At the beginning of the year I came up with the idea to rotate through all of my eyeshadow palettes and single shadows and try and focus on one part of my collection each month. I started this challenge in February and finished in November. I don’t have a big collection of eyeshadows so it wasn’t difficult to squeeze everything into one year. I like to keep eye looks quick and simple, lip products are my weakness as I believe the same eye look looks slightly different depending on which lip colour it’s paired with. I tend to stick with tried and true shades I know work for my complexion and I love a shimmery, sparkly eye!
The round up will be split into two parts and I will give a little rundown about what was used each month, favourite shades and whether or not I enjoy using the palette and want to keep it around.
February – Maybelline’s The Nudes
This is the oldest palette in my collection and what better way to kick off my yearly challenge with an OG favourite! What I really enjoy about this palette is the combination of mattes and shimmers and the mix of warm and cool toned shades. The formula may not be the most pigmented or longest lasting but the shadows build and layer and work together flawlessly. I liked using this palette again and whilst I do prefer more intense shimmers this would make a nice companion palette to lay down a base and apply my Supershock Shadows from Colourpop over top of. I’m going to try that out and for now this palette will be sticking around.
Favourite shadows: 1 (iridescent shimmery white), 2 (satin soft brown), 3 (matte beige), 4 (metallic copper brown), 7 (shimmery soft brown) and 11 (satin ivory pink).
March – Colourpop Brunch Date
I love the theme of this palette and how it is a mix of everyday neutral shades and fun pops of colour. What I’m not a fan of is half of the mattes are a lovely texture and the other half fall short. The matte shades that fall short happen to be two of the fun pops of colour: French Toast (burgundy) and Brunch Club (cobalt blue). I have never found a way to incorporate the blue into a look without it looking patchy/bad on my eyes. I don’t hate this palette and it does give pretty eye looks but it’s not one I’d reach for everyday and it is one I’ll possibly try to find a new home for next year after getting it out again if it doesn’t wow me.
Favourite shadows: Champagne Toast, Pancakes Please, Skinny Latte, Cinnamon Sugar, Maple Syrup and Sundae Funday.
April – Colourpop BYOP
I’ll be honest, overall this was one of my least favourite palettes to use and it’s a little sad because it’s one I curated myself. It’s not that I don’t like the shades because they are all very pretty but a couple of the golds are too warm and I tend to be more of a fan of neutral and cool toned shadows on me. A few of the shades in the palette are similiar and in hindsight I wish I’d made some changes. The mattes in this palette though are great staples! I won’t give up on this palette yet, I’ll make a few changes (remove a couple of the golds, add a silver or two) and try it again.
Favourite shades: Hear Me Out (1), Side Tracked (2), Bel Air (4), Ringer (6) and Goody Two Shoes (8).
May to July – Colourpop 9 pan palettes: Sol & It’s My Pleasure
I had four of Colourpop’s nine pan monochromatic palettes at the time of beginning this challenge and rather than use each one for a month I rotated through a different nine pan each week for three months between May and July. The first two palettes off the ranks were Sol (bright hot coral) and It’s My Pleasure (purple). Spoiler: definitely not getting rid of either of these!
Sol is the first nine pan palette I purchased and all of the shades are stunning! The formula of these shimmers is gorgeous and they have such a beautiful effect on the eyes. The bright oranges and corals suit my complexion more than I thought they would and I love using this palette. You can create fun looks and everyday, neutral looks – the colours are very versatile.
Favourite shades: Anthem, B+B, Floaties and OOO.
Initially when I purchased It’s My Pleasure I thought the shades were stunning but I didn’t understand why everyone was raving about this palette. When I used this palette again during this challenge I enjoyed it a lot more and found new ways to incorporate shades that had left me feeling uncertain before. This palette definitely leans more purple-pink but it’s a good one to pick up if you want to incorporate more colour into your eye makeup.
Favourite shades: Do Or Dough, Earthshine and Sleeper.
That’s the first part of my palette round up complete! Part two will be up in a few days!
Do you own or have you tried any of these palettes?
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