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Hit List: Best Purple Eyeshadow
What’s the Best Purple Eyeshadow?
What brand/products win this category? What makes it so great?
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I don’t have a favourite purple eyeshadow yet (despite my many, many purples), but can I just say that this question absolutely makes my day? I can’t wait to read everyone’s favourites! 😀
Urban Decay’s Psychedelic Sister is my favorite right now. Not too red, pink, or blue…. just a smooth pigmented purple.
I am going to have to check this one out. I love purple eyeshadow.
I love UD Rockstar! It’s so hard to find purple eyeshadows with decent quality, but I think in most cases UD does it right!
Make Up Forever’s #92 HANDS DOWN! Purple eyeshadows tend to fade and be lightly pigmented. MUFE #92 is so vibrant and worth every penny
My current favorite is a loose shadow from an indie company- Detrivore’s Dagon. Beautiful, shimmery purple for only $5 for a 5 gram jar.
I have been loving the purple half of the L’Oreal HIP duo in Flamboyant for years. It’s warm toned, so it doesn’t look like a bruise on my cool toned skin. I also love UD’s fishnet.
Hands down, Sugarpill’s 2AM!!!!!! Poison Plum is a dark purple, but 2AM it just jaw dropping beautiful. I always get complimented when I wear this color.
I think Inglot has some absolutely fantastic purples in their line up. I’m also a fan of UD Asphyxia in the new formula.
Urban Decay- Flash and shadow pencil in Deviant.
Urban Decay ACDC for sure. I just got it and the first day I used it my husband actually mentioned how sexy and pretty my eyes looked that day. He never comments on makeup and when I ask him if he can tell I did something “different” he kind of shrugs and says “It always looks nice.”
The color is a nice mid-tone purple, so I can wear it as a wash over my lid without it being to light or dark. It has a nice soft sheen, and the color is great for pretty much any skin tone.
AC/DC is my favourite too, by a mile!
Ooooh, I just ordered AD/DC from Sephora. I can’t wait!
What about MAC’s Fig 1? It’s not grape purple, but it’s a beautiful velvety smooth shade. I love it because it’s looks neutral enough but is still clearly purple.
The only one I wear is Urban Decay Asphyxia. So pretty!
UD Ecstasy! It’s discontinued but you can still nab it at most Sephoras and online on UD’s website!
Purple seems to be my favourite eyeshadow colour and I reach for it often and have dozens in my collection, but right now my favourites are:
UD Psychedelic Sister
NARS duo in Jolie Poupee
Definitely Sugarpill’s Poison Plum. So crazy pigmented! I love their 2am, too.
NARS Melusine is one of my favorites, along with NARS Daphne. Melusine is deeper and darker than Daphne, and not as blue. It’s super easy to apply which can’t always be said for Daphne which, imo, requires a cream base. But Daphne is worth the little bit of extra work for me because it makes my brown eyes really pop like nothing else. NARS Eurydice is pretty cool too, though it’s not my favorite. It’s a magenta-y purple with blue-ish, almost duochrome sparkles to it that show up with a base (so long as you pat the eyeshadow on).
Right now my favorite is UD Flash
I can’t get over how pretty Chanel Illusiore is. So sparkly, so great for a monocolour smokey eye. Ughhh I adore it for dates.
I’m a huge fan off purples i received my Chanel Illusiore yesterday and i’m so in love >O< and i have to agree with you pure awesomeness in a jar \o/ hands down purple smokey eyes 8)
It is fantastic! When I bought it I was just trying to find the blue LEs (which I didn’t realise were gone) to show my mum. Then I swatched it and couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I had to run back and buy it before we left.
No regrets! I keep meaning to use it with Epitant because I think it would look lovely.
I’m wearing it today (too work so lightly :), it’s fun-tastic!
Nars Melusine, Tom Ford Violet Dusk
I really like Laura Mercier metallic creme eyeshadow in Alloy! It’s not purple PURPLE, its kind of more subtle and in my opinion a more modern way of wearing purple eyeshadow. I just love LM.
I love Mélusine duo from Nars, but the “silver lilac” colour is the dazzler. I love the purple side too, but I’m still in the market for a better purple and look forward to seeing everyone’s responses!
There’s no way I can pick just one!
Rouge Bunny Rouge’s Delicate Hummingbird is a beautiful grayish purple in it’s own right, and an awesome “gateway purple” for people afraid of purple eyeshadow.
Another vote for UD’s Psychedelic Sister!
And, it’s not actually in my stash yet, but Chanel’s Amethyst looks amazing. I can’t wait until mine arrives and I can see it in person.
If you think Amethyst looks amazing, try Dior 1 Couleur in 156 Purple Show. It’s almost identical to the Chanel, except that the Chanel has a slightly more blackened base. Also, between the two, I personally found the Chanel slightly drier and more difficult to yeild pigment, relative to the Dior.
I tried choosing between the two for months and months, swatching both together over and over at different counters and the texture was my final deciding factor. I have to say though, I do prefer Dior over Chanel for eyeshadow, but vice versa when it comes to the lip products.
I have eyeshadows I love from both brands though, but if you can, also check out the Dior.
Just like Chanel is one of the best at red lips, for purple’s, Dior is the way to go! It’s one of the makeup lines signature colours (I think Tyen, the creative director for the beauty line, quite favours this colour, which is why we see it a lot).
I’m going to check out the others you mentioned. I adore purples and never understood why it is considered such a difficult colour!
