5 Ideas for Building Your Own Eyeshadow Palette

If you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know I'm absolutely obsessed with my custom eyeshadow palette. In fact, my pre-made ones rarely get a look-in! Today I'm giving you  a few ideas of what to put into your very own personalised palette if you're new to the concept or just want to try something different with the one you already have.

For this post I've selected the Morphe ACC 12 Colour Magnetic Palette | £6.50. It's very affordable fits pans from a variety of eyeshadow brands. I also know that some people like the tidiness of having wells as opposed to a completely freeform magnetic panel. It has a mirror and is travel-friendly. I also think that 12 is a pretty good number of eyeshadows; you have enough options and can work in some versatility but you're not lugging around a giant palette. The indent on the wells also makes it so easy to get each shadow in and out - for me this has always been my big annoyance with MAC palettes. Because I like to mix and match and swap shades around it's crucial that getting the pans in and out isn't too fiddly.

The eyeshadows included are from the below brands and I've summed up for you what I think of their eyeshadow formulas, where I think a shade is different to what I've outlined below, I've added in a note:

Makeup Geek | £6 per pan | I really love the Makeup Geek eyeshadow formula and though they've annoyingly gone up in price, they're still the affordable option. The quality is overall very good. There are some nice, creamy mattes with good colour payoff and the shimmers are really good and not too glittery. Overall I find them just so long-wearing too! The colour range is vast and there's everything from bold colours to everyday neutrals. They also have a Foiled (£9.25) formula, which has this incredible, super-dewy metallic shimmer finish. It doesn't wear quite as well as the original formulation but the colour payoff is insane!

MAC | £10 per pan | MAC eyeshadows definitely vary in quality; I love the Veluxe Pearl finish, which gives a soft, metallic shimmer but I rate their Mattes less highly (some of them are ok but overall they can be a bit drying and chalky). For a while they were the only custom eyeshadows you could get but now, I don't think they're the best. However they do have so many shades that there are a handful I still think are worth getting your hands on.

Anastasia Beverly Hills | £10 per pan | For ages these weren't really available in the UK but there's now a proper UK Anastasia site you can order from! It's a good job too because they're absolutely fantastic and (besides the few shades I mentioned); for the price I'd say you're best spending your money on these over MAC's. The quality is just amazing; the mattes are incredible and the shimmers stunning. I've not come across a single dud in their collection and all of the shade I own have such good pigmentation. Whilst the colour selection isn't quite as never-ending as MAC's, I still think there's something in there for everyone.

The Copper-Toned Palette

Makeup Geek Shimma Shimma - off-white/champagne shimmer

Makeup Geek Starry Eyed (Foiled) - super-metallic champagne shimmer with slightly pink undertones 

MAC All That Glitters - a light nude shimmer with a bronze sheen

Anastasia Beverly Hills Glisten - a light-medium warm golden-nude shimmer

Makeup Geek Grandstand (Foiled) - super-metallic copper shimmer

MAC Expensive Pink - pink shimmer with a peach sheen

Anastasia Beverly Hills RTW - warm peachy-orange with a subtle golden shimmer

MAC Woodwinked - warm antique gold/bronze shimmer

Makeup Geek Frappe - mid-toned warm caramel brown matte

Anastasia Beverly Hills Red Earth - pinky-brown mid-toned matte

Makeup Geek Cocoa Bear - warm reddish-brown medium-dark matte

Anastasia Beverly Hills Truffle - dark plum-toned shimmer

The Smoky Palette

Makeup Geek Shimma Shimma - off-white/champagne shimmer for highlighting

Makeup Geek Starry Eyed (Foiled) - super-metallic champagne shimmer with slightly pink undertones

Makeup Geek Homecoming - neutral-toned brown-bronze shimmer

MAC Woodwinked - warm antique gold/bronze shimmer

Makeup Geek Cocoa Bear  - warm reddish-brown medium-dark matte

Makeup Geek Brownie Points - grey-brown medium-dark matte
(Note: I find this shade less creamy in texture and opaque in application than my other Makeup Geek mattes)

