Price: $48 * Buy At: Sephora * Size: 3 x 0.08 oz & 9 x 0.04 oz The Kat Von D Shade + Light Eye Contour Palette is a 12-pan palette featuring warm, cool & neutral shades designed, of course, to contour the eyes. Despite all the hype this palette had gotten, I never picked it up because I already have so many neutral palettes. But Kat Von D is possibly my favorite high end brand, so I decided that I needed this palette. The Shade + Light Eye Palette has Kat Von D’s traditional, gorgeous hand lettering and the packaging is made of a thick, sturdy black plastic. One critique I hear this palette getting is that the shadows are almost too pigmented, and I can definitely see this. On fair skin like mine, you can accidentally apply way too much product and struggle to blend it away. There’s not a shade that works great to transition in my crease for me, so this formulation makes it particularly difficult. Anyone darker than me probably wouldn’t face this problem, but you can see in my swatches that there’s not a great mid tone shade for me. Despite it being the most neutral Kat Von D palette I own, I can't say that it's my favorite, but I would still recommend it. XOX ♥
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Price: $6.99 * Buy At: Walgreens * Size: 0.28 oz The Wet n Wild Studio Eyeshadow Palette in Quartz Center is a ten shadow palette with an emphasis on purple and grey shades. The Wet n Wild Studio Eyeshadow Palettes are fairly compact and has a clear lid. It also comes with a little brush, and while it's too small to use comfortably, it could help in a pinch, as one end of the brush is a sort of fluffy dome. As you may notice in my swatches, the second half of the palette does not have a ton of color variation, which is a bit disappointing, even though the shadows are all still nice. Purples are kind of infamous for being difficult to formulate, so I was especially impressed with Wet n Wild producing such a consistent palette. You can see in my swatches that none of the purples swatched patchy or were dry in texture. With the color scheme, I definitely think it would need to be used in combination with other shadows. None of the shades are matte--the closest to being matte is the dark grey 4th from the right, as the shimmer disappears when blended. While a lot of the palette looks dark, you could still get a pretty subtle look with just the first few shades. I'm not exactly a fan of purple as a color in general, and I'm not a fan of how it looks with my blue eyes, but for $7, this palette is good to keep on hand for me personally. I would definitely recommend this palette to anyone that likes purple eyeshadow without a doubt. XOX ♥
Price: $8 * Buy At: Target * Size: 16 g / 0.56 oz The Elf Beautifully Bare Natural Glow Face Palette is a small quad with a highlight, bronzer and two blushes. Elf has other quad palettes, with blushes, illuminators and contour. I liked this one because it has all three, and since it is so small, I figured it would be great to travel with. Since this quad is part of the new Beautifully Bare line instead of Elf’s studio line, the packaging is different. Instead of the matte black, the entire compact is mirrored, which could actually come in handy, in addition to just being visually appealing. All four shades felt smooth and creamy to the touch, but once I tried to swatch them on my arm, they became sheer and patchy. The contour shade is the best, but it's still not something that would make me reach for this quad, and I wouldn't say it alone is even worth $8. The two blushes aren’t great, and they look like the same color! So, if you aren't a fan of peachy, coral blushes, they won't be your cup of tea. The highlight is too dark on my fair skin as well, but it would be fine on anyone darker, however, it is hardly reflective and hardly even has shimmer, so I don't even know how flattering it would appear on a different skin tone. In case it wasn't apparent, I really don't like this quad and I was super disappointing. I usually like Elf products, so this was a big let down. XOX ♥
