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Throw A Little Shade

15 best eyeshadow palettes for 2022, according to top makeup artists

Olivia Perl

Published: 18:44, 12 May 2022
Updated: 15:40, 16 May 2022

THEY say the eyes are the windows to the soul, so why not dress them up with some colour?

Eyeshadow isn’t a new invention; in fact, it dates back 12,000 years to Ancient Egypt. Originally invented to adorn the eyes of royalty, the Ancient Egyptians used a substance called kohl (hence why many eyeliners are named 'kohl' today), made out of lead, copper, and ash.

With the help of some of the best makeup artists out there, including Dominic Skinner and Nikki Wolff, we've curated our list of favourite eyeshadows that you need to add to your makeup bag pronto.

What eyeshadow trends can we expect to see this season?

According to Dominic Skinner, regular key makeup artist backstage at fashion weeks, MAC Cosmetic's Global Senior Artist and half of the judging panel on BBC's popular makeup competition Glow Up, this season's all about colour.

"Frost and colour is going to become more popular as we move in to summer," he predicts.

"It'll be a unique blend of inspirations, taken from the makeup trending from Euphoria and the playful summer festival season.

But how can we do this trend?

"Keep it simple!" Dominic explains. "One bright flash of liner or a sheer wash of a colour veil is where to go."

Makeup artist and KVD Beauty's Global Creative Director of Artistry, Nikki Wolff, agrees that colour is going to be everywhere this summer.

She says: "There is a big trend this year for embellished eyes. Think shimmery eyeshadows and jewel encrusted lids. Bring a little disco into your look."

But if shimmer's not your thing, never fear! Nikki thinks there are other ways to jump on the colour trend.

"Monochromatic eyes are very much En Vogue, as are pastel tones. Spring Summer '22 is really about having fun with your makeup and not being afraid to use colour or shimmer."

Noted.

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Best overall: Dior Custom Eye Palette, £39 from Selfridges -
Best matte: MAC Powder Kiss Eyeshadow, £17.50 from Boots -
Best palette: Sculpted By Aimee Sultry Stories Eyeshadow Palette, £35 from Sculpted By Aimee -
Best liquid: Ilia Beauty Liquid Powder Chromatic Eye Tint, £27 from Net-A-Porter -
Best nude palette: NARS Cosmetics Voyageur Eyeshadow Palette, £28 from Look Fantastic -
Best budget: NYX Professional Makeup Ultimate Eyeshadow Palette Utopia, £16 from Superdrug -
Best luxury: YSL Couture Colour Clutch Eyeshadow Palette, £100 from Boots -
Best long-wear: Pat McGrath Mothership VI: Midnight Sun, £120 from Pat McGrath -
Best shimmer: e.l.f. Glitter Melt Liquid Eyeshadow, £6 from Superdrug -
Best for darker skin tones: KVD Beauty Dazzle Sticks, £20 from Feel Unique -
Best cream: Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Colour, £25 from Look Fantastic -
Best gloss texture: Morphe 2 Gloss Pop Face and Eye Gloss, £12 from Boots -
Best individual: L'Oréal Paris Color Queen Oil Eyeshadow, from £3.50 from Amazon -
Best quad: Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Palette of Pops in Pillow Talk, £45 from Space NK -
Best customisable palette: Hourglass Curator Palette, from £133 from Hourglass -

1. Best overall: Dior Custom Eye Palette

Dior Custom Eye Palette, £39 from Selfridges -

Singling out an eyeshadow that is best overall is tricky, but realistically, it was always going to be this Dior palette.

The collection of shades is eclectic, ranging from a primer in the top left corner to a deep, true black in the bottom right.

The matte brown shades are perfect neutrals and work as the base of more convoluted looks or on their own, buffed into the crease.

Fitting with Dominic's predicted frosted trend for this season, there's a silver shimmer that isn't bitty or flakey and the black works as a smokey liner for added depth.

The texture of the shadows are smooth and they glide over the lid easily, blending softly and without much work, but never losing their pigment.

It also looks great and despite being a designer brand, it's not outrageously priced at £39 for nine shades.

We don't have anything negative to say about this palette and it deserves its place as best overall eyeshadow.

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2. Best matte: MAC Powder Kiss

MAC Powder Kiss Eyeshadow, £17.50 from Boots -

For the smoothest matte eyeshadow, MAC Cosmetic's Global Senior Artist and half of the Glow Up judging panel, Dominic Skinner, turns to the brand's Powder Kiss because matte's aren't always easy.

"Matte shadows do have a tendency to go on like wall paper," he says. "Fully pigmented and, if you're not careful, they can go patchy as well.

