Friday, May 9, 2014

Top 5 Low-End Eyeshadow Palettes

Following my Top 5 Low-End Eyeshadow Singles post, I've rounded up my top five budget-friendly/"drugstore" eyeshadow palettes. While I usually find myself reaching for my more expensive palettes, like the Urban Decay Naked palettes, NARS And God Created the Woman Eye Palette or Laura Mercier Lingerie Eye & Cheek Palette, every now and then I'll use these more affordable alternatives and be reminded that you don't necessarily need to spend big bucks to satiate all your eyeshadow needs and wants. It's only because I have so many palettes (and single/duo eyeshadows) that I don't appreciate and pay as much attention to these cheaper standouts.




MUA Heaven and Earth

MUA Eyeshadow Palette in Heaven and Earth
Into neutral eyeshadows? Then this is the palette for you. Take your pick from the selection of shimmery champagne, peach, bronze, gold, copper, taupe and chocolate shades. The shadows might not be as creamy, effortlessly blendable and pigmented as Urban Decay, but they still exceed expectations given their low price point. For a palette containing a high proportion of ultra wearable, all-over lid shades (and some highlighting and deepening colours to boot), you can't go wrong with Heaven and Earth.

Revlon Coffee Bean

Revlon ColorStay 12 Hour Eye Shadow in Coffee Bean
I consider Coffee Bean a good "drugstore" alternative to the Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette. My favourite colour is the matte light greige shade — a kind of colour you don't see very often among the more affordable brands. (I'm wearing it over the lid with some decorative paper lashes here.) I do find the shadows to be on the powdery side with quite a bit of fallout if I don't tap my brush first to minimise any loose pigment, but as you can see from the swatch, the colour payoff is good and the versatile shade selection allows for the creation of different looks that can be taken from day to night.

Revlon Naturally Glamorous

Revlon CustomEyes Shadow & Liner Palette in Naturally Glamorous
Revlon has had its fair share of dud eyeshadows (see ColorStay Mineral Eyeshadow in Midnight Garnet), and unlike their generally outstanding lip products, they're not exactly renowned for their eyeshadows, but along with Coffee Bean, Naturally Glamorous is a definite hit. Admittedly, I mainly use the first and fourth bronzy shades, but that's because I'm largely unadventurous and lazy when it comes to eye makeup and I don't like to deviate from what I know and love. The texture and overall quality of these warm-toned shadows are superior to Coffee Bean in that they're creamier, not as powdery, have less fallout and richer colour payoff (though at the same time, there aren't any matte shades). The plastic packaging is flimsy though, perhaps a design flaw as the palette unusually opens from the side rather than the bottom. The hinge of mine has fallen apart, reducing the functionality of the palette considerably.

Wet n Wild Comfort Zone

Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Collection in Comfort Zone
Along with MUA Heaven and Earth and Sleek i-Divine Eyeshadow Palette in Storm, Comfort Zone was one lower end palette that I simply needed to have. I bought it relatively early on in my cosmetics obsession, having read countless rave reviews about how the shadows were comparable to much pricier brands. Sure enough, the pigmentation of the shadows in Comfort Zone is uniformly excellent. There is a bit of annoying fallout with some of the darker shades, so I usually try to steer clear of them. I was a tad disappointed that the bottom left Definer shade turned out to be closer to black than the rich chocolate brown it resembled in the pan, but it's not like I'm experiencing any shortage of chocolate browns, so I can live with that. I appreciate that Comfort Zone offers more variety than the brown/beige/grey palettes I stockpile, with even the odd green and orange shade in the mix. The incredible duochrome of the right Definer shade is what makes this palette in my opinion — MAC Club dupe, anyone?

Sleek Oh So Special

Sleek i-Divine Eyeshadow Palette in Oh So Special
Surprise, surprise — a Sleek palette is of course in here, but it's not Storm. I figured I only truly adore and use one shade in Storm, but Oh So Special is, well, just as its name suggests. I have to tip my hat to any cheaper makeup brand that includes not one, but two bright pink matte shades in a single palette. And the biggest revelation is that they're not at all terrible. You'd almost expect them to be underwhelming given the poor track record of matte shades from the lower end of the market, but they're actually intensely pigmented (ironically, the tamer, ho-hum matte dark brown Box was the only flop of this palette). The shimmery shades have an almost moist, spongy texture and they're vibrantly metallic with minimal fallout. Oh So Special is unabashedly flirty and feminine.

39 comments:

  1. I love the look of Sleek 'Oh so special', such pretty shades! x

    SophiesMakeupBlog

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  2. I think MUA is good value for money but it does take a good effort to get decent pigmentation onto the eyelid which puts me off, I really want to try that Sleek palette, the colours look really great for the summer, and is a much cheaper alternative to the Naked collection.

    Have a look at this blog I'm doing for research if you have the time! x
    http://representationsinfashion.blogspot.co.uk/

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    1. I completely agree with you about the MUA palette, the colours are so lovely but it definitely takes good effort to get decent pigmentation, it really doesn't last very long on the lid x

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  3. Can you believe I don't have a single Wet n Wild palette. I think that needs to change!

    Great post!

    Meghan
    www.todaysbeautyobsession.com

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  4. I think i need to get my hands on those Revlon ones! xo

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  5. I love all the MUA ones I have, but I'll have to keep a look out for those Revlon ones, they look gorgeous!