Anastasia Beverly Hills Deep Plum - deep, rich plum matte
(Note: the texture of this is drier and less opaque than my other mattes from Anastasia)

Makeup Geek Mesmerised (Foiled) - super-metallic dark grey-purple shimmer

Makeup Geek Taupe Notch - taupe-brown with slightly warm undertones and a subtle sheen
(Note: this has a little more fallout than my other shimmers from Makeup Geek)

Anastasia Beverly Hills Cognac - deep rich red-purple shimmer

Anastasia Beverly Hills Truffle - dark plum-toned shimmer

Makeup Geek Bada Bing - deep charcoal-brown with gold glitter

The Warm & Rich Palette

Makeup Geek Magic Act (Foiled) - super-metallic warm gold shimmer

Makeup Geek Morocco - warm mid-toned orange/red matte

MAC Amber Lights - warm orange-toned gold shimmer

Makeup Geek Legend - super-metallic warm gold with orange undertones

MAC Woodwinked - warm antique gold/bronze shimmer

Anastasia Beverly Hills Red Earth  - pinky-brown mid-toned matte

MAC Cranberry - deep, rich pink shimmer

Makeup Geek Cocoa Bear - warm reddish-brown medium-dark matte

Makeup Geek Cherry Cola - medium-dark muted purple matte
(Note: I find this less opaque than my other mattes from Makeup Geek)

Anastasia Beverly Hills Cognac - deep rich red-purple shimmer

Anastasia Beverly Hills Truffle - dark plum-toned shimmer

The Cool-Toned Palette

Makeup Geek Shimma Shimma - off-white/champagne shimmer 

Makeup Geek Starry Eyed (Foiled) - super-metallic champagne shimmer with slightly pink undertones

Makeup Geek Homecoming - neutral-toned brown-bronze shimmer

MAC Patina - mid-toned cool brown with an iridescent sheen

Makeup Geek Taupe Notch - taupe-brown with slightly warm undertones and a subtle sheen

(Note: this has a little more fallout than my other shimmers from Makeup Geek)

MAC Quarry - mid-toned taupe matte with slightly lilac undertones

MAC Satin Taupe - taupe shimmer with purple tones

Makeup Geek Mesmerised (Foiled) - super-metallic dark grey-purple shimmer

Anastasia Beverly Hills Truffle - dark plum-toned shimmer

Anastasia Beverly Hills Deep Plum - deep, rich plum matte

(Note: the texture of this is drier and less opaque than my other mattes from Anastasia)

Makeup Geek Brownie Points - grey-brown medium-dark matte

(Note: I find this shade less creamy in texture and opaque in application than my other Makeup Geek mattes)

Makeup Geek Bada Bing - deep charcoal-brown with gold glitter

The Every Single Day Palette

Makeup Geek Shimma Shimma  - off-white/champagne shimmer

MAC All That Glitters  - a light nude shimmer with a bronze sheen

Makeup Geek Peach Smoothie - light peach-toned matte

(Note: this has more fallout than my other Makeup Geek mattes)

Makeup Geek Frappe - mid-toned warm caramel brown matte

MAC Sable - reddish-brown shimmer

Makeup Geek Grandstand (Foiled) - super-metallic copper shimmer

Anastasia Beverly Hills Red Earth - pinky-brown mid-toned matte

Makeup Geek Cocoa Bear - warm reddish-brown medium-dark matte

Makeup Geek Taupe Notch - taupe-brown with slightly warm undertones and a subtle sheen

(Note: this has a little more fallout than my other shimmers from Makeup Geek)

MAC Woodwinked - warm antique gold/bronze shimmer

Anastasia Beverly Hills Truffle - dark plum-toned shimmer

Makeup Geek Bada Bing - deep charcoal-brown with gold glitter

What kind of shades do you go for when it comes to custom palettes?

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