Eyeshadow Palettes that were Ground-breaking

Hi guys!

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about hyped up eyeshadow palettes that have come out over the years and thought I would compile the list and look back through makeup history. There have been many palettes that were ground breaking at the time of their release and it really shows how trends change and opinions change. Only a few in this list are solid in my collection but they were important to the makeup community none the less.

 

Urban Decay- Naked palette

We have to start at this absolute classic palette. This, in my mind, was the first mainstream palette being really big and popular. The concept of palettes wasn’t really as well known and popular as they are now and this was a staple in many, many collections. This palette was a do-it-all neutral palette and the colours were pretty cool toned in the grand scheme of things. I think it spoke to the time it released, as the majority of the shades were shimmers and there were only a couple of mattes, which worked to do a complete eye look. As the trends have moved on, consumers are definitely going toward more matte shades, even doing completely matte eye looks, but very few people do all shimmer looks and own a lot of all shimmer palettes. The shades in the original Naked palette were a mixture of light and darker shades and a lot of people had a favourite shade that they used religiously.

Since the original Naked palette, they have expanded the range, and it is their most popular range (in my humble opinion). They have various shade ranges such as a cool toned one, a pink toned one, smoky and dark shades and warm reds and oranges. The Naked palette set a tone for future makeup releases.

The original Naked palette has since been discontinued, and I for one was shocked that they did get rid of it. It was, and still is, a staple in many makeup collections across the globe.

Lorac Pro palette

This followed shortly from the Naked palette but this had more interesting shades in, like a red and a blaring gold which the Naked palette launched.  It had a row of mattes and a row of shimmers, and equally matched palettes were not a big thing when it launched. Having more mattes to play around with was a good step in creating more looks out of one palette. It also had a mix of warmer shades and some slightly on the cool side, which had not been seen as much before. I feel like this palette was used a lot by more advanced makeup users and professionals, but it was also very beginner friendly with the shades that were picked. It was a mostly neutral palette which is universally usable and paved a way for more advanced neutral palettes (if that is even a thing).

Since the Lorac palette, they have extended this range to more palettes of the same size, but with different colours and the Mega Pro palettes which were part of the range but bigger. Although big palettes aren’t as popular currently, back in the day, having a big palette was useful and having more variety of shades was appealing to many people.

Urban Decay Naked 3 palette

The Naked 3 palette was also ground breaking. It featured a new variety of nude shades which hadn’t been seen before. They were very pink/mauve toned and rose gold shades included. This palette also had a more equal balance of mattes and shimmers, giving it more variety to work with. Although this palette has now been duped many times over, this was the original and will stand out as being the first to set the trend. This palette does have it’s problems though. It is not very dark skin friendly, as most of the shades are light and could be chalky and there are lack of darker shades to deepen a look up. I remember buying this as a skint student, when I know I shouldn’t have bought it, because I loved it so much. It was my first high end makeup product and I adored it. I also still have it to this day and use is very occasionally. Part of me does think that I should’ve waited for the dupes because there were so many after this release. This is when I saw dupes of palettes for the first time. I feel like this palette started the duping trend.

The Naked 3 palette is still available but I don’t see anyone talk about it anymore and don’t really see anyone using it.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance

This was a breakthrough palette into the warm tones and everyone went crazy for it! Personally, I’d never heard of ABH before this palette but when this released, it got a load of hype for being amazing quality and for the unique colour schemes. There were not as many warm tones on the market at the time and this changed when this palette released. Every makeup collector has this palette (or that’s what it seems like) and it was a highly sought out product. I know I jumped on the hype as soon as I could and I have to agree that it is worth the hype. Another thing which was different is that the palette had far more mattes and only 2 shimmers, which made it stand out more and so many more looks could be done with it.

Following the major success of the Modern Renaissance, ABH then released Subculture and this palette was also ground-breaking but for completely different reasons. A lot of people hated the Subculture and complained that the batch was bad. I got the palette on the first round of release and although it does have some problems, I personally love it!

Morphe 35O

In comes Morphe. They started the trend of big palettes and they since have expanded the range of big palettes to more colour stories but the 35O remains a true game changer. Although this was *probably* private labelled (not sure if this is fact or just an allegation), a lot of people went with the hype. The palette consisted of very warm toned shadows, with little difference between them, gradually getting darker in tone. I feel the looks you get from this palette are similar, due to the nature of the colours picked, but no one can deny the hype this palette got and it paved the way for bigger palettes with more variety to pick from.

Morphe x Jaclyn Hill

I always feel this palette was the start of the major makeup collaboration palettes. This was a very highly anticipated palette when it first released and earned its status in many collections, as the quality is really good (at first release but we will get into this). Many people still use and love this palette, as it has a really good, curated colour scheme that is very user friendly. It was also in the classic 35 pan layout which Morphe became known for. It truly is a staple in so many collections, even now and it stood the test of time.

Since the original release, there has been some drama relating to the palette. Morphe have reportedly changed the formula, and people have reported that the quality is not the same and it does not work as it did before. The changes in formula have also meant that it is not vegan anymore, as the ingredient Carmine is apparently in the new formula. The palette being vegan was a massive selling point and this now not applies.

