Having bought more eyeshadow palettes this past year than I ever even previously owned, I feel like I’m in decent shape to provide recommendations for a gift guide. The focus of this post will be on palettes that I’ve tried, price points, and why I think they’d be a good gift. Since eyeshadow palettes are more of a big ticket item, I personally would consider these as someone’s “main present” rather than a stocking stuffer. Keep that in mind when you’re looking at the prices!
Here are my recommendations:
Brand: Kat Von D
Palette: Mi Vida Loca Remix
Price: $71 CAD
Let’s start this off with an absolute bombshell of a palette. If you decide you would like to get this (for yourself or otherwise), you’re going to have to get your butt to a Sephora store asap because this has been sold out for a few weeks online (the problem with releasing holiday palettes in September!!!).
This would be my absolute number one recommendation for an eyeshadow palette present. While the rainbow wheel aspect of it is undeniable and undoubtedly makes this one of the most visually appealing palettes I own, what makes this stand out even more is that inner ring of neutral shadows. This is perfect for colour lovers who need blending and deepening shades alongside their brights. While there are a few misses in pigmentation in the shades (maybe two shades), the overall quality of the Mi Vida Loca Remix palette is off the charts. If you can get your hands on it, you absolutely need to purchase it.
Further reading:
Brand: Too Faced
Palette: Chocolate Bar or Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar
Price: $59 CAD each
While the Urban Decay Naked palettes may own most peoples’ hearts, my true love lies amongst the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palettes. I’ve become obsessed with the scent of chocolate that wafts up from these palettes as soon as I open them. The shade selection is neutral enough for most people to love them, but there are pops of colour to make things interesting. My personal preference is the Semi-Sweet palette, but you can’t go wrong with either of them. The pigmentation and blendability are excellent in both palettes and either one would make lovely gifts.
Further reading:
- Swatches: Chocolate Bar | Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar
- Challenge Week: Chocolate Bar | Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar
Brand: Laura Mercier
Palette: Eye Art Artist’s Palette
Price: $70 CAD
This palette was originally a holiday 2013 exclusive, but they wisely decided to bring it back within the last year. Although the outer packaging is slightly different now (I have the 2013 version), the shades inside are still the same. I have nothing bad to say about this palette – Laura Mercier has some of the smoothest, easiest to play with shadows I have ever encountered. These are an absolute pleasure to apply to my eyelids and I would recommend this palette to every single person out there! Personally, I consider Laura Mercier a bit more of a “grown up” brand since their average price point is very, very steep (a single eyeshadow is $29 CAD!), but that further reinforces that this palette is a great value.
Brand: Sephora
Palette: Wonderful Dreams
Price: $13 CAD
My first look at Sephora’s shadows have been a good one with this little palette. The Wonderful Dreams 8-pan palette slides out to reveal four matte and four shimmery shades. (In particular, the silver is to freaking die for!) I cannot find it on Sephora Canada’s site anymore, but I’ve seen it in stores. This is a perfect travel palette since it’ll cover all your neutral basics, and it would also make a great stocking stuffer since the price is quite low!
Brand: Makeup Geek
Palette: N/A
Price: Regular shadows are $6 USD, foiled shadows are $9.99 USD each
I would be totally remiss if I didn’t mention Makeup Geek somewhere in this post! While this isn’t a pre-made palette, you can purchase the shades you desire and create your own perfect gifting palette. Makeup Geek is unbeatable in terms of quality and price tag – they could easily charge double that price and still be considered one of the best shadows on the market. For a holiday-themed palette, I chose the shades Vanilla Bean, Shimma Shimma, Grandstand, Creme Brulee, Cocoa Bear, Bitten, Magic Act, Jester and Flamethrower.
Further reading:
- Must Have Makeup Geek Shadows
- Makeup Geek Foiled Shadows (Review + Swatches)
- Makeup Geek Foiled Shadows Expansion Set (Review + Swatches)
Brand: Smashbox
Palette: Double Exposure
Price: $45 CAD
The Double Exposure palette came out of nowhere in the last few months and smacked me upside the head. I could not believe the quality of the shadows in this palette! I’m a relative newbie to Smashbox so I don’t have a ton of exposure to most of their products, but this one completely blew me out of the water. Pigmentation and bendability are incredible, and there’s enough variety of colour in this palette to make it a liiiittle bit different from all the other neutral palettes out there.
Further reading:
That’s it for this makeup palette gift guide! If you were looking for what to give a friend or family member, I hope this was of some use to you. 🙂
Certain palettes in this review were sent to me for consideration (Sephora - Wonderful Dreams & Smashbox Double Exposure).