    Catherine, xo || Lady Liquor

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  6. Great roundup of neutral drugstore palettes!! It really is embarrassing for me to think about how many of the same shadows I probably own but… because they're in the form of drugstore shadows that makes it okay, right (it doesn't haha)? I'm not typically attracted to bright pink eyeshadows but the ones in that Sleek palette are looking quite tempting right now… :)

    ♥Cassie
    thriftthick.blogspot.com

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  7. I want to try the Wet n Wild palette so badly, but every time I try to pick it up it's sold out! Probably because of all the great reviews. :)
    emiliashea.blogspot.com

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  8. i love the mua palettes! the only thing i don't like about the heaven and earth one is that all of the shades are shimmery xx
    mollyox.blogspot.co.uk

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  9. I love Sleek Makeup's palettes, they are so inexpensive and the quality is great :) / almeidas.se

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  10. Isn't that a perfect roundup! MUA eyeshadow palettes are indeed amazing. Undressed is my favourite. x

    Shang J. | The Feminine Crusade

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  11. Wow, some of these are really spectacular. I especially love the Revlon palettes and that Sleek one. What pretty corally pinks!

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  12. I dug out my Revlon's Naturally Glamorous recently and absolutely love it right now! I don't know what I was thinking when I shoved it! I guess it has to do with the right brushes!

    Summer Beauty essentials | http://theconsciencefund.com

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  13. I've just done a similar post- well talking about palettes anyway.
    I absolutely love Sleek, MUA and Wet 'N' Wild palettes, they're amazing for the price! x
    www.jadeddaily.co.uk

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  14. beautiful palettes! :)

    http://sbr-fashion-fashion.blogspot.com/

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  15. Oh now I absolutely love the look of the Revlon Coffee Bean Palette, I'm going to see if I can find that here.
    Amy x | A Little Boat Sailing

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  16. This post is so helpful. I am not the one to spend fortune on make up, especially eye shadows in which case quality doesn't always come with price ( I've learnt on my own mistakes). I really like Revlon Pallettes and I think I'll have a closer look at them when shopping :)

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  17. Naturally glamorous is soooo pretty! Sadly it's not available here, which is really sad. Oh and the last shade of that Wet n Wild palette is a really nice dupe for Girly from Pretty Rebel by Too Faced!
    You are so luck with your oh so special! Mine has terrible pigmentation and crumble problems TwT
    Take care*

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  18. This reminded me to whip out my Oh So Special palette and use it more!

    Sheri | Behind The Frames

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  19. The Revlon Coffee Bean palette looks great!

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  20. I forgot how gorgeous the MUA palette is, I need to dig it out! I think I may need to go shopping for some Revlon palettes tomorrow :)

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  22. Sleek palettes are so gorgeous - I have the Au Natural version and use it almost everyday. xx

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  23. I love the look of Sleek palettes! They really are beautiful.

    nueyork.blogspot.com

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  24. Perfect picks! You're completely right, most of these are just as great as their higher end alternatives but with a lower price tag! xx

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  25. Love all your picks! The oh so special is my favorite neutral palette for now and I'm quite damn sure that the comfort zone has a place in my life too! I had a beautiful quad from revlon some time back but it's no longer with me and it's no longer sold by them. They do actually have some good quality shadows in their quads but I don't think of shadows when I think revlon.

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  26. That MUA palette looks fab! Great for a quick go-to makeup look!

    XO, G from grace'd

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  27. For eyeshadow, I mainly turn to the Urban Decay Naked palette but I've been looking for some more cool-toned colours recently. The colours in the Revlon Coffee Bean palette seem to fit the bill; it covers the basics! x

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  28. I love Revlon eye palettes, they're such a great alternative to the more expensive options out there. I haven't tried the MUA palette but the colours look great!

    Chantalle x
    ceceandgrace.blogspot.com

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  29. This is such a fab post, there's no where near enough high-street focussed posts at the moment! x

    lillies and lipbalm

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  30. WNW Comfort zone is one of my all time favorite neutral palettes. And you are absolutely right, don't need to spend big bucks to find a good everyday eyeshadow palette!

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  31. I really like the heaven & earth palette, the pigmentation was much better than I was expecting for the price point, which is always a good thing!

    Jennie xo | sailorjennie.com

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  32. So much love for the Comfort Zone Palette!

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  33. Lovely post hun :)
    I own Comfort Zone and Oh So Special and they are both really amazing :)
    xx

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  34. I only have one Sleek palette and I think it's a very good option. The colours are nice and the pigmentation is great for such price. I still need to try MUA and Wet N Wild :)

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  35. I love the "Oh So Special" palette by Sleek! It`s pretty amazing for an affordable palette <3 the other palettes look gorgeous as well!

    PIXELS ON YOUR SCREEN

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  36. You know what I really love about this post? Newer is not necessarily better. I love how you've brought out the old discontinued favourites - you've inspired me to go and dig out some old faves of my own this weekend!

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  37. i really wanted to love the comfort zone palette but teh colors are just a little too cool for me. i prefer warmer shades and i found i just never reached for this.which is such a shame!
    Jenn
    A Beautiful Zen

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  38. I don't ever give Revlon shadows a second glance, but I love the look of Naturally Glamourous. Shame about the shitty packaging though. :(

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