Makeup is supposed to be fun, not overwhelming, and yet as a professional makeup artist, I still find myself struggling to keep up with all the new products on the market. Especially when it comes to eyeshadow palettes. At this point, it seems like every other day there’s a new eyeshadow palette being released. And if you’re as obsessed with Color Pop as I am there’s pretty much a new eyeshadow palette released every other week. But as a professional makeup artist that primarily works with women of color, I’m always looking for the best eyeshadow palettes that compliment women with brown skin.
It’s important that when you’re looking for the perfect eyeshadow palette for brown skin you’re absolutely sure that the palette has enough warm tones for you to work with. Warm tone colors consist of rich reds, browns, oranges, and even some yellows. In my opinion, there is nothing worse than buying an eyeshadow palette only to find that you can only use 60-70% of the colors. You paid for the entire palette, so you should be able to use the entire palette. When it comes to Brown girl-friendly eyeshadow palettes I like to keep three things in mind before I fully commit: warmth, cost, and quality. I know how expensive makeup and these palettes are the best brown girl-friendly eyeshadow palettes.
Mented Everyday Eyeshadow Palette
The Mented Eyeshadow Palette is the perfect palette for beginners just getting into makeup. It’s a sophisticated 9-shade collection that’s perfect for creating a simple natural look. Mented Cosmetics is a brown girl friendly brand so any product you buy from them is a win-win situation no matter what you buy from them.
Urban Decay – Naked Heat Eyeshadow Palette
The Urban Decay Heat palette is the OG of eye shadow palettes. The name pretty much speaks for itself when it comes to pigment. Urban Decay Heat is filled with beautiful warm tones that seamlessly blend into one another. The red-brown mattes and copper tones are perfect for creating a great alternative to a black smokey eye. Using this palette for a smokey eye gives you the same intensity and dimension as a dark smokey eye without the overly blacked out effect.
Huda Beauty – Rose Gold Remastered
This eyeshadow palette is so amazing it won The Allure “Best-of-Beauty” Award! If you’re looking to achieve a really pretty soft glam look or even a full glam look this is the palette that every brown girl should own. It includes eight matte shades, eight metallics, one black liner shade, and one pressed pearl shade—all of them have a super-creamy consistency giving you that intense payoff.
Pixi Beauty – Eye Reflections Eyeshadow Palette
This affordable palette truly has a beautiful color story. The eyeshadows are incredibly rich in tone & texture. It’s a collection of super silky mineral shadows with nothing but warm colors including some really gorgeous metallics allowing you to easily create some beautiful 3D looks.
Wander Beauty – Off Duty Eyeshadow Palette
Although this palette is much smaller than the others in this list with six shades, make no mistake this eyeshadow palette is not to be underestimated. The six shades in this palette are intense warm shadows that complement one another. The pigments allow you to create an infinite number of diverse looks with the least amount of effort and time being spent into blending. This palette is great for the gal-on-the-go!
Although this eyeshadow palette is on the pricey side it’s definitely worth the investment. This pallet consists of 15 unique shades, some of which you wouldn’t expect to be brown girl friendly. At first glance, the mauves and greys don’t look like they’d compliment women with brown skin but there are in fact warm undertones in those unlikely colors.
Physicians Formula Murumuru Butter Eyeshadow Palette
This palette is probably the most diverse out of the lot when it comes to color stories. While this palette has a variety of gorgeous warm browns it also has some stunning ‘wild card’ shades that allow you to create some sultry tropical or jewel-tone looks. The metallic blue and violet shades add a wow factor, to say the least. One of my favorite drugstore finds!
I know, that was a long-ass list!!
But now you’re ready to dip your brush into a new palette with some insight and not going in blindly, Right?!!
XOXO,
KC