Price: $40 * Buy At: Zoeva's Website * Size: 15 x 0.05 oz The Zoeva Matte Spectrum Palette is a 15 pan palette of colorful, but muted shadows. The Matte Spectrum Palette comes in very simplistic black cardboard packaging with some holographic stripes. It doesn't have a mirror, but I honestly don't care if a palette has a mirror or not. Each column is made up of shadows in the same color family, but they are all very different, with the exception of MT050 and MT040. As you can see in the swatches of the top and middle row, these colors are decently close to each other. I love the colors this palette has to offer, but I wouldn't typically use it on its own since it has no browns. While it looks pretty light in the pan, MT030 is a really great transition shade on my skin tone, so that of course means that it would be a pretty highlight on most other people. Formula wise, this palette is pretty solid. All 15 shadows are decently soft and the majority of the shades are buttery feeling. You can probably see in the swatches that a couple of shades aren't as soft, but they all apply smoothly. None of the shadows are patchy, so there really isn't a dud shadow in the palette. I know this kind of palette isn't a must have for everyone, but I think the shade range is quite unique and I love how all the colorful shades are all still a bit muted. I also just love Zoeva as a brand so I am always happy to support. XOX ♥
Price: $10 * Buy At: Walmart * Size: 0.69 oz / 19.5 g The Hard Candy Look Pro Matte Eyeshadow Pro Palette is a 15 pan palette of matte shadows in a variety of shades. The Look Pro Matte Eyeshadow Palette has a clear lid with a little studded portion on the bottom. The palette comes with two dual ended brushes, that actually don’t seem like crappy throw-aways. I’m not saying they are amazing, but they are soft and silky and they are brushes that you would actually use in a daily eye look. The size and shape of the pans reminded me of the super pricy Viseart palettes, as well as the fact that the shades are all matte. Hard Candy is super underrated, so I had high hopes for this guy. The palette is mostly neutral, but it has the pops of muted color like the red, purple and dusty blue. All the shadows have a smooth, soft texture but they aren’t buttery. This helps avoid any fallout from application. Swatching the shadows don’t quite do this palette justice. They don’t swatch super intense, but they all are very even to apply. Since I have fair skin, it can be difficult at times to work with intensely opaque matte shadows, so a palette like this is great for daily use. I think pretty much any skintone would benefit from the wide selection of tones in this palette. I would definitely suggest this palette to beginners or people that just struggle with blending out super pigmented shadows. The shadows blend out easily and are still easy to build up. With the three browns in the center of the palette, I often use a fluffy brush to apply them as a transition shade and follow up with a more dense brush to build up the color directly into the crease. XOX ♥
Price: $36 * Buy At: Ulta * Size: 3 x 0.07 oz & 6 x 0.03 oz The Too Faced Peanut Butter and Honey Palette is a nine pan shadow palette following their popular Peanut Butter and Jelly Palette which I reviewed HERE. I bought this palette on the exclusive day for Ulta Platinum members, but it will be on Ulta's website March 1st and in-store March 19th. The Too Faced Peanut Butter and Honey Palette is in the same format and packaging as Too Faced's other tin 9-pan palettes. Like the PB&J Palette, I think that the PB & Honey Palette is kind of gimmicky. I think it's targeted towards makeup collectors and people (like me) that love the idea of the palette. I love peanut butter a ton, so naturally this palette would interest me. I'm not saying it's gimmicky because of the shadow quality, but because of the color selection. I just don't see it as being a palette that someone would use everyday, or a palette to be used alone. Any way you use this palette, you're going to get a warm, orangey eye, so there's just not a ton of variety. Going Nuts is the darkest shade, but it's not the easiest to blend, so it's not a shade that I would use to add definition to the eyes. All three of the light shades (Creamed Honey, Bee Sweet & Queen Bee) are a bit chalky and not super pigmented, but they may show up better on someone with darker skin. Negatives aside, Feelin' Nutty and Peanut Butter are gorgeous warm crease shades, which I know are a favorite to a lot of people. Honey Brittle and Bee's Knees also look nice in the crease. Bee's Knees has some glitter, which is super noticeable int he pan, but it blends out on the eyes. Honey Buns is the most unique shade, and it is also one of the best formulated shadows in the palette, as you can see the color payoff in the swatches. If you are a fan of these warm browns (which a lot of people are) then you may want to look into this palette. But, if you are looking for a compact palette to use everyday, this may not be the best option. XOX ♥
