Although it's a bit of an investment, I get more use out of my custom eyeshadows than any of my premade palettes. These are the absolute essentials from my collection!
Just in case you were wondering; the palette I use is the ColourPop Small Empty Magnetic Palette | $7. It's functional and does the job, storing 12 shades regardless of the brand (they often have slightly different pan sizes) because it's a free-format magnetic palette. This is the perfect number of colours for travelling and I always reach for this when I'm going to be away because it has everything in it that I need to create a variety of looks for day or night.
The first shade I have is the Makeup Geek Eyeshadow Pan in Shimma Shimma | £4.95. I love this as my everyday inner-corner highlight - the champagne-white colour is quite stark, however the finish is soft and sheeny as opposed to being really glitzy and shimmery, so it works for everyday wear. I also have the Makeup Geek Eyeshadow Pan in Peach Smoothie | £4.95 | which I use most days as a transition shade. It's a matte, though it does have a slightly crumbly texture, so be careful of fallout! It's the perfect mid-toned warm peach colour to add dimension to the look and help blend the crease colour in. Overall I find the Makeup Geek formula to have really good longevity.
One of my go-to crease colours is the Makeup Geek Eyeshadow Pan in Frappe | £4.95. It's that perfect warm mid-toned matte caramel brown that goes with all of my usual makeup looks. It has a nice smooth texture and the right level of pigmentation, so it gives a nice soft look, whilst defining and blending out with ease. A slightly brighter colour I like to use to add something extra to the standard golden-bronze smoky eye is the Makeup Geek Eyeshadow Pan in Morocco | £4.95. It's a vibrant reddish-orange colour that looks stunning once on. I also really like that it applies evenly and isn't difficult to blend, as some brighter shades can be.
In terms of lid colours, I really like the Makeup Geek Foiled Eyeshadow Pan in Grandstand | £7.95. This eyeshadow formula is incredible - it's super-smooth, metallic and gives an amazing dewy effect. It's so smooth that it doesn't even really feel like a powder. It's not quite as durable as the standard formula, but still lasts well on me. It's also so opaque! Grandstand is a stunning warm coppery rose gold lid colour. I also have the Makeup Geek Foiled Eyeshadow Pan in Legend | £7.95 | which has the same consistency but is a warm amber-gold shade.
Continuing with lid colours, I also use to death my MAC Pro Refill Eyeshadow Pan in Woodwinked | £10. It's a gorgeous mid-toned warm bronzy-gold with a soft sheen. It's long-wearing and I love it for an evening look. I also get a lot of use out of the Makeup Geek Eyeshadow Pan in Taupe Notch | £4.95. Like Peach Smoothie, this is a little more crumbly than the other eyeshadows I have from this collection, however I don't find this impacts on its longevity. It's a little cooler than the other shades in this palette but still really works with something like Frappe in the crease. Colour-wise it's somewhere between cool brown and taupe.
I have a couple of darker crease colours I love and often use for a more nighttime look. The Anastasia Beverly Hills Eyeshadow Single in Red Earth | £12 | is pretty unique in my collection - it's a sort of earthy brown with reddish-taupe undertones. This formula is incredible and Red Earth is a long-wearing matte that's pigmented but easy to work with. My other essential is the Anastasia Beverly Hills Eyeshadow Single in Sienna | £12. This has a slightly smoother texture but otherwise the formula is very similar. Sienna is a warm, rich, medium-to-dark reddish-brown.
Finally I have some darker shades that I like to use on the outer corner of my eye and sometimes take across the lower lash line to add a bit of smokiness. I have the Anastasia Beverly Hills Eyeshadow Single in Cognac | £12 | which is pigmented but blend-able and has a soft shimmer finish. This is a warm red-toned brown. I also have the Anastasia Beverly Hills Eyeshadow Single in Truffle | £12 | which is very much the same formula-wise but is a warm, rich plum tone.
Do you have a custom eyeshadow palette? What are your favourite brands and colours?
Woodwinked is a classic! My custom MAC palette is definitely one of my favourites because I love every shadow in it! xx
ReplyDeleteBeautylymin
These are such beautiful eyeshadow shades
ReplyDeleteCandice | beautycandyloves.co.za
These shades are stuning! I LOVE the shimmers
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Ellie xx
Mac Woodwinked is one of my all time favourites, I actually published a post today on my favourite eyeshadows from Mac! I owned Make Up Geek Grandstand for about 3 days, until I dropped it and it smashed everywhere, it was very traumatic haha! Lovely post as always Xx
ReplyDeleteSuch a beautiful assortment!