Thanks for the recommendation, Leila!! I just looked up some reviews and pictures… I think my purple collection is about to grow again <3
Urban Decay’s Psychedelic Sister! It’s my favorite shade at the moment and I will cry when I run out of it
My all time favourite is the “exclusive” shade from Too Faced’s Enchanted Glamourland (2-ish years ago). How I wish they’d released that as an individual shadow. Second choice for me is probably the purple side of the Nars Habanera duo.
My favorite purple is not one eyeshadow but an eyeshadow palette from Shiseido named VI 308. It has 3 eyeshadows in it. Two darker shades and one light and they are all kind of purple. The light one leans a bit towards pink but they all go so well together. I really recommend this palette.
Wow… I don’t think I could pick just one… Le Metier Fig is amazing… I’ve always loved Mac’s “Crystal”, which is a very light purple but has an awesome greyish duo-chrome effect; Nars Lhasa has been my favourite this year; and of course UD “Asphyxia”, another longtime companion.
I love seeing everyone else’s responses!
I picked Omen by UD, but Asphyxia was my second choice!
I agree with Karen; MAC fig 1…perfect!!
My absolute favorites are Inglot’s DS.494 and Sugarpill’s ‘Poison Plum’. Both are highly pigmented and gorgeous.
I am allergic to red dye, so i rarely can wear purples/reds/violets 🙁 but i do like/can wear Hustle from UD naked pallet!.
MUFE #92 is my favorite, but Sugarpill’s Poison Plum runs a very close second. I also really love Vintage Violet from Too Faced’s Matte Eye palette. It’s a dusky greyish purple that really brings out the amber/brown tones in my hazel eyes. Urban Decay’s Flash is nice, too, but it’s a little too shimmery for me to use often.
I really like Bare Escentuals- Flamenco.
Definitely Armani ETK #3! I love that shade.
MUFE n°92
Chanel Magic Night
and Dior Purple show !!!!
Omen by Urban Decay
Sugarpill Poison Plum.
NARS Lulu is a great matte purple once you learn to use it.
Stila Dahlia or WnW Goddess
My favs are Urban Decay Morphine and MAC Fuschia pigment (kinda pinkish purple but layered over Navy eyeliner it looks bright purple:-)
Makeupforever’s purple. I think 99 or 97. It’s unbeatable.
Definitely UD’s Rockstar and AC/DC I was thrilled when they made them permanent! I was running low on BOS II and III
Rockstar is my favourite UD liner by a mile. It’s such a great alternative to black.
Urban decay flash, love it!
I love any of the purples from Inglot. I think they’re the deepest, richest, most pigmented purples. Also, Maybeline’s Eyestudio quad in Amethysts Ablazed has two really beautiful bright purples. And then Mac’s Plum Dressing is a really pretty jewel toned purple that looks really pretty in the crease with neutral pinks and oranges.
UD’s ransom 🙂 from my deluxe shadow palette. i even have the matching liner! (and purple UD body glitter that i wear with it on my eyes when i got out… ha!) and i dont even really like purple.
I like MUFE #39 and Urban Decay Rockstar
NARS Daphne; yes, I’m aware what a complete PITA it is to work with, but it really is the most *perfect* shade of purple… MUFE 92 (or is it 99?) is a very close second.
I love Omen by Urban Decay ^^ !
Omen is awesome 🙂
Mac Fig. 1!!! So flattering on my light-brown eyes!
PUPA Hot Tropics 02 Water Lily Amethyst!!!
I LOOOOOVE Tarina Tarentino’s Victorian Punk! Rich purple with gold flecks!!!! Beauteous!!!!
MUFE 92! My favorite, and best, purple!
I like MAC Satellite Dreams.
Nars Daphne used to be my #1, colour wise only though. MUFE 92 and Sugarpill used to be my runners up but Inglot outdoes them… they have a huge range of purples, but I really love 439, 446, and 320.
Mac Fig.1 and Fyrinnae makes some great purples, like Meerkat!
I love purple shadows and have tried dozens. My faves are Canel Ilusoire, BB heather shimmerwash shadow, Laura Mercier amethyst caviar eye stick, Tarina Tarantino Fantastical palette, YSL simmering burgundy pencil
Being the biggest fan of purples and strong pigmentation:
-UD psychedelic sister (why I didn’t purchase this shade sooner than a month ago is beyond me)
-MAC pigment in Grape
-Inglot matte shadows in #320 and #377
Fyrinnae has some amazing purples! I also love Sugarpill Poison Plum. I reach for that a lot. And Urban Decay Freakshow & Frigid are great.
MUFE92 luv luv luv it.
NYX Pearl Mania Pigment in Purple!
MAC Stars and Rockets
I love the MAC Extra Dimension purple shade called Grand Galaxy. it’s versatile, fabulously blendable and just the right amount of purple to make it wearable even without liner. So bummed it’s LE!
I adore purple eyeshadows, so I have a lot of favorites.
But my absolute favorite (number one for me)
is MAC´s “Star Violet”.
I am a purple shadow addict! Though I dont own any UD csnt comment but my faves have to be
From Mac – prob out of all of them Fashion Gropie which was in the starflash formula but i ahd a quad from spring 2010 which had a few nice colours but esp bruised plum. Other are Pink union and earthly riches. I also liked the the one called Myndark side from the disney villians collection and Half wild PP is a rare cream e/s.
Other ones are SU ME 700 & IR795
Love purple
I have yet to find one that suits my skintone and/or is pigmented enough 🙁 Then again, I don’t have any high-end eyeshadows.