What eyeshadow palette (that you own) inspires you the least?

I feel like I’ve done some combination of gold/copper/orange/plum/berry every week for the last year. I browse my own looks, and I’m like, “that’s the same, that’s the same, that’s the same, that’s the same.” It’s easier just to say that all the palettes that sit in that color scheme I’m over for now!

— Christine

39 Comments

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Mariella Avatar

It might be a bit sacrilegious to say it, but the KvD Shade + Light palette. It’s nice but it’s all matte so I find it a bit dull on its own and when I use it, I always want to reach for something with a bit of sheen to breathe life into the finished look.

Jane Avatar

I’m a muted, gray-purplish colored scheme MUA palette called Pretty Edgy. I mean I know it probably looks good one me, I have brown eyes, but just looking at it makes me feel “Bla!”. I’ll have to force myself to do a look, just to prove myself wrong. Since I paid so little for it, I don’t feel toooooo bad, but I am someone who doesn’t like to have a palette that I totally regret having bought even if it was inexpensive.

kjh Avatar

I looked up MUA; think we don”t have it here in the US. Make Up Academy looks like our Nyx Morphe, and your Make Up Revolution had a child, aspects of each of those lines. The palette is slightly similar to our Smashbox Cover Shot in Punked. Interesting to see a new to me brand online. Thanks.

Kat Avatar

I was going to say the Urban Decay Naked (the original) because it’s good palette but it doesn’t push me outside my comfort zone, but I actually think it’s the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette. I used to love it a few years ago but nowadays honestly I just like 2-3 shades in it and never use anything else, so I basically just have one look with it, and I almost never reach for it even to do that one look. Plus, it got hard pan super quickly and some of the more interesting shades were never well-performing to begin with, which makes me not want to use it.

AB Avatar

Urban Decay Naked Heat. I do not turn to this one when I want to try new things, or to be inspired. It’s all of a tone, light to dark with occasional shimmer. It is a workhorse for me — as base shades onto which I add more interesting or diverse shades from other sources, and daily basics — but not inspiring.

Nancy T Avatar

Please don’t come for me, as I know I’m about to commit makeup blasphemy! UD Naked 1. Had to get it because it was “going away forever!”, it was a piece of MU history, it was $27 + an additional 20% off, yada yada yada. I’ve used it around 4 or 5 x’s. Buck and Naked are incredibly DULL on me. Grayish bland dull. YET; it can be bumped up by using my *usual* transition suspects instead. MAC Kid has far more “life” to it than Naked. So does Haux or Soft Brown, but Kid works best with it. I do believe that this palette is a good, solid, but also very basic and plain natural eye palette, though.

Mariella Avatar

You’re right – this IS blasphemy in the EXTREME! To absolve yourself, you could always send it to me (I’m having anxiety attacks wondering what I’ll do if I ever manage to use up any of the shadows in this palette or, worse, lose it, as it’s the one I’ve always relied on in past as a travel palette because it WAS PERMANENT and, therefore, easy enough to replace if it went missing with my luggage!)

Rachel R. Avatar

NARS NARSissist Dual-Intensity Eyeshadow Palette, which is a shame because it’s also my most expensive. The shadows are nice enough, but half of it is really light and the other half is dark, including a black. Subra turns out brown on me instead of the plummy burgundy it turns on most other people. I pull it out once in a while, but mostly I just say to myself, “What in the hell am I supposed to do with this?”

Liz Avatar

I’m really going to commit sacrilege. I bought Modern Renaissance during the VIB because of the hype and have no idea what to do with it. All the looks I get are either boring or muddy. Just not inspired!

Stacy Avatar

You’re not alone! I was going to say MR too for the same reasons. I bought mine when Ulta had it on sale and I feel like it gets really muddy on me or the reds make me look sickly.

EAdele Avatar

BH Cosmetics Supernova. I put a lot of thought into the purchase and was so excited for it, but I never use it. Too much sparkle (turns out I have limits?) for me, especially as someone who doesn’t like to use more than one palette per look.

Marie-Estelle Avatar

I’d say the Nars dual intensity palette. It is a bit old now but I still have a love/hate relationship with it because:
1. the formula can be a pain to work with (glitter glue does make a huge difference now that I use it)
2. the grey/silver shade looks horrific on me… really, I can’t seem to make it work lol!
3. There is no colour story really… 1 satin beige, 1 satin pink, a grey, a blue, a brown, a deep brown, a deep purple (with translate black) a black. I can’t make gradients, which is the most flattering on my eyes…

Anyway, I feel like this palette will soon end up in a project pan to use the one shade I love so much I bough the single version off and get it out of my stash!

L Avatar

Modern Renaissance would be mine except I already gave up and got rid of it – the berry shades blended right away on me, and everything else was just brown, brown and more brown. It looks so pretty in the pan and I love the art theme so I was very disappointed.

Bonnie Avatar

To actually use? Tarte Toasted, followed closely by Naked Heat. But they do inspire me because they looks so beautiful in the palette. They just don’t deliver what their looks promise. I think I like the looks of Toasted a little better, but the actual performance of Naked Heat a little better. Honestly, though, they are both disappointing palettes.

On sight, Colourpop Fame is the least inspiring, but I would still rather work with it than the two above.

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