Let’s face it; there’s a lot of eyeshadow palettes on the market, and that’s an understatement. I’ve narrowed it down to my top five, which will hopefully help you out if you’re on the hunt for your next purchase or looking to treat somebody.

1. Anastasia Modern Renaissance

I feel as if it would be morally wrong of me not to pay homage to this wonderful creation which changed the eyeshadow game. Released early summer 2016, it was one of the first palettes to incorporate such wearable, yet vibrant, shades which provide the perfect pop of colour when paired with the complimentary shimmery neutrals. For me, this palette definitely sparked my interest for experimenting with bolder and brighter colours on my eyes, and I’m so grateful it did. I’m still yet to encounter eyeshadows as buttery and pigmented as these and two years later, I’m still recommending it to anyone who wants to branch out. Seriously, ABH should be paying me commission. Also, I have to mention the blending brush it comes with, that I had yet to take out of the packaging until a few months ago when one of my friends was raving about how good it is. She wasn’t wrong; I now use it on the daily.

2. Morphe 35B Colour Burst

Speaking of using brighter shades on my eyes, this palette is every colour-lover’s dream. Morphe shadows are raved about a lot, and for good reason. They’re friendly to your bank account, at only £23 for 35 shades, and you can create hundreds of different looks with each palette. This is a particular favourite of mine because I’d struggled to find vibrant, pigmented, matte colours, which I know aren’t for everyone, but you’d be surprised how wearable they can be with the right blending. I often get compliments when I use bold and colourful shades because they pop out so well and look especially nice in pictures. This is the newest palette in my collection, but I’m already finding myself questioning how I coped without it (not to be too dramatic).

3. Morphe 39A Dare to Create

Here’s another insanely popular palette, with five-star reviews across the board. You’ll probably have seen this all over Instagram about a year ago, if you follow any beauty-related accounts. If you’re that person that always hits pan on your transition shades first, this is for you. Morphe had the genius idea of adding 7 larger pans for warm-toned neutral crease colours in this palette, while the remaining space is reserved for mostly reds, blues and greens. These shades, while being colourful, are generally more wearable than the 35B, if that’s what you’re after. It’s essentially a warm-toned lover’s dream.

4. Too Faced Gingerbread Spice

This is another new one for me, having received it as an unprompted, and very well-chosen, Christmas gift. I feel like this is something I didn’t know I needed in my life, but it has the most uniquely formulated shades I’ve ever tried, making it so much fun to play around with. The shade ‘Hot Toddy’, a deep shimmery pink with a warm orange reflect, has quickly become my new favourite eyeshadow to slap all over my lid with ‘Gingerbread’ in the crease and ‘Spiced EggNog’ to highlight; trust me, it’s a dream combination. The pictures of the palette on the website fail to do it justice, but you can appreciate its true beauty from the Instagram shot. I couldn’t neglect to mention the joyous gingerbread scent that accompanies the products in this range, enough said.

5. Sleek i-Divine, Storm

Last year, I had a Sleek advent calendar (highly recommend, but that’s for a different post) and it contained this little gem of a palette. I only have the mini at the moment, but I will need to invest in the full size in the near future. This comes travelling with my everywhere because it fits in the palm of my hand and has every shade I need for about five different full-glam eye looks. There’s 2 perfect transition shades, a black to add depth or smoke out your lash line, and gold, blue, green and pink shimmers to play around with on the lid. I was massively impressed by how creamy these shades are, and at a drugstore price point, I have no complaints. I love discovering wonderful products that haven’t been widely talked about, and this is definitely one of them. Again, have a look at the Instagram picture for a true representation of the shades.

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