Few of us girls can resist the lure of a little box full of pretty squares of colourful cosmetics, especially because they’re priced so well. But when faced with the dazzling array of multi-hued makeup kits in stores today, how do you choose?
1) Buy for love: If among the glittering sea of choices one calls to you loudly, you have your palette answer. Whether it’s because the kit is too darned cute like Tsumori Chisato for Shu Uemura’s Planet Cat Palette ($85 CAN, above), killer in its colour range like CARGO’s Hands of Hope ($29 CAN), or made by your go-to brand, snap up your favourite and don’t look back.
2) Think about what you need: If you have a mascara you swear by, or already have great makeup brushes, you don’t need a kit that includes them. If you’re all about eyes or lips, targeted palettes such as Pupa’s Diamond Palette ($29 CAN) or YSL’s glam Your Lovely Palette Duo Lip Colour ($82 CAN) are all about you. If you’re a traveller, look for a compact choice that has everything you need for a fresh face, such as Benefit’s Celebutante ($45 CAN) makeup kit, or mark.’s Super Flip Color Kit ($22 CAN, above) of shadows, lipstick and gloss.
3) Colour yourself happy: Are you a neutrals girl or mad about colour? Do you want to keep things simple by focussing on eye colour, or choose your own makeup playground? Choices abound from Almay, Physicians Formula, L’Oréal Paris and CoverGirl when it comes to amping up your eye hue, and Mary Kay Cosmetics offers the chance to create a personal choice with a Compact Pro Palette (above).
4) Try something new: One of the best things about makeup kits this time of year is the chance to try a new brand at a fraction of what it would cost to buy all those shadow/blush/gloss shades separately. Look to beauty meccas such as Sephora and Murale for tons of options from a range of companies, large and small. (Sephora Collection Blockbuster To Go, $20 CAN, above.)
5) Surprise your budget: Palette size doesn’t always equal budget size! Look to Shoppers Drug Mart’s Quo Cosmetics for covetable kits to suit a range of wallets, Zellers now carries E.L.F., a super-affordable line that includes “Beauty Encyclopedia” kits of eye shadow or lip colour ($10.99 CAN, above), and Rimmel London’s in on the sweet-deal action with the Sweet Seduction Colour Palette ($12.99 CAN, below). You can make your budget feel good with a gives-back purchase, too — anything from the Smashbox WISH collection sends $1 to the Children’s Miracle Network, and the M.A.C. Viva Glam Lip Kit donates every bit of the retail price to the M.A.C AIDS Fund.
Of course these tips apply when it comes to giving palettes as gifts. They work as hints, too, if you’re hoping to receive one…
A version of this story appeared in the Metro News. Images courtesy of Shu Uemura, mark., Mary Kay, Sephora, E.L.F. and Rimmel. Shu Uemura is available at Holt Renfrew; mark. at Avon.ca, Mary Kay at MaryKay.ca, Sephora at Sephora stores and sephora.com, E.L.F at Zellers, and Rimmel at drugstores.
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Thanks for the tip. I always end up buying shades that look good in the box, and never end up wearing them :(
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You need to go to a place like Sephora or Murale that allows testing stuff against your skin! :-)
I kind of feel weird about the whole testing thing – maybe i’m just germaphobic :)
I totally understand that — I’m not talking testing on your face, though, just testing on the inside of your arm or wherever within easy reach is closest in colour to your complexion :-)
I love that you covered the whole spectrum, highend to drugstore.
You never know until you try it out, and see what fits your skin best (& walletXD) I know that my friend uses a very cheap drugstore concealor, and it works wonders on her, while on me and my skin, makes me looks ghastly (I know this isn’t a talk about concealers but just adding that examples~).
The Mark palette is calling my name though…XD will check that one out~
These drugstore palettes in particular are good quality for the pricing. I know there are others from brands we’ve never heard of — those scare me. These, however — Quo, Rimmel, E.L.F., L’Oréal Paris, CoverGirl, Physicians Formula — have nice textures and great payoff. Frankly, I love every single palette I mentioned! (The mark. palette is cool — lots to offer in a nifty compact package. Lemme know what you think!)
One more thing about drugstore: thanks to Shoppers, the category now includes Benefit, Smashbox and Pupa!
So pretty, I want to play with all of them :) I think Sephora is a toy store for grown up ladies, you could get lost exploring all the different options and delightful new colours and potions to play with. On line store is just as compelling, so fun.
Oh it really, really is, Lorraine — that’s why I try to stay clear! Try, anyway.
I know, believe me, I just dropped over $100. on the online store :) Got my free Kat Von Teese tote bag though :) Except Sephora doesn’t honour their discounts for Canadians. Unless of course you have an american money account charge card or something daft. With Sephora stores opening all over Canada you would think they would want to be a friendlier Canadian money retailer, so annoying, but I am drawn to their site like a cat to catnip :p