Price: $38 * Buy At: Sephora * Size: 8 x 0.06 oz The Kat Von D Pastel Goth Eyeshadow Palette is an eight-pan palette with a rainbow of matte, pastel shades. As always, Kat Von D has created gorgeous packaging for her Pastel Goth palette. This palette is pretty small and compact compared to her other palettes. Kat Von D tends to have large pan sizes, and the Pastel Goth palette is no exception. Normal full sized shadows (in singles and in palettes) are 0.05 oz, whereas the shadows in this palette are each 0.06 oz. Kat Von D is definitely one of my favorite brands; I have yet to try anything from her that I don’t love. I’ve seen that this palette has gotten some mixed reviews, but I really can’t see why! The shadows are soft and smooth, and they apply so effortlessly with full color payoff. I only used one swipe to get the pigmentation in the photos, which can’t always be said for matte, colorful shadows. So keep in mind that this palette is limited edition, so if you love pastel shades, or if you just love Kat Von D like I do, then don't hesitate to snatch this palette up before it's gone. XOX ♥
Price: $4.99 * Buy At: Ulta * Size: 0.33 oz The Essence All About Nudes Eyeshadow Palette is neutral toned 8-shadow palette. The All About Nudes Palette has a clear lid to easily see the colors inside. The palette is quite small, despite each shadow containing about 0.04 oz of product (0.05 is standard). Only one of the shades I would consider to be completely matte: the ivory on the top left. The rest of the top row has a bit of a satin finish, although blended in the crease they look pretty matte. The bottom row has a little bit more shimmer than the top row, but I'd still consider them satin. The only shade that is truly shimmery is the brown in the bottom right corner. The shadows are all smooth and soft; they have a bit of powder kickup because of the softness, but it has no effect on the pigmentation or application. These little Essence palettes are great for travel since they are so small and compact, but still contain plenty of product. This palette could easily provide the highlight, transition and crease shades for an everyday look in combination with other shadows, or on its own for a simple look. XOX ♥
Price: $28 * Buy At: Ulta * Size: 4g The Lorac Pro Matte Palette is an eight pan palette of--you guessed it--all matte eyeshadows. The Pro Matte Palette has the same thin, black, rubberized packaging as the rest of the Pro line. The palette is good for travel since it is so thin, and since it is made of all matte shadows, it could check a lot of boxes when picking out your travel makeup. You could stick to the left side of the palette for a soft, everyday look, or add in the other side to add depth, dimension or smokiness. Just like the other Pro palettes, the shadows in the Pro Matte palette are very soft and creamy and have intense color payoff. Since the formula is so soft, the shadows are prone to some excess powder kick-up or maybe even a bit of fallout, but they are still super easy to work with. XOX ♥
Price: $53 * Buy At: Ulta * Size: 20 x 0.035 oz The Tarte Tarteist Pro Palette contains sixteen matte and four metallic eyeshadows. The Tarteist Pro Palette is sleek and simple: gold and black. The palette is pretty large, so it has a big mirror under the lid. Each row is broken down with its own color scheme. The top row has warm browns, the second has a violet tone, the third is rosy and the bottom has cool neutrals. All the shades are great; none of them are a let down. The matte shadows have an incredibly soft and smooth formula. The metallic shades are very smooth and have intense pigmentation and are very shiny and reflective. You can see in my swatches how great the color payoff of each shadow is. Because the mattes are so soft, they do tend to kick up excess powder, similar to the Lorac Pro shadows. I really just can't say enough good things about this palette. The formulation of the shadows is amazing and the color selection is so broad and unique while still being neutral. The Tarteist Pro Palette has the shadows for every look, you wouldn't need to use other palettes in combination to get a gorgeous eye look. If it wasn't already obvious enough, I would definitely recommend this palette. XOX ♥
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