What's In My Custom Eyeshadow Palette? + Swatches

As I mentioned in my Why I Depotted My Eyeshadow Palettes post, I'm going to be sharing the palette that has been my go-to for the past couple of months. I started off with a Medium Magnetic Z palette (£14), but then decided I wanted to add a few more shades so I switched it out for a Large Palette (£16.50). I've loved the simplicity of just having one palette to reach for, as well as the fact that it contained several different colour stories in one, so I could make so many different looks without having handfuls of palettes cluttering up my everyday makeup basket. 

As I created this palette in the midst of winter, I have quite a dark, smoky theme going on, with 3 main colour stories: green, burgundy and cool-tones. There are also a handful of neutrals (including transition and inner corner highlight shades), but the bulk of my matte nude shades come from my matte small magnetic palette (£9.50), which has various neutral mattes to accompany my main custom palette. In this post,  I'm going to share each of the colour stories, as well as swatch the shades too. 

THE GREENS

I'm going to start off with green tones as they have hands down been the shades I've been most excited about for the last few months. Starting off with mattes, I took the majority from the Revolution Re-Loaded Iconic Division (£4), which is a dupe of the Anastasia Subculture Palette. The three matte greens have been some of my most-used, and work really well in the crease. I'm happy with them, however I'd like them to be a bit less dusty and more pigmented. This does give the benefit of being more buildable though, making them easier to work with as someone fairly new to bolder, smokier looks. I later on added the two yellow shades from the same palette, although I don't reach for them as often. The only other matte I have in this section is Whisky, from the Urban Decay Naked Smoky Palette [previously gifted]. This is really good for adding depth in the outer corner, and I feel like the tone compliments the murky greens really well.

Top Row (L>R): First 5 from Iconic Division, Urban Decay Whiskey
Bottom Row (L>R): Iconic Division, UD Acid Rain, UD Goldmine, Revolution Pine Tree, Crown Rose Gold, Revolution Petrol

Moving onto the shimmers, my most reached for have been two from the Soph X Revolution Palette (£10), Petrol and Pine Tree. Petrol is the most stunning blue brown, whilst Pine Tree is a forest green, and I've been enjoying using them alone and mixed together. Mixing is something that having a custom palette has really encouraged me to do, trying to create new shades instead of automatically going out to buy new ones.

I also took a couple of shades from the Urban Decay Vice XX Ltd Palette [previously gifted by World Duty Free]. Acid Rain is an icy lime green which I have been using on the inner portion of the lid, as well as mixed with Petrol to create a silvery green shade. I also have Goldmine, a bright yellow gold with a green undertone, which I love wearing on the inner corner for a pop of colour. I initially did have Mildew, a grassy green, in there but I switched it out as it was too similar to Pine Tree and the soft formula gave more of a shimmer than the metallic sheen that I prefer.

The final two shimmer shades are ones that I haven't reached for quite so much. The first is again from the Iconic Division palette, and is a lime green (not dissimilar to Acid Rain) with chunky glitter running through it. I've used it mainly in the inner corner but it's one that I don't think I'd miss if I took it out the palette. The other is a bronze shimmer from the Crown Rose Gold Palette (£22.99), which has a subtle green undertone. I've paired it on the lid a few times with Pine Tree, but again I could do without it.

THE PINKS & PURPLES

I've also had quite a lot of fun playing around with burgundies, pinks and purple shades, although I haven't reached for them as much as the greens. Again starting off with the mattes which form my crease shades. I have a muted burgundy from the Revolution Re-Loaded Newtrals 3 Palette (£4), as well a brighter, more pink shade from the Re-Loaded Vitality Palette. A new addition is a brighter pop of pink, Strawberry Sweets from the Soph X Revolution Palette. 

I have two berry shimmer tones, the first being MAC Cranberry (£10), which has more of a red undertone, and Mixed Berries from the Soph X Revolution Palette, which has more of a pinky purple undertone and is more metallic. I've reached for Mixed Berries a lot more than Cranberry, although I have enjoyed pairing Cranberry with MAC All That Glitters (£10), a peachy shimmer with gold pearl. They work particularly well mixed together, or with All That Glitters in the inner corner and as a warm pop on the centre of the lid. 

