Makeup MAYhem Day 24: Top 5 Makeup Palettes

Makeup Palettes, the best way to try many colors at once and get more bang for your buck.  Some are as cheap as $2 and some cost upwards of $70 but they're all there for one reason, to give you options for your best looks.  There are foundation palettes, concealer palettes, contour palettes, blush palettes, lip palettes, and eyeshadow palettes- the opportunities are endless!  So here are my top five eyeshadow palettes, I hope you enjoy! These are in order of most favorite to least most favorite, but I really love them all or they wouldn't be here.

First up is my beloved Naked 3 palette:

 This was the first high end palette I ever bought so it holds a special place in my heart but it's also the prettiest palette I own.

I love all of the rose golds, pinks, and taupes because it compliments my skin tone so much.  It gives me a nice soft romantic look or a really smokey 'hot' look with the black that has red micro glitter in it.  The shadows are soft and very pigmented.  There are three matte shadows which, when I first got the palette, I steered clear from but now I know how to use matte shadows I'm not so afraid of them and the mattes are some of the most buttery shadows I have ever used. It has a great sized mirror and comes with a dual ended brush.  For $54 dollars, it's one of the most expensive palettes I own and on this list but is totally worth it.  You can find this at Ulta or Sephora  either instore or online at the Urban Decay website.

The next palette that I love dearly, and was actually and impulse buy -and I thank that impulse every day, is the Smashbox Full Exposure palette.

I got this the summer it came out because of the neutral shadows, both major glitter and matte, because I didn't really own any neutral shadows that I liked.  I picked it up for the glitter, and while that still is my favorite part of the palette, I do use the matte side now and not just on my clients either! This palette is really great to travel with because you can do everything from a soft wash of color to a really deep smokey eye for going out and clubbing.  It's a very versatile palette.  The palette costs $52 and also comes with a dual ended brush but instead of two flat ends, one side is fluffy and the other is a dual sided brush with one side for mattes and the other side for glitters.  You can get this palette at Sephora and  Ulta.

The third palette is the Stila "Eyes are the Window- Spirit" palette.  This is a whole collection of palettes, with four in the whole collection and I have two- Spirit and Soul.  Soul was actually the first one I got but a few months ago I was drawn to Spirit and I had to have it.

The packaging style and shape is the same for all of the palettes but the colors of the metal range, this palette is rose gold with the three 'S's' being gold.  I like how on the back it tells you exactly what the colors are called and where they are in the palette.  I was drawn to this palette because of the red cranberry shade, it just called my name.  There are only two matte shadows in this palette of twelve shadows with the rest being satin or shimmer.  The case is very heavy duty and you can do a multitude of looks with this palette.  You can be bold with the cranberry shade all over the lid or in the crease with the coppery orange color all over the lid or tone it down with the neutral shades or do a soft smokey look with the dark chocolate browns and smoke colors.  The shadows themselves are very velvety and have next to none fallout when applied to the lid.  I do find, though, with this palette you do need to use an eyeshadow primer.  This also has the biggest mirror I have ever seen for such a small palette. This palette is gorgeous and definitely worth the $49.  You can get this at Sephora or Ulta.

The fourth palette in this roundup is the Urban Decay Vice 3 palette.  I had never owned a Vice palette up until the point when I bought this one because A) I didn't know how amazing they were and B) None of the colors had ever appealed to me.  This Vice palette was different, let me tell you, so I used my discount when I was working for Ulta and treated myself to it when it came out.

I loved the fact that this case is a magnetic closure, which makes opening it with one hand easier (since I usually have an eye primer in the other hand).  I love the mirrored packaging with the raised bright green VICE lettering, very nice marketing.  I was drawn to this palette because of the red shades.  This year I've really been drawn to red and cranberry shades on my eyes and this palette had a whole row of those colors.  I love the rich, royal looking colors because a lot of them are jewel toned.  There are a total of 20 shadows in this palette with a quarter of them being matte.  I haven't tried those yet but the satin and glitter shades are definitely my favorites.  This palette comes with a full sized mirror and a dual ended brush, like most Urban Decay eyeshadow palettes. You can get this on the Urban Decay website.

The final palette may come as  a surprise to some, or maybe most, but it's very reasonably priced and makes the prettiest eye look.  It is the Wet n Wild palette in California Roll from the Silver Lake collection and costs $3.99.  You can get it, hopefully, at your local drugstore.  Again, I love the red color but the real surprise in this six pan palette is the peach.  There is one matte shade in this palette and I use it as a base for the looks that I do with this palette.  You can create a beautiful soft look using the warm colors in this palette by using the shimmery white/beige color, putting the peach in the crease, and then the red in the outer V of the eye with a very light hand because manny day are these colors pigmented! You do need to use an eye base and/or primer to get the colors to be really true but they are gorgeous.  This is definitely the most affordable palette in this list but the hardest to find.  

What are some of your favorite palettes to use? Do you use any of these? XOXO

Be Bold, Be Beautiful, Be YOU!

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