"These Powder Kiss beauties have been designed to apply like a sheer wash of colour, giving you a light colour that's smooth, diffused and never goes blotchy.

"These are an absolute must in my kit."

If they're a must for Dominic Skinner, then they're a must for us too.

3. Best palette: Sculpted by Aimee Sultry Stories Eyeshadow Palette

Sculpted By Aimee Sultry Stories Eyeshadow Palette, £35 from Sculpted By Aimee -

A brand created by a makeup artist (MUA) is always a good place to start if you're looking for high quality products because they're creating makeup that they want in their kits.

Aimee Connelly is one such MUA who's entire ethos is less is more.

"It's all about trying to de-overwhelm the situation because there was too much information," she says.

"We create multi-purpose heroes that make it easier. Basically we're all about a fuss-free face."

This palette runs with that theme. It offers six mattes and six shimmers that sit beautifully together while giving space to create a plethora of eye looks.

The shades are pigmented and feel expensive, even though the palette only comes in at £35 for 12 shades - that's less than £3 per colour.

This gets a big tick from us.

4. Best liquid: Ilia Beauty Liquid Powder Chromatic Eye Tint

Ilia Beauty Liquid Powder Chromatic Eye Tint, £27 from Net-A-Porter -

Taking the number one spot in the liquid shadow category is makeup artist Nikki Wolff's must-have.

She's worked on a whole host of famous faces, including THE famous face, Kim Kardashian and she also serves as KVD Beauty's Global Creative Director of Artistry.

She says: "One of my favourite liquid eyeshadows is the Ilia Beauty Liquid Powder Chromatic Eye Tint as it dries to a highly pigmented powdery finish that stays put."

Our favourite shade is Mythic, a pearlescent rose gold which can be applied as a sheer shadow or built up to a strong pigment.

5. Best nude palette: NARS Cosmetics Voyageur Eyeshadow Palette

NARS Cosmetics Voyageur Eyeshadow Palette, £28 from Look Fantastic -

PSA: Just because a palette isn't all matte doesn't mean it isn't nude.

This NARS palette is the epitome of that, with three basic matte nudes and three that give the option of some shimmer, still in low key tones. The pink adds a little more colour if you fancy spicing things up a bit but otherwise these colours are the foundation of any eye look.

The deepest brown can double up as a liner, as well as tracking under the bottom lash line for extra smokiness although the key to a really good smokey eye is blending.

The bone colour is a great base for placing other colours over the top, or highlighting in areas like under the brow.

Add a swipe of gold shimmer to the inner corner for a pop of highlight or turn the look from day to night using the charcoal shimmer all over the lid.

The blend of matte and shimmer make this neutral palette versatile and a makeup staple.

6. Best budget: NYX Professional Makeup Ultimate Eyeshadow Palette Utopia

NYX Professional Makeup Ultimate Eyeshadow Palette Utopia, £16 from Superdrug -

Just look at all of the colours this NYX palette offers.

At first glance, it might look a bit random, but on closer inspection, it's clear this 16 pan palette is split into four lots of four if you're one for a colour story.

The range of shades available are vast, from black to pink to orange, and the pigment of these shadows are much better than you might think if you saw the price.

The shimmery shades don't drop too much and there's a nice range between thicker glitter like textures and smaller, iridescent shadows.

For £16, you really can't go wrong.

7. Best luxury: YSL Couture Colour Clutch Eyeshadow Palette

YSL Couture Colour Clutch Eyeshadow Palette, £100 from Boots -

This palette is the epitome of luxury - it's literally a clutch bag.

With ten velvety shadows on offer, it comes in two iterations, Paris and Marrakech.

Paris includes the bright, summery yellow, whereas the eye catching tone of Marrakech is a standout white.

The shades have been designed so you're able to easily transition from day to night and include mattes, soft satins, shimmers and metallics.

And you can carry your palette around with you without anyone being any the wiser in its leather clutch that was inspired by cotoure craftmenship.

If that's not luxury, nothing is.

8. Best long-wear: Pat McGrath Mothership VI: Midnight Sun

Pat McGrath Mothership VI: Midnight Sun, £120 from Pat McGrath -

Pat McGrath is all about go big or go home, so it's no surprise that the brand's shadows a super long-wearing because why create a mega look only for shadows to crease and slide around?

Most recently collaborating with tv show Bridgerton to create palettes inspired by the Netflix hit, we've opted for the Mothership as our choice.

The shades are buttery and blendable, smoothing easily over the eyelid. The colours sit beautifully on top of each other and the purple is vibrant and punchy.

So if you're feeling brave, give the colour trend Dominic and Nikki predicted a go using these pigmented, long-wearing shadows.

