ever before, but that doesn’t mean that they’re equally accessible; they might be harder to get, take longer to ship, or have a significant markup that makes a $10 product in the US become a $25 product in Australia.  More recently, consumers are taking stronger positions on the brands they support personally.  These are questions that are easier to answer in my experience, since they’re often a yes/no position.

Dupes: If you already have something like it, why are you interested in something similar anyway?

Look, we all have weaknesses for certain things.  The longer we are into a hobby, the more likely we’ve accumulated what we need to enjoy that hobby, which includes beauty.  I imagine that if you’ve been making purchases in the last few years, you likely have a neutral eyeshadow palette, whether you’ve purchased a pre-made one or you’ve created your own out of singles.

Is it because it’s new and shiny?  It can be easy to get into a rut with our favorites or even get bored of them, but just because it’s new doesn’t mean it’s actually that different in practice.  You can also inject new life into old favorites and go-tos by layering them with other products, e.g. add a little bit of a deeper blush to add more depth to an existing or try a new highlighter layered over your old favorite blush.

Are you unhappy with what you have? Maybe it was the color of that red lipstick you bought that sold you, but it turns out that the formula is just drying enough to keep you from wanting to wear it 24/7.  You can try to make a product work for you, like adding a bit of lip balm on top of a drying lipstick, but sometimes there are products that don’t work or end up in the “can’t be bothered” category.

Do you feel an urge to “collect ’em all”?  It’s worth trying to push back on the temptation to purchase all of something, whether it’s because you just love the performance of a particular formula and think, “Well, surely every shade is worth getting, even if I might not use one or two that often!” or the idea of “completing” your collection or a set of things.

Is it because you think it could be even better than what you have?  Could it be? How much better? This goes back to the second question–are you unhappy with what you have–but if you love that product and don’t actually have any issues with it, what do you really think another product is going to do that’s better? Is it really going to be worth upgrading for $10, $20, or $30 and having two of something similar?  I routinely tell readers that if they’re happy with their $10 option that a $50 option is not going to be 5x better for them–price rarely signifies quality.

Deeper Comparisons: Product Performance

You’ve already assessed whether it makes sense to purchase one product over another based on more external factors (expanded on above), so now it’s time to dive into product performance.  If you notice, I don’t actually say how well a product has rated or reviewed or whether it’s a quality product per se; it’s actually more about the performance relative to your needs, wants, and preferences.  A product can review well and be a poor fit for you!

My ratings are based off of the formula’s claims as much as possible–sometimes I have to make inferences or hold to “industry” standards, e.g. very few brands deliberately market eyeshadow as sheer.  This means if a blush is supposed to be pigmented and it’s sheer, it will lose points for lack of pigmentation, while a lipstick that’s supposed to be sheer that ends up opaque will lose points for being too pigmented.

This is my way to try and remove my own preferences from the review and give you insight into how it performed from a more objective starting place.  We often read a product’s description and think, “That’s a good fit,” so that is also why it’s important to hold brands accountable to what they claim!

Let’s start looking at product performance by going using The Glossover characteristics…

Pigmentation: Is it the level of pigmentation I want?

I wish more brands were comfortable with marketing products as sheer or medium or buildable coverage.  I review so many products that seem like they were intentionally sheerer but they claim otherwise (and even promotional swatches show full opacity).  Sometimes it’s like brands are allergic to the word sheer!  There is absolutely a place for sheer products, but there are times when pigmentation is also a necessity.

Whether opacity or sheerness is desired is linked to your own preferences, what your needs are, and how you apply your products.  Someone with naturally pigmented lips may find that opacity is critical in a lip product, whereas someone may find that sheerer blush is more foolproof.  You may desire more pigmentation in one type of product and less in another.

Are you light-handed or heavy-handed?  It can be nice to spend an hour applying your makeup, but the reality is that sometimes we’re rushing out the door in minutes, so if you’re heavy-handed, does it make sense to have something that’s so pigmented that you end up having to spend more time blending it out?  If you’re light-handed, do you really want to spend time adding three or four layers of a sheer blush to see the color on your skin tone?

