Singles were the highlight of most of my looks last week. (I did have a snow day from work one day, and I used that as an opportunity to use the Urban Decay Electric palette.) Since I pulled shadows from several different palettes to work with the singles, I thought it might be easier this week to just show the singles I used.
Look 1: Kiko 200 Champagne
Look 2: Kiko 208 Light Gold
Look 3: Anastasia Beverly Hills Pink Champagne
Look 4: Urban Decay Electric
Photo: Temptalia
Urban on the lid and Savage blended into the crease.
Look 5: L'Oreal Amber Rush
Singles, I think, are really undervalued in the makeup blogging/vlogging community. Palettes are so hyped, and I think we get sucked into the idea that palettes present this amazing "value." I think we also really like the convenience of having all of our shadows in one place to create a look so that we don't have to go fishing through multiple singles for lid, crease, transition, outer corner, inner corner, and brow bone colors.
Personally, I have really only ever used palettes. My very first eyeshadow purchase was a quad that I created at MAC (with Honesty, Soft Brown, Naked Lunch, and Handwritten). I have mentioned before that I learned how to apply makeup by going into a MAC store, and these were the shadows my artist used on me. I put them all into a quad, and that was just how I got used to applying makeup—with all of the colors in one place.
But, now that I've become a more shrewd shopper, I really see the value of singles. The shadows that I have purchased as singles are some of the most special or unique (neutral) colors in my collection. They are the colors that didn't exist in palettes. Or the best colors from otherwise boring palettes. I feel the same way about my z-palettes. I won't buy a single if I have a dozen duplicates of it, so I find that the selection is just substantially more interesting than many of my palettes.
I was really excited to get to use some of my Kiko shadows this week. My two favorites are 200 and 208, and the pictures do not do these shadows justice. They remind me a lot of the finish of Tom Ford eyeshadows, actually, in that they give an incredible amount of shine without looking very heavy and obvious. I received the most compliments the days I wore those two shadows. The shadows I used are from their "wet and dry" line, but I have never used them wet. I know the pigment would be more intense if I did, but I'm so pleased with how they look dry that I haven't ever really had an interest in foiling them.
Anastasia Pink Champagne was like my makeup white whale for the longest time. It was perpetually sold out, and I found myself stalking several websites to see if there had been a new shipment. I read that it is a color used frequently by brides, and I can see why. It leans rose and also champagne, and I find that the color can shift based on other colors paired with it. I liked how the look turned out, but I think I like Pink Champagne more when paired with all rosy colors.
I had a snow day from work in the middle of my week, and that was really fun. I'd been itching to play with the Electric palette, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I really like the Electric palette, and it's the only palette I own from Urban Decay. I find that I generally don't like their shadow formula (at least before it was reformulated for the Afterdark palette), but these shadows feel much different than the typical palette shadow formula. I haven't had an opportunity to play with this palette much, but I've been really happy with it thus far.
And finally, an old favorite, Amber Rush. I love this eyeshadow. In fact, Amber Rush may be the oldest item in my entire collection. When I first purchased it, it was all I wore for months on end because I thought it complimented my eye color so well. It was the shadow I would recommend to anyone with blue or green eyes because of how much it brought my eyes to the forefront. I typically pair it with neutral peach and brown colors, but I thought it might be fun to try something different and pair it with some pastels. I actually really liked how it turned out. I still think the "classic" way I wear it is prettier, but it was fun to be able to try something new with a favorite product.
If you're looking for a cruelty-free option, Makeup Geek Grandstand is exactly the same.
I have to say, after using my singles this past week, I kind of wonder why I have so many palettes. I definitely realize that we get sucked into the hype, packaging, and "group attractiveness effect," of palettes, but singles are our hand-picked shadows. They are (at least in my collection), my powerhouse shadows. Yes, there are special shadows that I have in palettes (off the top of my head, there are some Natasha Denona and Viseart Dark Matte shadows that are pretty special), but for the most part, the shades I have in singles are just a little more unique than what I have in palettes. And the funny part is that I didn't even use my most unique singles last week! I just used neutral, work-appropriate shadows that I knew I loved.
I'll likely continue using my singles next week, and I'm really excited. The excitement I feel really puts into perspective why it's important to be a smart shopper. And it also has me questioning why I get sucked in by new palette releases. Because if we all looked at our eyeshadow/palette collection as just a collection of singles, would we really be tempted by new releases? Wouldn't we see we already have all those colors?
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