9. Best shimmer: e.l.f. Glitter Melt Liquid Eyeshadow

e.l.f. Glitter Melt Liquid Eyeshadow, £6 from Superdrug -

You don't need to spend a fortune to get a product that really works, as evidenced by the e.l.f. Glitter Melt Liquid Eyeshadow.

For £6 - yes, £6 - you'll get a sparkling, liquid eyeshadow that glides evenly over the eyelid.

It comes with a handy doe foot applicator, so you can apply a little straight onto the lid, but then we'd recommend using either your finger or a brush to pat and blend because you won't want to keep applying product using the provided applicator.

This silver is vibrant and really plays into the frosting trend Dominic predicts will be big this summer, so better get your hands on one now so your ready for festival season.

10. Best for darker skin tones: KVD Beauty Dazzle Sticks

KVD Beauty Dazzle Sticks, £20 from Feel Unique -

Nikki Wolff's advice for people with darker skin tones is to keep an eye on the pigment.

"On darker skin tones, it's important to choose the right pigment in your eyeshadows.

"I love KVD Beauty Dazzle Sticks for darker skins as all of the pigments show true to colour, regardless of what skin tone they're used on.

"The metallic finish is incredibly beautiful on deeper skin tones."

The Dazzle Sticks come in three shades, a bronze, pink and silver.

The entire brand is vegan and cruelty-free, and these eyeshadows are no different, so not only a great option for darker skin tones, but vegans too.

And if you have a darker skin tone and you're vegan then you've hit the jackpot.

11. Best cream: Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Colour

Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Colour, £25 from Look Fantastic -

The Laura Mercier Caviar Sticks are creamy. Really creamy. But that doesn't mean they slide around.

In fact, they blend beautifully matte on to the eye and glide effortlessly, without getting caught on your lid.

We'd recommend starting with a primer because creamy textures and oily eyelids are not a match made in heaven but they are long-wearing and don't crease as much as you'd expect from a very creamy product.

The stick formula makes the shadow really easy to apply without any fuss and it's perfect to pop in your handbag and top up during the day.

12. Best gloss: Morphe 2 Gloss Pop Face and Eye Gloss

Morphe 2 Gloss Pop Face and Eye Gloss, £12 from Boots -

The glossy lid has been a big trend in recent years and it's an easy one to replicate at home if you've got the right products.

Enter Morphe 2 Gloss Pop Face and Eye Gloss. This spreads cleanly over the lid without feeling sticky or sliding around and gives that perfect glossy sheen.

Wear this clear gloss on its own for a cool, editorial eye makeup and keep the glossy theme consistent throughout your look by using this on your cheeks for 'glass skin' highlight and your lips for the glossiest finish.

13. Best individual: L'Oreal Paris Color Queen Oil Eyeshadow

L'Oréal Paris Color Queen Oil Eyeshadow, from £3.50 from Amazon -

If you've got your eye on a specific shade and don't want to buy an entire palette then opt for a single shadow.

Makeup artist Dolli Okoriko (if you saw season 3 of Glow Up you might recognise her as one of the contestants) says L'Oréal Paris' Color Queen Oil Eyeshadows are the affordable must haves you need to add to your makeup bag.

"If you are not big on woning a large palette and you just know what you like on your eyes then you have to try L'Oréal Paris Oil Eyeshadows.

"All you need to do is to swipe the colour straight on to the lid using your finger. The pigment payoff is amazing."

14. Best quad: Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Palette of Pops in Pillow Talk

Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Palette of Pops in Pillow Talk, £45 from Space NK -

There was no question Charlotte Tilbury would make it onto this list because the brand is renowned for making genuinely excellent makeup.

An extension of its hugely popular Pillow Talk range, this quad palette makes creating a beautiful shimmery eye easy.

No need to worry about whether you're choosing the right colours because it's already been done for you.

Start with the bronze shade all over the lid, then create depth by blending the darkest shade into the outer corner of the eye.

Press the champagne shade into the inner part of the lid and then dab the pink shimmer into the inner corner to make your eyes pop.

Could it be easier?

15. Best customisable palette: Hourglass Curator Palette

Hourglass Curator 5-pan Palette, from £133 from Hourglass -

This is the ultimate customisable palette.

There are a massive 40 shades to choose from and which ones come in your palette is completely up to you.

Feel like switching a shade out and trying something new? Then pick up a single shadow and it will slot right in.

You can buy already curated palettes but we think the fun of this is being able to pull together all of your favourites shades.

It would be remiss to pretend that this isn't expensive but your palette will be unique to you.

There isn't really another palette like it on the market.

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