As a young girl, I always wished I had a huge collection and that I was good at makeup. I didn’t dare wear it incase girls at school laughed at me behind my back or commented on it, “I love your skirt!” “Thanks it was my mom’s in the 80’s” ring any bells?
I’m 20 now so i’m pretty much over all that, and finally allow myself to be into makeup and to experiment. When we go downstairs for pre-drinks before a night out, I am now usually the only girl with lashes, loads of eyeshadow,a cut crease, blinding highlight etc and I love it. I’ve been trying to build up my collection of makeup for quite a few years, I bought my first MAC foundation with money I got for my GCSE’s, and have tried to only buy higher quality makeup that will last longer, since then.
Eyeshadow is one of my favourite things as there are unlimited styles and colours and textures you can combine. There’s only one way to put on foundation. I only own 8 eyeshadow palettes (maybe a lot to some people?), but I definitely have my top 4. (Can’t narrow to 3, SOS). These are palettes that aren’t THAT expensive in the grand scheme of palettes, and suit everyone from those that are not too adventurous or confident with makeup, to those who want to experiment or wear loud colours. These palettes are good for everyday use, evening, and even crazy festival makeup. Bonus: they are all cruelty-free!
1)MORPHE 35T Colour Taupe palette
This is the first big palette I had, and I love it. All of the colours are warm and the palette has matte shades and shimmers. I use this most days, and I think it is gorgeous and perfect for anyone as the shades are universally flattering. If you are into brighter makeup, the palette has tonnes of options of transition shades. 35 shades for £23 on BeautyBay, it is such good value for money!
I swatched a few of my favourite shades just to show how pigmented the shades are as well. (Excuse the makeup wipe in my hand, I was ready to get it straight off so I didn’t get it on my bed).
2. Huda Beauty Mauve Obsessions palette
This is a more recent purchase, the others I have had for about a year. I have never tried Huda Beauty before but heard loads of good things about the brand, so decided to give this palette a shot. It is only small, but it is so beautiful and the shades are so pigmented it’s unreal. There is also not a lot of fall-out which is good since the colours are so bright, and if you’re anything like me and forget to do your eye makeup first, you don’t want hot pink dust in your highlighter. It has a mix of matte, satin and the sparkliest eyeshadows ever (that aren’t glitter though, foil maybe?), and the white is perfect for inner corner or under your brow bone. I absolutely LOVE this, it’s ideal for travelling or taking to get ready at a friends. It is £25 on Cult Beauty. Proof that good things really do come in smaller packages.
3) Jaclyn Hill Morphe Palette
Where do I start. I saw this palette EVERYWHERE on instagram for aaaages all the american bloggers and MUA’s were raving about it, but it wasn’t available on any UK sites. I had to have it, so I took the plunge and ordered it from abroad. After paying the equivalent of about £50 for the palette and shipping, then was hit with Customs Tax so would NOT recommend doing that. THEN of course, it became available in the UK. But no matter, i’m not bitter (I am), I still love her unconditionally (my palette is a she, yes). This palette has everything, warm shades, bright colours, shimmers, mattes, foils, satin, amazing pigmentation and colour pay-off, I just can’t say enough good things about this. All Morphe palettes are super blendable.
The ONLY thing that I can say negative-ish, is that this palette is cardboard and my other one is plastic, so this palette looks quite messy and stained inside whereas I can just wipe the other one down. I also wish that the names were printed underneath, as there was no point in naming them if they are not even on the palette.. If you were to get any, I would get this one as it covers all basis’.
4) Urban Decay Naked Ultimate Basics
My sister recently got this for me for Christmas and it is sooooo good. Not only does it have the most beautiful exterior packaging, the shades inside are amazing too. This palette is for everyday use as it contains all matte shades, but it has both warm and cool shades so leaves some room for experimentation still. Also, it comes with a brush which is actually really good! It is £39.50 from Debenhams, so the most expensive but also maybe the most useable? The shades are all so blendable and with minimal fall-out, and they could be used for day and evening looks. I also think it is good for anyone of any age, you won’t catch a lot of older women wearing the bright blue from the Jaclyn Hill palette, but I think anyone of any age can wear this.
So there you go! 4 Cruelty Free palettes that I can’t live without. If you fancy treating yourself this miserable January, get yourself one of these and go play around for a bit. I love them all so much, happy shopping!
