What brand do you feel you can rely on for eyeshadow?
Pat McGrath, Natasha Denona, Sydney Grace, Terra Moons, Clionadh.
— Christine
Explore Temptalia
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Compare Any Two
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
24 Comments
Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!
Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).
We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!
Comments on this post are closed.
We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!
Anastasia and I’ve yet to be disappointed by Buxom though their singles aren’t really available in Canada anymore, except as a fluke (which is how I found 24KT Stilettos). And both MAC and Sephora still have some good shadows, though their reformulations mean one needs to shop with a bit of care.
Buxom’s singles were stunning, but I could not get them here in Aus – never sold or available – which is such a shame because I liked so many of their shades – Buxom Bod especially.
When they were available here (Sephora), they didn’t carry all the colours (24KT Stilettos particularly – I longed for that one for so many years) but I did manage to amass THREE palettes filled with colours I chose. The quality of those shadows is terrific and the price was hard to beat. I wonder why it is that some brands really take off or get wider distribution or shelf space at Sephora (I think sales is only part of it) and why some don’t or are there for a short time and then fade away… If you’re referring to the shade Bronzed Bod, I have that one and it’s great. It’s a real “shade shifter” – a shimmery bright copper colour but when I would buff/blend it out, it turned into a cooler brown shade, perfect for the crease so I could do a whole eye look with just that one shadow.
Suqqu, Surratt, Viseart
My list is identical and they are the only formulas sitting in my makeup vanity for easy reach. I have others, (a smattering of colourpop, huda, abh), but they are stored and I rarely go looking.
Lorac. Tarte. They give me exactly what I expect every time. I love Melt, but I know some of the palettes I didn’t purchase have had inconsistencies- though I must say that everything *I* own from Melt is top notch and my stacks from beginning times are better quality today, many years later, than the $100+ palettes everybody thinks they can sell now. I don’t mind my ND palette, but the price tag mislead me a bit on what to expect from the formula; also my in-store swatches of palettes I don’t own from ND were wildly between “this is straight garbage” to “yeah, ok, it’s creamy.” Don’t get me started on PMG….I find her foiled/shimmer formula to be pretty standard, but the mattes in my palette are trash and I haven’t tried any others. I guess I’d classify ND and PMG as “consistently inconsistent.” In my personal experience.
There are other brands I can count on for consistency, but they’re not the quality I like to purchase.
MAC permanent shades, Sydney Grace, Pat McGrath, Menagerie Cosmetics and the OG Viseart. Also, all my old UD e/s’s. RIP UD as I once knew it.
I would have also said Natasha Denona because her quality has never let me down, but I believe that I have an allergy to all of her pink, red and warm shades…not sure why hers, but no one else’s? Oddly, no weird issue with the old Lila palette, either? 🤷🏻♀️
BH Cosmetics (in the square pans, specifically), Natasha Denona, TerraMoons, Clionadh.
Give Me Glow, PMG, Devinah, Clionadh, Sugarpill(there are admittedly a few duds and it is a drier formula but it works well for me), Shroud and Sydney Grace.
Natasha Denona, Viseart, Jeffree Star
Natasha Denona, Sydney Grace, Pat McGrath, Viseart, Kaleidos, Nomad, Juvia’s Place, Glamlite.
Some MACs – the original ones. Laura Mercier, LORAC, some Tart. I have sensitive eyes and have to me careful with trying new lines.
MAC always. I have extremely sensitive eyes and many brands I’ve tried just make them red and irritated. MAC has never had that reaction, no matter if it’s frost or satin.
MAC’s classic eyeshadows are great; I don’t really like the new formulas or colors. I love NARS original duo shadow formula and have been hoarding my last duos. Colourpop’s shadows have been mostly consistent for me, although I do dislike the glitters, both plastic and otherwise.
Sydney Grace, Natasha Denona, Terra Moons, Viseart, Clionadah, Make up forever (from a few years back- still use), Pat M, (although don’t use often), color pop, bare minerals (loose), those are my main ones and then I use several others for specific reasons but those are my mainstays!
Terra Moons, Shine by SD and The Pastel Roses for shimmer eyeshadows.
Makeup Geek, Dandy Lions and Glam Shop for matte eyeshadows.
Sydney Grace for eyeshadows in general.
I tend to have good luck with most eyeshadow brands, but lately I’ve been wearing ColourPop pretty frequently.
The brands I most rely on for eyeshadows are: Sydney Grace, Natasha Denona, Lorac and when the colour story suits me – PMG, Charlotte Tilbury and Dior.
Pat McGrath, Natasha Denona, MAC, ColourPop, Sydney Grace
Sydney Grace, MUG (rip), Terra Moons, Natasha Denona, Viseart. Going to be a long journey to find replacements for fave MUG eyeshadow, eyeliner, highlighters. 😢
Viseart
Pat McGrath completely changed the game for me and i decluttered a lot of palettes once i got my motherships. I have a few ND but i no longer chase new releases. Still love my MAC – i have a few CT decluttered most of my Tom Ford palettes except for 2 wet/ dry formulas but i seem to always reach for a PMG
Viseart, Sydney Grace, Devinah Cosmetics, Give Me Glow and until recently, Marc Jacobs
Sydney Grace, Pat McGrath, Natasha Denona. I’d like to try more of the indie brands. There seems to be some really nice standouts.