my top three fav eyeshadow palettes

Who doesn’t love a good eyeshadow pallet? I used to love buying single shadows and creating my own but these days, I just want to buy a pallet that is beautifully curated and makes my job easier. Creamy, high-pigmented shadows are what dreams are made of. Anything with minimal fallout is ideal but with pigment, usually comes fallout so it’s a little give and take. There are MANY great palettes out there, but my top picks include: MAC Eyeshadow X 9 Palettes, Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Eyeshadow Palettes and Viseart Eyeshadow Palettes.
​What can be said about Viseart palettes other than that they’re literally ESSENTIAL if you are a makeup artist and if you’re an average consumer and you want quality shadows that will last you forever, you need to pick these up. I have four of the Viseart pallets in my kit and even though those four palettes cost as much as one of my car payments (before I paid my car off last year, HEYYYY!) I still stand by my decisions. $80 a pop is well worth the price for palettes that have literally lasted me 3+ years of personal and professional use so far and I still have not hit pan.
Viseart’s formula is created in small tightly-controlled batches to maintain pigment quality, powder integrity, and consistency. They are a staple in most working makeup artist’s kits. These products are not tested on animals, contain organic ingredients, and they are free of silicone, petrochemicals, and mineral oil. The weird thing in my opinion is that the shadows feel kind of dry and chalky to the touch but when put on the skin and blended out, they are fantastic and highly pigmented, giving no patchiness at all. If I had to recommend 3 of the palettes to an artist looking to invest, I must go with the Neutral Matte, Cool Mattes and Warm Neutral Matte palettes. If you are a consumer looking to purchase just one, Neutral Mattes all the way! As much as I LOVE the matte shadows, I could live without their satin formulas. I find that they (or at least the Sultry Muse that I have) are a bit drier and produce a lot of fall out when applied with a brush. I’ve never actually tried to apply with a finger before but for the price point, I don’t really want a product I only feel comfortable applying one way. Maybe you’re better at makeup than I am though, and you can rock their satin formulas. So, go on with your bad self!

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A favorite for myself is the Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Palettes, I currently have 3 of her gorgeous little quads. My favorite part is that “each palette contains four harmonious eye colors: Prime, Enhance, Smoke and Pop”. This provides me with just enough shadow range to create some simple, romantic eye looks – nothing too over the top. This has been my staple look lately, pink or bronze (or pinky-bronze) looks that enhance my eyes. I find these shadows to be extremely creamy and blend beautifully. Charlotte was the head makeup artist for the 2019 VS Fashion Show and honestly, those looks made me emotional. See what I mean? →

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There are two potential downsides to these palettes though, first being the price point, $53! I have a pro discount, so the price isn’t as steep, but I really think that if you’re looking for a great quality shadow palette and you’re into the simple, romantic looks, they are worth the money! Another possible issue may be that these shadows contain talc. I personally do not have an issue with talc, but I know that is an allergen to some people. Talc is a mineral substance used in a variety of cosmetic. It is added to absorb moisture, smooth or soften products, prevent caking, and make makeup opaque. My lids have been naturally living the glossy-eye trend for years, so the more Talc the better for me!

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The MAC Eyeshadow X 9 Palettes have a range of 5 palettes. The one I have is the Semi-Sweet and I have full intensions of purchasing a few more when some of my other rosy-toned shadows run out. The textures in the palettes range from matte to satin and frost making it easy to create a variety of different looks. The Semi Sweet palette is the only one that contains all matte shadows but for that reason, it pairs perfectly with my CT pallets that contain 3 out of 4 shimmer shades. The pigments are saturated and soft and the 9-shadow palette is almost as compact as the CT quads, making it great to throw in your purse or kit! I do not use this palette specifically in my kit, but I do have plenty of MAC individual shadows in palettes I designed, and I love the way they perform. The MAC shadows also include talc in their list of ingredients. These palettes will run the average consumer about $32.00, well worth the price point IMO.
So many brands have great eye shadows so if one of your favorites was not one of mine, that's a-okay! Let me know what kind of shadows you love so I can try them too!

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