Do you need full opacity in one stroke or do you find you prefer to build up coverage? There’s no right or wrong way, and if you take the time to think about how you apply makeup and why you find yourself reaching for one product over another, you can learn so much about yourself that will make purchasing decisions easier and easier.

For example, my preferences run totally counter to the idea of one-and-done for eyeshadow, so on a personal level, I really don’t care about whether an eyeshadow can be sheered out for a wash of color, and I do want pretty opaque coverage in my eyeshadow… except for really intense, deeper matte shades, like a matte black eyeshadow, where I find I’m totally cool with building up coverage (less chance of fallout, more versatile, easier to blend and place without overwhelming a look, etc.).

I know that when it comes to blush, even though I love rich hues like a red or berry, I rarely reach for them because they do require a lighter-hand and more careful application on my skin tone–I’m more inclined to reach for a medium pink than blend out a red to a pinky-red effect.

Texture: Does the finish and consistency work for me?

Texture is a measure of performance, like blendability, whether there’s fallout or patchiness, how it sits on skin/lips (or wherever), but it can also be the place where you can identify whether the actual finish makes sense, too.  Examples: 1) chunkier, physical texture can lead to shimmer that’s more prone to emphasizing the skin’s natural texture; 2) a drier, more powdery texture can result in dull, flatter finish; 3) a very dewy finish might translate into greasy on someone with oilier skin.

What are my deal-breakers? It’s hard to come up with a one-size-fits-most here for texture, since powders, liquids, and creams can differ substantially, so it’s more important to consider what you really look for in a particular type of product (both format, like powder over cream, but also whether it’s an eyeshadow or a highlighter).  Here are some things that I might consider personally:

• How much fallout? Is it just fallout during application? Does it sheer out too easily?  I don’t mind some fallout during application as I usually do eyes before my base, but I don’t like fallout during wear.  I also don’t like when fallout is a consequence of a drier/more powdery formula that then sheers out too readily!
• Does it take forever to dry down?  I have no desire to keep my lips parted for 10 minutes for a liquid lipstick to dry down and set.
• If I apply a second layer, does the unevenness go away? Here I’m thinking about a pencil eyeliner that might be sheerer, slightly less pigmented in one stroke but looks fantastic in shorter, more overlapping strokes (which is how I tend to apply my pencil eyeliners).
• Does it require application with fingertip or a wet brush? For certain shades, I might be more or less willing to use fingertips (a lighter pop of sparkling eyeshadow, sure, but a jewel-toned emerald? I know I’ll place that in a smaller area where fingertip application is a challenge for me).

Will the finish and texture of this product play well with other products I use? My skin type?  Not all products layer well, and there are instances where certain products perform more consistently if paired with other complementary products (say an eyeshadow primer, which is a step many have no issue with). If a cream blush applies beautifully over bare skin but is prone to lift away foundation and you wear foundation everyday, it’s a mismatch.  Nobody’s looking to buy three other products to make one product perform its best!

Longevity: Does it last as long as I want it to?

Longevity can be looked at from two perspectives: actual wear time where the product looks mostly intact/good and how well it wears down (whether one reapplies or not).  A lipstick that lasts three hours but wears away evenly and is easy to reapply might make total sense for one person, while another will want a budge-proof option that lasts through two meals and hours of talking.

Sometimes we need a product to last a long time and do so beautifully, and other times, maybe wearing something sheerer, lighter, or more comfortable is preferred to all-day longevity (maybe one day, everything will wear like iron but remove easily!). It can also be important into understanding how a product breaks down or wears away over time for those who have long days but don’t have time to reapply–like a blush that is still visible after 12 hours but might be faded at the 8-hour mark or base products that look a bit dewier toward the end of the day (and some might be fine with blotting!).

For my own preferences, I’d rather wear something that doesn’t dry my lips out and reapply it than something that I don’t have to reapply but makes my lips peel later.  If I don’t actually need 12-hour eyeliner wear, I’m happy to choose something that might last 8 to 10 hours but removes more readily.

Application: Does it fit my routine? My techniques?

