Party Makeup Looks – Three Eyeshadow Palettes Five Ways

Party Makeup Looks

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It’s official, the shops are Christmas mad! There are decorations everywhere and festive music ringing throughout the isles; Christmas it seems, has never come so early. Well, it got me thinking. If our highstreet’s and indeed our internet fueled screens, can be awash with all things festive, perhaps we’re ready to start getting excited for some festive party makeup looks. Tis’ the season to sparkle after all! With parties starting early December I see no reason in having a little festive fun in advance.

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Three Palettes, Five Ways

It’s not always easy to choose an eyeshadow palette, especially if you’re buying online so I wanted to help with that. I’ve chosen three palettes of varying price points and will compare them all so you can work out which one may be best suited to you (if any).

Five Ways? Well, I was inspired by The Anna Edit’s recent video where she showed five looks from the Huda Beauty Mercury Retrograde Palette and I thought this was such a great idea. It’s all well and good watching and reading first impressions of makeup products but what we really want to know is will we use them? Really use them? I hear you shouting ‘Will I get bang for my buck?‘ So, I’m going to take my three palettes and create five looks with each and give you as many party makeup looks as I can. (And yes, I’m aware of how much work I’m creating for myself as I write this…)!

So if you treat yourself to a new palette or indeed receive one as a present, here’s a ton of makeup looks to inspire you!

The Eyeshadow Palettes

Zoeva Spice Of Life

The Spice of Life palette from Zoeva is a mini, travel-friendly eyeshadow palette, it is our most affordable entry and the most makeup bag friendly. It consists of 6 eyeshadows, 3 matte finishes and 3 shimmers.

The shades have an autumnal feel of earthy reds and rich golds.

It’s worth taking note that being a smaller palette overall, the pan size is smaller than the regular full-size Zoeva palettes. For example, in the Artiso Palette the pan size is 1.5g per pan (£21.00).

Spice of Life Palette deets:

•Eyeshadow pan size: 0.6g each

•Cost per shadow: £2.16

•Cost per gram: £3.61 (3.6g Net Wt. palette)

Packaging

The full palette is made of card with a magnetic closure. It’s not the most study but it certainly does the job and it’s good for the environment. It is a rich maroon shade mixed with silver, lending itself to its name, Spice.

The shadow shades lean more towards the warmer end then cooler tones with rich golds, rusty reds and berries, lovely to brighten eyes and make eye colours pop.

It is Cruelty-Free

Zoeva Spice Of Life £13.00

Bobbi Brown Love In The Afternoon

Love In The Afternoon from Bobbi Brown is from their Christmas 2019 collection and comes in at our mid-range palette. A collection of smoky pinks and chocolates fills this pan for pretty, sensual party makeup looks.

It consists of 3 matte shadows, 3 shimmers and 2 chrome metalic shadows.

Love In The Afternoon deets:

•Eyeshadow pan size: 1.7g each

•Cost per shadow: £4.56

•Cost per gram: £2.68g (13.6g Net Wt. palette)

Packaging

With regards to its materials, the outer of this palette is card, the inner a hard plastic.

The design is a stunning holographic star design which is slightly raised to the touch and mesmeric to the eyes. It is everything for the Christmas and party season.

I feel that this palette is a palette suited to everyone, it’s a very wearable and cleverly curated in terms of neutral colours. Shadows all work well with one another seamlessly, the guess work truly has been taken out.

Bobbi Brown Love In The Afternoon £36.50

Huda Beauty Mercury Retrograde

Mercury Retrograde by Huda Beauty, the palette that I chose because I kept seeing it everywhere and had to see if it was as good as everybody claimed. The makeup artist and lover in me is excited by the difference in colours and textures this palette has to offer.

A complete mix of shades of taupe, mauve, blues, greens and gold, this is a makeup lovers delight (if you like playing with colour that is).

We have 18 eyeshadows in 4 textures: 9 mattes, 6 metalics, 1 glitter, 2 sheer multi-reflective shadows. Try saying that quickly.

This is our high-end entry and it’s also the largest palette, not just because of its 18 shades but because of its chunky packaging.

Packaging

So we have a very sturdy packaged palette with a proper mirror, great. What’s not so great is that it is made of thick, thick plastic. I have reached out to Huda Beauty for confirmation on the ability to recycle or not, I’m yet to hear back-three weeks later…What is good about this packaging is that it firmly closes airtight, which is important with a palette that contains creamy formulas that can dry out easily.

When it comes to design, it’s flipping fantastic. Let’s put it this way, my 4 yr old niece saw the palette on my bed, picked it up and exclaimed ‘WOAH!!!’ repeatedly. I have to agree with her. Even this 37 yr old makeup lover feels the same. It’s holographic and it’s stunning.

The shades are a real feast for the eyes and whilst perhaps not for everyone, they are fun and playful. The range of textures allowing you to reach down into your creative soul. However, don’t let that put you off it’s you’re not an advanced makeup user. There is nothing to say that the most simple looks are not just as effective as the most complicated; it’s all about having fun.