Too Faced Chocolate Bar

Now, although this palette wasn’t anything new or special in the colour scheme, what set this apart as being ground-breaking is the scent and the cute packaging. Scented makeup wasn’t a thing before this was released, as it smelt like chocolate. Having the cuteness of the packaging, along with the scent of it made it rise to the top of makeup lovers wish list when it was released. From what I can gather from reviews at the time, the shadows actually performed really well. The hype on this has since died down and people have moved onto other things and scented makeup is being done by more companies. The palette has also been duped many times and Makeup Revolution have created a huge line of chocolate palettes which makes the idea of the Too Faced one not as unique anymore.

bPerfect x Stacy Marie Carnival Palette

Although this may not have got as much hype as the others, this introduced the huge rainbow palette trend and was really well received from consumers. A lot of the mainstream palettes were neutral and this was a fun pop of colour which the world needed. The quality of the palette is amazing, which also makes it well received and well loved. I think for a collaboration palette, this was done really well. This palette also paved the way for future rainbow palettes which are all over now and I personally love a rainbow palette.

bPerfect and Stacy Marie have since collaborated 2 more times to create the Carnival XL and the Love Tahiti palette which are also incredible. They really are a solid choice in rainbow colours and the quality is amazing, especially for the price.

Jeffree Star Cosmetics Blood Sugar

Although I do not agree with Jeffree Star as a person or condone his actions, the Blood Sugar palette was incredibly well received. I remember missing out on the palette on first release and it sold out instantly. This was released at the time of Jeffree’s popularity and it really showed with the amount of hype it got. I have this palette and have to admit that it is beautiful and the quality is really great and the colour scheme is so romantic and gorgeous. The Modern Renaissance paved the way to start the red eyeshadow trend and Jeffree Star Cosmetics ran with it and took it further than ABH did. What also made the palette special is that it is cohesive and works well together, as well as including complimentary shades which are more on the neutral side. It works for so many people, as well as people of colour. It is user friendly and introduced a lot of people to bright red, fun shades.

Morphe x James Charles

Let’s be honest, this palette broke the internet. It was so hyped and sold out all the time when it was first released and took a while to get a steady stream of palettes that didn’t sell out super quickly. This palette pretty much has everything someone would need, especially a beginner, as it has a couple of rows of neutrals, a large pans of transition and most used shades, and then your rows of brights at the bottom. This appealed to a lot of people because it was kind of a do it all kind of palette. I know I caught the hype for this and was desperate to get my hands on it. It was well received and reviewed, with it being well liked and people seemed to enjoy the formula. You can see how much effort James put into it, as he still uses it a lot on his YouTube channel.

Since the release of the palette, they have released a mini version of the palette which caught some backlash from the beauty community, branding it as a cash grab. Although I do agree with that it feels like a cash grab, I am glad they have released a mini version because the first is so huge and it puts me off using it so I might pass on my huge one and get the mini version.

Melt Gemini

I for one was so excited for this palette release! I didn’t get it the first time around, and I didn’t realise it was intended to be limited edition. They have since made this permanent with is amazing news. This palette was revolutionary when it was released, as it was full of shades we had not yet seen, swampy greens, browns and yellows. It was grungy and we had not seen these colours on the market yet, as you don’t think of swampy colours to make an eye look. This started a trend of traditionally gross colours becoming trendy. I personally love green, including swampy greens so this is right up my alley.

The palette had some problems on first release, such as it growing mould and breaking easily. I know that my palette puffed out and I had to repress it a few times. Luckily, I reached out to Melt and they replaced it no questions asked and my second Gemini palette is holding up great so hopefully they have fixed some of the issues.

Huda Beauty Gemstone Obsessions

I’m grouping these together because they fit into the same category. Huda Beauty released 5 mini 9 pan palettes of curated colour schemes, being a red palette, a green palette and a purple palette, etc. These started the trend of curated colour palettes and mini 9 pan palettes. As the saying goes, Huda Beauty walked so ColourPop could run, and boy did they run. The Huda Beauty palettes were highly popular because they are small, compact and easy to store, as well as having just one colour to play with. It is great for people who were missing a certain colour in their collection. It was also a more cost effective option for trying Huda’s formula without having to buy the bigger, more expensive palettes.

Huda Beauty have since released more Obsessions palettes under different themes, and they released some prior to the Gemstone Obsessions. I chose to put the Gemstone ones in because they are the ones that stand out the most and started a trend.

ColourPop 9 Pan Palettes

Speaking of 9 pan palettes, ColourPop took the trend and RAN with it. They started with the main rainbow colours and expanded on it and now they have a ton of varieties, all with colour themes. They also have very cute names and they are curated in the colours they pick. I personally ADORE the ColourPop 9 pan palettes and I have pretty much all of them because I love the formula and having the option of a specific colour scheme. ColourPop did what Huda did to a higher level (in my opinion) and made it more cost effective, as well as the formula being amazing. I will continue to buy their 9 pans because I really do love them. I also have some hopes on how they expand the range but that could potentially be a separate blog post in itself.

 

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I feel like that pretty much sums it up! Let me know what you’re hyped up palettes are and what you think are ground-breaking and changed the makeup sphere forever. Also, let me know if I missed anything you think should’ve been in this list.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time, bye! Xx