Some people love a challenge, but based on what I’ve seen in the community at large and with readers here, consistent, more foolproof application seems to be the more desired outcome–like most do not want to spend 20 minutes to blend out a single eyeshadow!  At this point, it is likely starting to sound repetitive, but it all comes down to what methods and techniques you’re comfortable using.

Does it work with your preferred tool and/or technique? If you don’t like to apply eyeshadow with fingertips but the product only works so-so with a brush, there’s probably an option that syncs up better. If it’s hard to pick up with a fluffy brush but all you have are fluffy brushes, do you want to have to work at picking up the product or purchasing another tool to make it work for you?

Does it apply with the effort and/or time I’m comfortable with?  If you’re looking for something that applies effortlessly, but what you’re looking at seems like it has to be applied a certain way or with a certain tool, then it might not fit the bill.  For example, if a blush is easy to blend out, I’m more likely to use that than one that takes more effort to even out.  On the other hand, I might be more willing to spend a bit of extra time to blend out the world’s blackest black eyeshadow (but maybe not 20 minutes!).

Do I feel confident about applying the product?  Some product types are harder to use than others, and there are some techniques that are more challenging to employ, so purchasing a product that requires more care, time, and/or technique that we’re less confident in may mean it’s challenging.  You might want to improve your technique, and so that product purchase makes sense, but you might also be equally satisfied with alternatives that you’re already great at applying.

Further Reading

Here are some additional posts I’ve written in the past that you may find useful in making better purchases or enjoying the purchases you’ve already made more!

• How-to Curate Your Makeup Collection
• Guide to No-Buys / Low-Buys
• How-to Use Your Makeup Collection More Often
• How-to Make Better Purchases
• How-to Create New Shades with What You Already Own

Yesterday, I shared my methods for breaking down an eyeshadow palette into more digestible pieces to see color combinations more readily. I also shared some more advanced methods that built off of those basics. All of those techniques work across all palettes, even more chaotic ones, but let’s try it out and then take it to the next level with a “chaotic” eyeshadow palette. It’s still really about breaking a lot of colors into smaller sections and working from there!

Start with Visualizing Shapes

I find approaching even the more unusual palette layouts by my methodological approach to still be a good starting point, especially for anyone who doesn’t readily see color combinations jump out of them.

One of the more chaotic palettes that have come into existence more recently have been the Anastasia Norvina Pro Pigment Palettes, so I’ve selected Norvina Vol. 3 to walk readers through applying the basic methodology to breaking it down into smaller bits while also applying some additional techniques to take it to the next level.

With Norvina Vol. 3, I started by segmenting out vertical quints (columns of five shades), and what you’ll notice with this particular color scheme is that the greens really jump out, whereas a lot of the other tones are more complementary. Generally speaking, palettes like Norvina Vol. 3 are chaotic partially because they’ve been arranged with a lot less regard for complementary tones, finishes, and depths AND there are a lot of vivid shades, which can make it harder for the eye to focus on a particular section.

You can rearrange any palette that I’ve swatched and photographed through our Color Story tool, but most palettes aren’t designed to be rearranged in real life, so it can be hard to enjoy the rearranged palette in person. Physically rearranging the palette from light to dark, matte to shimmer, or grouping by cooler and warmer tones can go a long way to understanding a palette’s color scheme when it seems chaotic otherwise. I actually shared my own arrangements for the Norvina Vol. 1 (rearranged to create better quads, quints, rows/columns), Vol 2. (rearranged by color), and Vol. 3 palettes (rearranged by color) in the past.

These techniques and tips will, hopefully, help you visualize and get more out of your palette when you actually open it and try to use it!

How to Solve for Chaos

By visualizing the shapes, we’ve broken down the palette into smaller, more readily seen sections, but in this palette, there are a lot more contrasting and complex color combinations, which can make it harder to visualize them together in an actual look.

To “solve for chaos,” I took out one shade from each vertical quints I created, and I opted to remove the “odd one out,” which would be the color that you’d look at and go, “What am I supposed to do with that???” (The easy answer is as a pop of color on the lash line!) It’s like that random pop of blue in dozens of neutral palettes. It can be distracting, though, and you can see a lot more of the orange and pink tones coalesce around each other once you start ignoring the starker shades. I repeated this with horizontal quints along with primary and secondary sextets (groups of six).