Mercury Retrograde deets:

•Eyeshadow pan size: 0.89g per pan

•Cost per shadow: £3.22

•Cost per gram: £3.60 (16.1g Net Wt. palette)

Huda Beauty Mercury Retrograde Eyeshadow Palette £58.00

Now, there is a point where I admit ‘post overload’ to myself and while creating all of these party makeup looks I’ve realised it’s a tad ambitious to fit into one post alone (I don’t want you falling asleep with your phone in your hand now do I? 😉 ). So with this in mind (and giving myself more work to do-tis’ the season of goodwill and all eh *shrugs) I shall collate each set of party looks and their palettes into their own individual posts, for your browsing ease. I’m a good egg eh 😉

For now, here’s look 1 from each palette…

Zoeva Spice Of Your Life Party Makeup Look 1

Step 1: A simple gold smokey eye using ‘A Nuance‘ as a base shadow on the inner of the eyes to brighten.

Step 2: Using ‘Shared Joy‘ buff into crease/socket and just above to create a soft shadow. Continue this under the bottom lash line and join together. Blend edges.

Step 3: Apply ‘The Flavour‘ with a stiff brush to the mobile lid. Buff edges to blend into the matte shadow.

Step 4: Add eyeliner and mascara as desired!

 

Bobbi Brown Love In The Afternoon Party Makeup Look 1

Step 1: Apply ‘Last Dance‘ all over the eye.

Step 2: Place ‘Chandelier’ on the inner and middle of the mobile lid. Also apply on the inner third of the lower lash line.

Step 3: Use ‘Love letter‘ as a transition shade by blending gently in the socket and above.

Step 4: Apply ‘Fired up‘ to the outer third of the mobile lid and into the socket. Blend.

Step 5: Take ‘Fired up‘ onto the bottom third of the lower lash line and blend it up to meet the upper lashes.

Huda Beauty Mercury Retrograde Party Makeup Look 1

Step 1: With a fluffy brush, apply ‘Crash‘ into the crease and out into a soft blend.

Step 2: Take ‘Karma‘ and deepen the shadow in the crease.

Step 3: On a dense brush, push ‘Libra‘ all over the mobile lid being sure to soften the edges into the other shadows.

Step 4: Using a pencil brush, softly apply ‘Karma‘ into the lower lash line. Soften the edge this shadow with a touch of ‘Crash‘.

You can finish this look here with lots of mascara and some eyeliner in the lash line. If you’d like to take it further, here’s what I did next.

Step 5: Using a blendable brown eyeliner (I used Chanel eyeliner 943 Brun Agapé) draw a thick line and blend upwards, smudging well, using ‘Vortex’ to blend the edges into the shadow, creating a lovely transition of shades from deep smokey liner to lilac.

Step 6: I used a black waterproof eyeliner (Daniel Sandler’s Waterproof eyeliner) in my upper water line and a brown kohl liner (Mac’s Kohl in Costa Riche) in my bottom water line and through my lower lashes, smudging it out with the same brush I used on the top lashes which has left overs of ‘Votex’, the deepest purple shadow (I didn’t add any more to the brush).

So, Which Palette Caught My Eye?

Well, this is undoubtedly tricky. They ended up being three very good palettes and given the quite large price difference between them, that’s saying a lot. I was particulary blown away by how good the Zoeva Spice Of Life palette is, the shimmer shades especially; they are impactful and easy to work with. The shades are very tonal and perfect for autumnal and winter makeup looks. It is a very handy palette and one that you can create smokey, rich, golden, rusty eye looks with. And, it’s a bargain!

Bobbi Brown’s Love In The Afternoon palette is a ‘love-ly’ palette. There’s room to create pretty makeup looks and sensual, smokey, bedroom eyes; akin to its name. It’s not the most ‘out there’ palette in terms of shade range but it is one that I imagine someone would reach for time and time again. In terms of pricing from Bobbi Brown, this is very reasonable.

For me, Huda Beauty’s Mercury Retrograde palette was the most fun to play with. There are so many eyeshadow combinations possible both in terms of colour and texture. However, it is the most expensive of the three palettes and the most bold in terms of shade range. This palette is for someone who loves to play and experiment with colour and makeup. It’s fun and playful, yet the pigments allow for this to be grown-up glam too. The Mercury Retrograde palette is a palette to create many a party makeup look with.

So there’s my thoughts. I have had so much fun playing with all of these eyeshadows and creating many different party makeup looks from all three palettes. Please do check out the posts below for each individual palette and let me know which one appeals to you the most!

Have a sparkly December!

Zoeva Spice Of Life Palette Party Makeup Looks

Bobbi Brown Love In The Afternoon Palette

Huda Beauty Mercury Retrograde Palette Party Makeup Looks