Three palettes, eh? Who’d have thought it.
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Because I am human, there are often many times where I don’t practice what I preach. I can go weeks without working out (my last Reformer Pilates session was 20th January and actually I miss it dearly), I haven’t hoovered the flat in longer than I’d wish to disclose and I regularly buy makeup that I quite frankly don’t need, because even though my collection is much smaller than it used to be, I still have enough items to last me through the next 265 years.
Case in point: my eyeshadow palette collection. I wear a variation of MAC Soba every single day, so why did I have an amount of palettes that was nearing the double digits mark? I had some that had barely been touched and others that I was saving for that ‘Just in case‘ moment like doing my mate’s makeup for an event or a wedding day, when actually not every bride wants to wear orange dusted all over her lid for the big day anyway. So I had a cull – tips on how to do that are at the bottom of this post – and here’s what remains. I’d love to say that I’ll remain at this number, but as you’ll see down below I may have already got back up to the grand total of four, but still that’s not bad – right? Here’s what I kept, why I kept them and the one I’ve bought most recently…
Kevyn Aucoin PRO Electropop Eyeshadow Palette* (gifted). Well I bet you weren’t expecting to see this one in this post were you? There’s just something about this palette which makes it impossible for me to pass it on to friends and family. Have I used it a shedload? No. Do I think I’ll use it in a shedload in the future? Quite possibly not. However, it’s just a fun palette to hold onto and obviously extremely useful when I’m having a craving for colour on that one day out of 365. My recent addiction to Katie Jane Hughes probably has something to do with it, for the fact that she can pull off colour in possibly the most chic, Glossier-cool-girl way that I’ve ever seen and I really want to experiment with these kind of jewel-tone colours over the coming months. Even if it’s just wetting them and using them as liners, or beginning with the neutral shimmers in the palette before working up to the greens and blues and pinks, that’s cool. But as I mention later on it’s nice to have a ‘fun’ palette that forces us out of our comfort-zone and this is exactly that for me. Emerald green eyeshadow? One day – who knows…
Urban Decay Petite Heat Eyeshadow Palette* (gifted). A cute dinky palette that is a warm eyeshadow lovers DREAM. Those centre two shades? Love ’em. Now you have to be a real lover of orange shades on your eyes to dig this palette as it’s about as warm as they come, but that’s exactly why it’s up my street. Urban Decay do have a cracking shadow formula and I find that these don’t disappoint. The colours blend beautifully without bunching and when I pop the NARS Pro-Prime Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base* underneath, as I do with every single shadow, the longevity is always impressive too. The one thing that I will say is that the centre two shades come off pretty same-y (on my eyes they do anyway), but it’s one that I reach for time and time again because I love the colour family. Hot Spell will forever be a favourite, plus the paler shades are easily swept all over the lid and the deep cocoa makes for a nice liner if you’re into beefing up the lash line. It’s more versatile than you first think.
NARS Wanted Eyeshadow Palette* (gifted). If I was to pick the most well-rounded of the three palettes, then I’d say that this one is the winner – hands down. It’s mostly warm with a few mattes, a few shimmers, a few glitters and as a lover of a simple lid look, usually just incorporating the one shadow, I’d happily use more than 50% of the colours available for that purpose alone. It’s just easy, one you don’t have to think about – you know? I take it away with me often as it’s not too chunky to travel with and enjoy that it’s got a deep colour that works wonderfully as eyeliner, as well as peaches that work well as a base. It’s good for when I want to keep things simple and when I don’t. Now the pants news is that this was limited edition, but the good news is that they’ve just released the Skin Deep Eye Palette* (which again too is annoyingly limited edition), but is very similar in the tones and finishes available – and has the same four mattes and eight shimmers/glitters set-up. Which is why it makes complete sense that this is my most latest purchase. OOPS. Thoughts and feelings coming soon.
HOW TO DOWNSIZE YOUR EYESHADOW STASH
1. Get them all out. As is the first stage with any declutter, you have to get everything out at the same time so that you can see the true extent of your collection. So locate them from wherever you keep them in your home and get them all in the same location.
2. Have a swatch-a-thon. Take hype and brand names out of the question, and instead get your swatch on. How do the colours perform? Any dusty duds that need to go? Ones you love that you need to use more? Dupes that make one palette completely useless? Use this time to test everything out.
3. Ditch the dupes. In regards to dupes I realised that I was hanging on to the Urban Decay Heat Palette*, when actually all the colours that I used from it were already in the Urban Decay Petite Heat Palette*. In this case ditch the larger palette or the one with the shades that you wear less. Easy peasy.
4. Allow yourself a fun palette. It’s easy to get caught up in the furore of a declutter, but actually it’s fun to have a palette in your collection that might be a little off piste for you. Allow yourself a ‘What if?’ piece to challenge you to venture outside your comfort zone from time to time.
5. USE THEM! So often I defer back to my eyeshadow singles as they fit easier in my everyday makeup box that I keep in my bedroom (video on that coming soon!), but HELLO USE YOUR PALETTES WOMAN. I now vow to keep one tucked inside the box at all times. Maybe even challenge myself to a week of use of the Kevyn Aucoin PRO Electropop Eyeshadow Palette? Now that could be interesting…
Photos by Emma Croman
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