ReplyDeleteLotte | www.lottebeautybox.blogspot.co.uk
Grandstand looks like a colour I need ASAP!
ReplyDeletehttp://claresloves.blogspot.com/
I dont have any custom palettes, but this sure makes me want one!! I love all the same colours as you! Especially Shimma Shimma, Morocco, Grandstand, and Woodwinked!! OMG THEY ARE SO PRETTYYY. xx
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I love Frappe and Grandstand, too! I need to reach for my individual shadows more often. I would love to get more from Makeup Geek and try out Anastasia ones!
ReplyDeletewww.beautyfromkatie.blogspot.com
Great selection! I mostly use my Nabla single eyeshadows, I just love them
ReplyDeleteErika | EdgyStylishNerd
such a great selection, I am very tempted to get customs as atleast you get what you want
ReplyDeleteMelissa | Fruity Flamingo
I need Grandstand and Morocco! Do you prefer Mac or Makeup Geek eyeshadows in general?
ReplyDeleteShireen⎜Reflection of Sanity
I love custom palettes, I reach for the two I have all the time. I have a nine pan ABH one and Red Earth is in there, it's so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteBillie | www.othersummers.com
I've just picked up eight of the Anastasia single shadows and I am in love with the formula! xx
ReplyDeletewww.coleoftheball.com
I'm thinking of putting together a custom MAC quad to go with my Too Faced Matte palette as my two travel palettes! Great to see Woodwinked as a recommendation.
ReplyDeleteIt's on my list along with: Satin Taupe, Sumptuous Olive, Mulch, Sable, and Bronze. It's so hard to narrow these down to 4 but I think seeing them in real life at MAC will help me choose! Have you tried any of these shadows?
A xx
alexisadrienne.net
ABH Sienna is on my next quad that I am waiting to justify creating. I love that the ColourPop palette fits them in nicely. I hate when palettes store them wonky - its what put me off all these years, and yes I am that shallow haha! xxx
ReplyDeleteI need to get myself some custom palettes. So many of my shades in palettes go unused.
ReplyDeletewww.upyourvlog.com
I can't believe I've only just got myself a Z Palette and some single shadows, but they are only from colourpop! I need to try the makeup geek ones, Grandstand is gorgeous and Woodwinked is so pretty when swatches! xx
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I have a custom MAC palette and I am obsessed with it, I reach for it every single day and even though it cost hell of a lot of money to put together, I still love it!
ReplyDeleteDanielle xx
http://www.fashionbeautyblog.co.uk/
I've been tempted to try out Makeup Geek eyeshadows for a while now, and you're convincing me that a custom palette is the way to go! I would totally include warm shades just like all of these. The foiled formula sounds about perfect for me, and the finish is super pretty, I like sparkly eyeshadows. The Anastasia Beverly Hills shades you've got are gorgeous too. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteJulia x
Last Post: Favourite Winter Moisturisers | http://juliaspeaksbeauty.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/beauty-winter-moisturisers.html
Although I have quite a large collection of MUG eyeshadows I rarely reach for them, I don't know why because I really like them. I got the ABH Soft Glam palette recently which has Sienna in it and it's such a gorgeous shade! x
ReplyDeleteMummy's Beauty Corner
Grandstand is one of my all time favourites, it's such a beautiful shade and looks stunning on warm skin tones!
ReplyDeleteGemma Louise
I can see why so many people loooove it :) x
ReplyDeleteOh noooo what a shame! x
ReplyDeleteMakeup Geek is an amazing place to start! x
ReplyDeleteThe ABH formula is so good x
ReplyDeleteOooh I've not tried theirs yet! x
ReplyDeleteI personally think MUG is just as good as MAC, but I'd still splash out on MC for a really special shade :) x
ReplyDeleteI've tried Satin Taupe, Sumptuous Olive and Sable :) I actually swatched Bronze and thought it was a bit too similar to Woodwinked to pick up that as well. Sable is a gorgeous more red-toned brown that adds a bit of variation x
ReplyDeleteDefinitely worth the investment :) x
ReplyDeleteShimma Shimma is such a favourite of mine, I like that it's quite versatile and can be packed on for punch and also softened up with blending
ReplyDeleteHelpless Whilst Drying
I tend to get the most use out of my custom palettes too - they're the easiest thing to reach for because they're obviously all of your favourite kinds of shades in one place! The ABH ones are the ones I've most recently become obsessed with, and Red Earth is next up on my wishlist!
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