Depending on the color scheme of the palette and the issue(s) you’re having, you may find taking one or two shades out of a section practical by one of these as well:

• taking out the lightest or darkest tone,
• taking out a shimmer or a matte,
• or removing a duplicate.

Start with Less Shades

Often, palettes that aren’t arranged in an intuitive way can be better understood and worked with using smaller groupings, like trios. This can create a foundation of colors to start with, and then you can add in what you need. You can also do this with duos.

For example, in the first slide, A3, A4, and A5 is harder to blend together because of the pop of chartreuse (and all three being matte), and an easy way to make two contrasting colors meet seamlessly is to stick a lighter, brighter shimmer in-between them (say D5), so you can start with the trio and then look in the palette for that perfect fourth color knowing that you are looking for something more specific. Then you might do A4 on the inner lid, D5 on the center, A5 on the outer corner/crease, and A3 as a crease/transition shade.

You want to look at the grouping you’re interested in trying and thinking about what else you might need. It is often something of a different finish (a matte to work with three shimmers or a shimmer to work with three mattes), something lighter or deeper (three lighter shades will want something to provide contrast, so go darker), or something to help blend or bring tones together (maybe a blue to bridge the gap between green and plum).

Build a Combination with Complementary Shades

In these photos, I’ve tried to show a quad of colors and then how I look and think about colors. Complementary shades are going to be colors that will blend more naturally into each other, which means they’ll be closer to each other on the color wheel (or think of a rainbow–red to orange to yellow gradient is infinitely easier to blend than red to green to purple). These would be shades to the left and right of a color if you think of it on a wheel or a horizontal spectrum.

In the first photo, I took one of the primary quads (C1, C2, D1, D2), which could use some contrast and perhaps be less tone-on-tone (it’s fairly warm and orange on its own, though it could be workable as a standalone quad). Since the quad I started with was warmer-toned with more golden and orange hues, I looked for shades like yellow, pink, red, and orange to pair with it. I’ve highlighted these additional shades, which one can then pick and choose from to complete a look.

In the second photo, I’ve selected a slightly more complex color combo from the quad containing B4, B5, C4, and C5. When I see it, I think I need at least one lighter or more contrasting shimmer to pair with C5 (a shimmery green), so I looked for lighter shimmers like C1 (yellowy gold) and D5 (lighter orange) that would work off the warmer tones but also felt like B1 (shimmery, light blue) could work as the green wasn’t super warm-toned.

I also pulled out coordinating tones to blend between B4, C4, and B5 by looking for warmer-toned shades that were more mid-tone. I felt like the pop of cooler green might work as a blending shade in the crease with C5 if I wanted to go for a more green-dominated look. The third photo shows my ultimate selection: I decided to go for a gradient of C1 into B1 into C5 on the lid with C4 in the deepest part of my crease, B4 in the crease, and B5 to diffuse and blend from crease toward brow with C1 as a brow bone highlight, and then use E5 on the lower lash line to bring everything together.

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Making Sense of Chaotic Eyeshadow Palettes

Have you ever looked at an eyeshadow palette and just been lost at how to start using it? Sometimes the color combinations jump out at us but other times, they’re harder to spot. I have a very methodical approach to initially looking at an eyeshadow palette to visualize the types of color combinations that can come from it, which I’ve shared when I wrote briefly about how to build your own palette here.

This post features Natasha Denona’s Love Eyeshadow Palette, which includes 15 eyeshadows. This methodology can be applied to any size eyeshadow palette as a starting point. I’ve found that as I’ve learned to spy more color combinations and have worked with a variety of color combinations in practice, I see them more readily and can start to mix and match freely.

Divide Into Groups by Shapes

One of the easiest things to do with an eyeshadow palette is to visualize each column and row as a potential color combination. In the Love palette, this results in five (vertical) trios and three (horizontal) quints. In very large palettes, you might find it necessary to first visualize palettes with palettes (see below for guidance), especially for those who find it difficult to see the color combinations in the beginning!

