I recently heard someone say that the Urban Decay Naked Palette is ‘scary’.
Scary?
Scary simply isn’t the word I would use to describe it; beautiful- yes but scary isn’t quite the word.
I think being a beauty blogger it’s so easy to forget what a ‘normal’ person sees when they look at a palette and actually I can see why it would be scary. Why are there so many colour? Do I wear them all? Where do they go? Which ones go together?
So I thought I would share a few tips on how to use a palette and answering a few key questions as I believe a beautiful palette should bring excitement and not fear.
Start with the neutrals
I personally think an eyeshadow look made up of browns looks for polished than one made up of blues and greens but more than that I think that they are also more forgiving. Bright coloured eyeshadows still scare me and if you aren’t use to using eyeshadow I would recommend sticking to neutrals.
You don’t have to use all the colours
There is something very beautiful about a wash of a single colour all over the lid and just because there are 4 or 99 eyeshadows in a palette doesn’t mean you have to wear all of them. I usually go for anything between 1-4 and I think it would be quite hard to use much more than 6. If you are going for just one colour I think a medium toned eyeshadow with a satin finish works best, just apply all over the lid and a blend into the crease. You can then go on and add a highlight and contour shade if you wish.
Colours that are next to each other would often work quite well together
If you have a quad then the likely hood is that all the shades have been put together as they compliment each other, if you have something with around 10 eyeshadows then the colours on either side often work the best but most of the colours are likely to work together. If you have on of those ridiculous palettes with 99 shades then it gets a little more difficult so I say stick to smaller palettes as you are also more likely to use all the colour.
Want to follow the rules?
Generally speaking you then have a medium shade ‘lid colour’ which goes from the lash line to the crease of the eye. The lightest colour then goes under the brow bone and on the inner corner of the eye as a highlight. You then have a darker shade, often matte, which is blended into the crease to contour and can be used to define the outer corner.
Get good brushes
A good set of brushes can really help in the actual application of the product, never use the sponge tip applicator that comes with the shadow, instead invest in a flat eyeshadow brush and a blending brush.
Do you find eyeshadow palettes a little daunting?