Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Inventory 2012: Eyeshadow Palettes

I love palettes. I am such a sucker for a bunch of pretty colours grouped together, and it always seems like such good value. The problem is that I usually forget to use them, so a lot of my palettes are sadly neglected. Maybe I need to do a challenge where I use one every day for a week or something.

I did manage to get rid of a lot of my wasted palettes in the past year - I sold off 8 or so Sleek ones, threw out a bunch of crappy Maybelline ones, gave away a few others, and so on. I still have way too many, though. Time for another cull soon.




I really like the makeup the lead singer of Sixpence None The Richer wears in the video for Kiss Me. I know - it's 15 years old and I still really like it, so it's stuck with me. I have been vaguely wanting to try recreating it for years but I've never been able to find quite the right colour eyeshadow. I'm not a fan of the 88 palettes - I've owned 3 and found them all pretty junky - but the sole reason I kept hold of the Warm 88 Palette is because that colour third from the bottom on the far left looks like it might be the one I need for this SNTR look. Of course, I have had the palette for about 2 years or more and have still not gotten around to trying the makeup look... what can I say, I'm a starter, but not a great finisher.


I don't need to say anything - I don't even need to show you the inside of these.


NYX Trios clockwise from top left: Lake Moss, Sweet Lagoon/Aqua/Ocean, Golden/Rust/Walnut Bronze. I don't think the quality of the trios is quite as good as the singles, but for a drugstore brand it's still pretty damn good. The weird thing is that the shadows in their trios that are also available in singles are different colours from the singles. So if you think you're going to get more bang for your buck by buying some particular colour you like in a trio rather than a single, you are not actually going to get the colour you wanted. I have no idea why they do this, and I did write and ask them, but they didn't respond. (On that note - a little rant must be had. I have found that both NYX US and NYX Australia have a really shitty attitude in responding to people, or at least in responding to me. In fact, whoever is behind the NYX Australia Twitter has studiously ignored any attempt I've ever made to contact them (which was really just to let them know when I had swatches of something they were talking about). I've seen them interact with other people, so obviously I'm just not one of the cool kids. Screw you, NYX Australia - see if you get any of my money.)


Clockwise from top left: Barely There/Champagne/Root Beer, In The Woods, Rock'n'Roll. Side note: according to emilynoel83, Rock'n'Roll is a dupe for MAC Nylon, Satin Taupe and Knight Divine. I can't confirm that as I don't own any of those MAC shadows, just throwing that out there for anyone who might be interested.


Clockwise from top left: NYX The Runway Collection in #06 Romance, essence quattro eyeshadow in #08 wood you mind?, Revlon ColorStay 12 Hour Eyeshadow in #03 Neutral Khakis. I really like the NYX palette, I don't mind the Revlon one, and I don't think I've ever even swatched the essence one. I just bought a handful of essence products a while ago in Target to see what they were like - I wasn't really impressed with any of it.


Clockwise from top left: beauty uk eyeshadow collection in Earth Child, Milani Shadow Wear Quad in Exotic Berries, American Beauty Eyeshadow Duo in Vintage Rose. I swatched the beauty uk palette recently but I can't find the photos. I was pretty unimpressed with it, to be honest - I'm glad I bought it when it was on sale.


Sax Eye Luxe Eyeshadow Quintette in Love At First Sight, Wet'n'Wild Color Icon Glitter Palette in Tinsel Town. The Wet'n'Wild one is swatched here. I have no opinion on the Sax one - I've never used it. I think it's funny that on the back it says, "For best results, use with Sax eyeliners and Sax mascara." To use ONTD vernacular, you tried it, Sax.


Clinique Color Surge Eyeshadow Duo in Strawberry Fudge, Chanel Les 4 Ombres in Garden Party. Uh oh, is that yet another blush I forgot to include in my inventory? This Clinique palette came in a GWP a few years ago and as my palettes go, the eyeshadows get quite a bit of use, because I looooves them. The Chanel one is a bit "Springtime in the 80s", but every time I wear it I get complimented so there must be something right about it.


Clockwise from top left: Sleek palettes in Storm, Original and Oh So Special. Sleek is another one of those companies I dislike intensely for their really craptacular customer service, but I do love the eyeshadow palettes. However, I never use them. I've had Oh So Special for months and I've never even swatched it.


Wet'n'Wild Palettes in Comfort Zone, Silent Treatment and Walking On Eggshells. I didn't hit pan on Silent Treatment, by the way - the top shade broke in transit. The eBay seller I got it from said she would send me another one and then I never heard from her again. Classy. In the end I didn't really care that much because I only bought it for the taupe (which I've now decided I don't really like all that much). Comfort Zone is probably my favourite palette - it's certainly the one that gets the most use out of all of them, even more so than the Nakeds. Again, emilynoel83 claims that Walking On Eggshells dupes 3 MAC shadows - Shroom, Cork and Naked Lunch.

 I don't know... that looks like a lot but not a really crazy amount. Is my perception just out of whack because I'm constantly surrounded by eyeshadow?

16 comments:

  1. Good collection but not a lot at all :) I don't use my palettes much. I have hit the pan of just one shade from 88 palette while most are untouched. Sometimes I feel they are a waste of space. I still love having many palettes around though :)
    You should totally do a challenge :)

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    1. I think palettes are just so clunky. I keep makeup in my room and put it on in the bathroom, so when I'm rummaging through looking for what I'm going to wear I tend to go for a couple of single colours that I can throw in my little makeup bag and carry down to the other end of the house.

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  2. That doesn't seem like a lot to me, but then I'm probably not the best person to ask ;)

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    1. Haha, so when will you be doing your eyeshadow inventory? ;-)

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  3. I've thought about challenging myself to stick with one palette for an entire week too. I haven't done it yet, but I really need to. I get sucked in by palettes too, but I have a hard time putting together looks with some of them because they aren't laid out for me.

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    1. I find often with palettes there's something missing and I have to get another eyeshadow out - they don't have a highlight colour I like, or the crease colour isn't quite right for me, or whatever.

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  4. I'm SO GLAD I didn't get into those 88 palettes. It was the YouTubers who were telling me to buy them and I was like, "Noooooooo!"

    Both Naked palettes and some Sleek? You are done. Done I say!!

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    1. Yeah, they're pants. Good for teenagers who want to mess around with a lot of bright colours, I guess.

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  5. It's not that bad :D I really like sleek and wnw :D

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    1. I think the newer formulations of the WnW are my favourite eyeshadows these days. Have you ever tried any of the single ones? Nutty and Penny are awesome. :-)

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    2. Nutty is my new favorite! In fact I've stopped buying MAC shadows (that was actually a while ago-too$$$) and now I prefer WnW. I hate seeing how expensive this stuff is in Aus.

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    3. I think Nutty might be just about my favourite taupe - it definitely gets a lot of use. I reckon it's a must have for anyone who likes neutral/taupe shadows.

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  6. Pretty soon I'm going to attempt to do a lipstick a day! Wear a different one everyday and try not to repeat one until I have gone through them all.

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  7. so good. love a good eyeshadow post. I adore the Nyx Runways - though they are really soft and sometimes crumble. This I learnt the hard way. Have been meaning to do a eyeshadow palette post - would be, um, embarassing.

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