Next, I like to look for quads of colors, and I’ll start from left to right, top to bottom. In my experience, a lot of brands arrange their pre-made palettes as groups of four. When there are only two rows of eyeshadows in a palette, quads are a good way to start, too. When the palette doesn’t evenly divide into perfect groups, consider using your hand or a piece of paper to “block” out the excess shades so it is easier to see.

As many readers have gathered, I have a tendency to cram a lot of shades into a single look, which is both a personal preference as much as it is a way to test more at once. After visualizing foursomes, I move to groups of five (see slide two) or six (sextets), which span slides seven through twelve. Just like with visualizing quads, I go left to right, top to bottom and look for a rectangle of six.

I like to think in terms of primary, secondary, and tertiary groupings with primary groupings being “easier” to use; imagine these as the combinations that you’re expected to find and try out, whereas secondary and tertiary may start to require a bit more creativity in placement or technique to be cohesive. Depending on the color scheme of the palette and the brand’s choice of layout, secondary and tertiary groups can be marginally more challenging to very challenging!

For those who prefer to use only a few shades in a look OR if you find that you need a few to start off with and then can mix and match after that, duos are a great way to look at a palette. I like to visualize the duos left to right, top to bottom first as horizontal duos and then as vertical duos.

Advanced Visualization

More advanced visualization comes in the form of thinking in less traditional shapes (so not rectangles or squares) but in L-shapes or diagonals. Here’s a look at the Love palette divided into L-shaped trios — you’re basically taking the quads you divided the palette into and taking out one shade from any corner to create a trio.

You can also take smaller combinations, like duos, and then pair the duo with one (to make a quad) or two duos (to make a sextet) that aren’t normally connected. This is a great way to work toward mixing and matching on your own!

Create Palettes within the Palette

In larger palettes, it can be easier to break the palette into smaller palettes, which is a lot like dividing any eyeshadow palette into quads. In this 15-pan palette, that means that dividing into groups of nine gives me enough room for variety but can be easier to work from. In a palette of 20 or more, that might mean groups of 9, 10, 12, or 15.

Once you’ve done this, you can repeat the techniques from earlier! You’ll see that to build quads out of a nine-pan palette, you can get fancier by creating quads from L-shaped sections.

Putting the Color Combination Together

I find thinking about color combinations in terms of shimmer vs. matte and light vs. dark to be a good starting point for determining where a color might go on the eye. I’ve wrote about where to apply eye makeup at length here, but two common placements are:

Gradient: going from light to dark on the lid and going dark to light from the crease to the brow bone OR dark to light/light to dark horizontally from the lash line to the crease/brow bone
Halo: using the lightest shade on the center of the lid and flanking with deeper shades

I usually take the darkest shade in the combination and expect to put that in the outer corner and/or deepest part of my crease, or if I’m working with a larger number of shades, then I might use it to smoke out the lower lash line. Lighter and brighter, more shimmery shades tend to work well on the inner tearduct (to brighten), on the lid (all over, inner corner, or center), or on the brow bone.

Lighter and mid-tone shimmers or mattes are ones I often place as transition shades, which are near or above the crease area. Mid-tone and deeper shimmers work well anywhere on the lid or in the outer corner.

It can be good to pick a light and dark shade, so that there is contrast between the two shades. If you want to incorporate more than two shades, you might go light, mid-tone, and dark, or you might incorporate different textures, like light shimmer, mid-tone matte, dark matte, and light matte. You can also pair a lighter shimmer with a darker matte as a duo and add in shades as necessary, e.g. something to diffuse and transition the crease shade toward the brow bone or add in your go-to brow bone highlighter.

For reference, I’ve shared over 1,000 eyeshadow looks here. You can search looks by product or color here. I’ve also shared over 1,000 color stories I’ve pulled from various palettes and single ranges here with most of them being foursomes. You can also search for color stories by product, type, color, and more here.

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette

How to Choose Eyeshadow Color Combinations from a Palette