Ditch Mainstream Eyeshadows
Indie brands are better for everyone!
This article contains affiliate links.
“Eyeshadow palettes are dead”
This is the consensus among many average makeup consumers. The infinitely reiterated warm neutral matte selection with a few dusty shimmers parading as metallics has worn its course. Just scrolling through the suggested palettes on Sephora will give you a plethora of nearly identical color stories in a vast range of prices. And there’s good reason for it- they sell! Every year there’s more new middle school girls who need their first eyeshadow palettes. But tried and true makeup consumers that just love neutrals are decidedly bored. You can see it on the comments of any “new makeup releases” post when another warm leaning brown palette is announced. Yawn. It’s not that people don’t desire neutrals; as a color lover I still use neutral shadows nearly every day for a subtle shade beneath the eye or a thicker lash line. The people desire more interesting neutrals. Better quality, greater innovation, and maybe something a little extra special for when you’re feeling a touch of fun. Eyeshadows from ABH were once the top tier for a glamorous look, now they’re just too powdery in the pan, too dull, too blah. The quality of makeup has come a long way since Modern Renaissance released in 2016, but you aren’t seeing much of it at the store.
One of the only (if not the only) brands to have kept up with modernization of formulas available at Sephora and Ulta is Natasha Denona. Despite being available at massive retailers, the brand is actually independent, being owned and operated by Natasha Denona for over a decade. Within her eyeshadow palettes of more neutral and balanced shades, you will also find formulas with delicate sparkle and duochrome finishes. Even her My Dream palette contains a soft finish full on multichrome. All these palettes, for containing more expensive pigments and the quality being on an artistry level, keep a reasonable prestige (basically luxury) price of $69 for 15 shades. Natasha Denona definitely isn’t for everyone though, as her mattes are extremely pigmented and require more than the average level of eyeshadow skill to use to their full potential.
If you’re looking for color, however, you have probably been dismayed miserably by the selections at big name makeup stores. I’ve been told for years that making a purple eyeshadow is “really difficult” and that’s why, even though they end up in released palettes, they’re absolutely terrible. Difficult to blend, patchy, dull, stain horribly- the list of purple eyeshadow woes goes on and on. The good news is that indie eyeshadows have completely solved all of these issues (well, with minor staining)! Palettes from Blend Bunny Cosmetics and Cosmic Brushes contain a plethora of colorful shades, some beautiful metallics, sparkly shimmers, and multichromes as well, but the stars of the show for me are the perfect purple eyeshadows. It brings to question why big name brands are still releasing much less than perfect purple eyeshadows if these indie brands have proven it’s not only possible but can also be done inexpensively. The stand out shade for me is “Cold” in the Winter Wonderland palette, a true indigo which I have never seen in an eyeshadow before. And it performs like a dream!
My personal greatest gripe with mainstream eyeshadows is anything to do with a shimmer. I love a variety of textures and finishes, everything from a smooth pearlescent look to a wet sparkly shine. I’ve found that a vast majority of the shadows at mainstream stores are simply too dry and dull for my liking. Especially at prestige price points, why are the shimmers identical to what you would find at the drugstore? A recent brand mishap is the single eyeshadow release from the disgraced Too Faced; just one peach-pink duochrome eyeshadow for $30 in plastic packaging that has identical (and better) dupes from indie brands for much less.
For example, this is Blaze from independent Canadian brand Clionadh Cosmetics. It’s just $9. And this shade isn’t unique to this brand either, every indie eyeshadow single brand has at least several iterations on this color and shift in a variety of particle size and shine.
A lot of people find indie single eyeshadows daunting due to the often bright colors and intense multichrome shifts. If you aren’t a lover of vibrant and stand out eyeshadow looks, it makes sense that you’re going to find these websites and vast collections of shadows difficult to navigate. But these brands actually have many neutral shadows that are absolutely stunning beyond anything you will find (even out of a Pat McGrath Mothership) and at even more reasonable prices than the green or blue shifting multichromes. Here are a few of my favorites:
Terra Moons Cosmetics has an array of shimmers in high shine sparkle and metallic finishes in completely neutral and unshifting shades like Caesium (a pale chartreuse gold), Palladium (rose gold), and Rubidium (bronzed gold). For just a hint of color and shift I love Lunar Lavender (a soft pink and purple shade with a mild blue sparkle). All of these are just $7.
Clionadh Cosmetics glitter multichromes line has a large amount of sparkly (not real glitter!) softly shifting shades at more affordable prices than their full on intensity multichromes. They also have lovely normal shimmer and metallics in circle shaped pans.
I don’t have any affiliate code or link with either of these brands, and everything I’ve purchased from them has been entirely my own money. If that doesn’t say how wonderfully dedicated I am to the uniqueness and quality of these eyeshadows, then I don’t know what will!
I think I’ve sang the praises of indie eyeshadows enough for one article… but that only means there will be much more to come! Thank you so much for stopping by and reading.