2017 FAVORITES: Eyeshadow Palettes & Singles

by - January 04, 2018


When I sat down at my vanity with my notebook to suss out my favorites of the year, eyeshadows were probably the most difficult for me because there were SO MANY contenders. I feel like eyeshadow formulas have come really far in the past 5 years or so and what I love now is leaps and bounds ahead of what I was loving back when I started this blog. When choosing these five, I definitely considered formulas that were above and beyond, but also what I'm personally most likely to reach for in my collection when I'm not testing something out for review and these are definitely the products that I tend to come back to - and one that is new but just... an absolute standout from this past year.

For four palettes and a single shadow that I'm in love with, keep reading!


naked cosmetics Sierra Nevada Mica Pigment in SN-02
This was also a 2016 favorite!
When looking at my single shadows, there were a few that I was very tempted to include in this post... but the one that really stood out above the rest was the naked cosmetics Sierra Nevada Mica Pigment in SN-02. These is one that I tend to reach for when I need to do quick makeup and it was one that I was grabbing for constantly over the summer when I wanted no fuss makeup that still looked pretty. I tend to use this packed onto the lid with a matte cream shadow blended all over the lid and into the crease. It's super easy to do, but it's also surprisingly impactful because this shadow packs a lot of shine and catches the light really beautifully on the lid. If you haven't tried out the naked cosmetics loose pigments, I definitely recommend checking them out.


NYX Love Contours All Palette
If there's been one product that I feel like was really, really underrated and not given the attention it deserves, it's the NYX Love Contours All Palette. In the past year, this has really been a palette that I've been reaching for consistently. The range of shades and finishes is perfect for every day makeup, though you can definitely also build up some intensity for smokier and more dramatic looks as well. Personally, I tend to use this pretty basically. I use a couple of the bronzer shades and the darker brow shade to build depth in my crease and outer corner and then I pack one of the shimmer shades all over the lid. Simple, but really effective for day to day makeup. The powders are really, really nicely formulated in this palette and I find that they have good pigmentation, blend nicely, and wear well throughout the day. This is also really good for travel, because you have so much packed into one palette.


Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance Palette
This was also a 2016 Favorite!
Honestly, I feel like this is one of my favorite makeup releases of the past several years. While it's not perfect - I feel like the pans are a little smaller than they should be and the packaging is a little bit cheaply constructed - the formula and blendability of the shadows combined with the shade curation in this palette makes it really amazing and well worth the price tag. I mean, really, nothing was able to touch this for me over the past year. Mostly you're going to get warm looks from this - or even really bold, downright hot looks with the bold reds and pinks - I feel like you can get neutral looks from this palette as well. The best thing, for me, though is how they blend though. I've never had to work had to create a look with this palette, it just comes together seamlessly and without much effort. If ABH could recapture this magic in another palette I would absolutely swoon.


Colourpop Semi-Precious Palette
New to the makeup world - and I think limited edition and on its way out - the Colourpop Semi-Precious palette just absolutely blew me away this year. It's an all shimmer palette, which I know discouraged some people from picking it up, but the shade selection makes it really usable in day to day life while the bold shine really makes it an impactful palette. Personally, I reach for this palette to pack neutral shades onto my lid pretty constantly since I got it and I feel like it always performs for me. Colourpop Pressed Shadows have consistently impressed me and this definitely has been grabby-handsing for some of the other palettes from the brand. If you can still get your hands on this and feel like an all shimmer palette in these shades would be a good addition to your collection... Seriously, get it!


tarte Cosmetics Pro To Go Eyeshadow Palette
I definitely have a thing for the small palettes that tarte releases and I tend to collect them now, but this one is head and shoulders above the others. The formula on these shadows combined with the shade selection makes this an absolute winner for me and I reach for it quite a bit. While I do think the addition of a matte highlight/base shade would make this a perfect on-the-go palette, the absence of it doesn't really do anything to diminish my love for this palette. It's just... so incredibly good. I can't say enough good things about this. Also, I love that tarte has been adding that cookies and cream scent to their shadows, because every time I reach for this and I get a whiff of it, I get happy. Period. Love this!


I have to admit that there are a lot more eyeshadow palettes that were in contention for this post... but I'm really happy with what I went with and I think they're a really truthful representation of my eyeshadow favorites this past year. I would recommend each and every one of these. In fact, I'd recommend the ABH, tarte, and NYX palettes to literally everyone, because I feel like everyone would get use out of them and the formula is really solid in all of them. The Colourpop palette and the naked cosmetics pigment would be ones that also get a recommendation, if you think that they're things that you would reach for. Overall, these are creamy of the crop.

Let me know what your eyeshadow favorites of 2017 were in the comments!

Thanks for reading! Keep an eye out for more favorites posts to come... I feel like they may never end!

You May Also Like

0 comments