Archived Post
Rant & Rave: Eyeshadow Palette Packaging
Share: Tell us what you love and hate about how eyeshadow palettes are packaged!
my answer: I don’t like bulky palettes that are heavy, thick, or unnecessarily large. I’d rather things like mascara, eyeliners, etc. be minimized with a palette so that it can be slimmer and more compact. I can always toss the mascara and eyeliner into my makeup bag of other random things (like gloss, lipstick, brushes, etc.). I love when an eyeshadow palette contains enough shades, colors, and finishes to be used on its own without anything else and is slim for traveling!
As long as the palette is sturdy and that it can handle travelling, I’m happy. I don’t really mind the size of big palettes.
I hate large, bulky palettes. And I especially hate palettes that have weird colors and when the texture of the shadows is inconsistent. If all of the shadows aren’t smooth and easy to work with, what is the point? Seems like a lot of companies throw in colors that don’t harmonize or work well with other colors in the palette just to fill up space. In my dream world, every company would give you the option of custom building your own palette. I see so many palettes that have 2, 3, or maybe even 4 colors that I would love to have and the rest of the palette is colors I would never wear. I stopped buying them for that reason. Now I only have palettes that are customizable such as Laura Mercier, etc.
I only have two eyeshadow palettes – the UD 15 Year Anniversary Palette and the UD Naked Palette. I much prefer the packaging on Naked – it’s slim, it comes with a brush, and it’s lightweight. I only wish it had an actual clasp (rather than a magnetic one) so there was no chance of it flipping open during travel. The 15 Year palette is absolutely terrible for traveling, as the lid has no way of staying shut in a bag. It’s also kind of bulky.
If the pans aren’t securely affixed to the palette, I will be enormously pissed off. It’s why the Naked2 palette has yet to take its rightful place as Ruler of my Soul — the packaging.
I’m okay with whatever size, as long as it isn’t cardboard. If I’m paying HE prices, for “grown-up” products, I don’t want something that looks like I paid $7 for it at Claire’s. I also find that all the eyeshadows I’ve purchased in cardboard tend to be drier & chalkier. I don’t know if it’s because of the packaging, or if the particular brands that do it are just marketing to a younger demographic, who in their opinion aren’t as knowledgeable about makeup, which is actually a bit offensive.
I also wish *all* brands would just do away with the applicators; they take up too much space, and who really uses them? Most consumers who have “graduated” to HE makeup tend to have their own brushes, and these just make the packaging bigger. I do realize there are those who will complain, though, if mirrors & applicators weren’t included, so I guess companies are trying to appease everyone, even if it means puttring out the least amount of effort/expense to maintain a profit margin.
I also don’t love super bulky palettes. And I hate when a palette comes with loads of stuff I don’t need (like lip gloss, etc).
I have yet to find a palette that has had more than one or two really nice colors in them. It’s like they just find 2 popular colors and then throw in whatever hasn’t sold well.
I don’t like them bulky, but some of these are sooooo tiny that they really do get lost in your purse.
One good thing about make-up blogs and vlogs is that they make me realize my habit isn’t as bad as I thought. I do have a couple of eyeshadow palettes that are slim but large. They work well for events or home based make-up only. Thankfully the formulas are good and last all day.
I travel quite a bit and so I do like travel size palettes that can fit in a purse and typically only take one shadow palette per trip. Convenience and discipline are everything on the go. So my pet peeve, are eyeshade palettes that either break easily (only happened twice) or that are overly heavy. I adore creative packaging but not at the expense of my neck and back.
I prefer slim and sleek palettes, for travel and not taking up so much space in general. I am a fan of Japanese eyeshadow palettes because of the slim, sturdy packaging and good quality shadows. A palette typically contains 3-5 shades that they teach you how to create 1-2 eye looks. The volume might be smaller but I have never finished a single eyeshadow anyway. I like that it doesn’t have shades I won’t be able to use. I like good quality applicators, but not other stuff (mascara, lip gloss, etc). Slim American palettes are often made of cardboard, which looks less sophisticated. I also dislike velvet because it gets so dirty despite it looks classy (sorry naked!)
If everything was packaged like Naked Basics or those Kat Von D 8 pan palettes (sans the useless applicators), I’d be happy.
firstly with eyeshadow palettes, i love having several colour options conveniently there in one place, saves me time and hassle just doing my eye makeup using one item. makes travelling so much easier as well. and you never have to worry about forgetting one crucial colour if its already there in your palette! but i do prefer choosing a palette where i can use all the colours. nude/natural/browns/greys based palettes seem most useful to me
i dont like when they mix eyeshadows with other products g lipsticks, blushes etc. i understand that adds to the convenience but, particularly with powdery products, you get cross-contamination and it just ruins it basically. i have a mac travel exclusive palette, which has 3 shadows and 2 lippies, and while i love all of the colours, i find it off-putting to use the lippies because they constantly have a thin layer of eyeshadow thats come loose and covered the surface of the lippies. actually same thing has happened to my stila eyeshadow palette. they’re all eyeshadows but the lighter shades have powdered all over the darker shades. thats not as off-putting as powdered lippy though
which brings me to my next point – packaging. i think it would be good (to prevent above situation from happening) if they had internal molded shields or something, that you can use to cover the product before you close it. then it secures everything in place. would probably help prevent spillage when travelling as well. some palettes have that plastic film/card over the product but that doesnt really do anything (is it supposed to protect the mirror? if so it doesnt really do it!) anyway, apart from that, i can see how cardboard packaging may possibly be more protective, but i think it looks cheap. i quite like how the UD naked 2 palette clicks shut, but it is large and bulky and comparatively heavy next to a cardboard palette.
i sound so fussy haha.
I so agree with you, Christine! I wish all palettes were like the Naked Basics palette. Good-sized shadows packed tightly together with a mirror on the inside of the cover. SO travel friendly!
Agreed. I prefer very minimal packaging. The sleeker and slimmer, the better. If it’s a huge palette, I get less use from it, because I find I just don’t reach for it as often
I like slim eyeshadow palettes too. I hate when they add useless stuff like a layer of lipglosses because I never use them anyways, I much rather throw in my favorite lipgloss and lipstick in my purse then use the lipglosses on the palette. I also like rectangle or square shaped eyeshadow pans then circle ones. Circles don’t fit exactly with each other and create big gaps between the colors which waste space. Lol. As you can tell I’m really picky with eyeshadow palettes. My dream is to get the urban decay naked palette but I feel like I should spend my money on something more important. Haha.