Top Row (L>R): MAC All That Glitters, Revolution Newtrals 3, Iconic Vitality, Revolution Strawberry Sweets
Bottom Row (L>R): MAC Cranberry, Revolution Mixed Berries, UD Freakshow, UD UV-B, UD Asphyxia

Lastly I have three shades from the Urban Decay Vice XX Ltd Palette. The first is Freakshow, which is a blackened deep purple shade, which I've enjoyed wearing on the lower lash line, or to deepen up the outer corner. UV-B is an incredible blue shade with a violet undertone. Blue is something I never previously played with, but I've loved wearing this on the lid with both purple looks and green (it looks incredible paired with Goldmine). The final shade in this colour story is Asphyxia, a fairly new addition as I wanted something fresher for spring time. This is an absolutely beautiful light purple, described as a 'hyancith shimmer with a blue shift'. It adds a gorgeous pop of colour, and I've enjoyed wearing it on the inner part of the lid, paired with either Mixed Berries or Freakshow.

THE COOL TONES

Cooler tones were something I never really dabbled in as I always thought they didn't look right against my pale complexion. As I began testing out the (now discontinued) Urban Decay Naked Smokey Palette, I realised that I really did enjoy a smokey grey/silver eye look, particularly as it contrasts with my hazel eyes, almost making them look ambery in tone. The majority of the shades come from the Naked Smokey, the first of which is Armour, a metallic taupey silver with some subtle glitter. This is a really gorgeous shade and is one that I've reached for a lot for the lid. I always use my lid shades applied over the NYX Glitter Primer (£8) with my finger, it does a great job at adhering the glitter with minimal fallout. Then we have Password, a matte grey, which is my go-to crease shade for cooler toned looks. 

L>R: All Urban Decay: Verve, Pistol, Armour, Password, Dagger, Smoulder

Lastly I have two deeper shades that I use to intensify the outer corners, with varying undertones depending on what kind of look I am going for. Dagger (which I unfortunately shattered in the depotting process) is a charcoal shade with a blue undertone. Smoulder is deeper than Dagger, and has a purple undertone. Neither are matte, but the shimmer is subtle enough that it works in the crease. I also love taking these shades on the lower lash line to finish off the look.

The final two shades in this colour palette are ones I took from the Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette [previously gifted]. The lighter of the two, Verve is described as an 'oyster shimmer'. It has a subtle silvery tone, so makes the most perfect inner corner highlight shade for cool toned looks. Pistol is a really interesting shade, a cool grey shimmer that has more of brown tone that the rest of this colour palette. This gives it an almost greenish, antique bronze tone that I like to wear all over the lid with Whiskey in the crease. 

THE NEUTRALS

My final colour story is more neutral compared to the rest of the palette. These consist of shades that I also use with my cool tones, as well as some warmer lid shades. Again I have a couple of colours from the Naked Smokey Palette, starting off with High which is a champagne shade with micro-glitter. This is absolutely stunning as an inner corner highlight as it really pops and the subtle pinky undertone also works really well with my cooler shades. Combust is a subtle pinky taupe matte shade that makes for the perfect transition shade for any cooler toned look.

L>R: (All Urban Decay) High, Combust, Tease, YDK, Snakebite

The other shades are from the Naked 2 Palette, with Tease being a slighty deeper, cooler toned matte than Combust. I often use them together in a look to slowly build up the crease. I forgot to swatch Suspect, but it is a gorgeous light gold shimmer that works well on the inner portion of the lid. YDK is one of my favourite shades in this section, being a bronzey taupe, and then we have Snakebite. Initially when I tried Snakebite, I was really underwhelmed as the pigmentation isn't that great. However what I did find that the unassuming bronze satin shade works incredibly well to blend a shimmer like Suspect into any darker shades into the crease. 

I can't even explain how much joy this palette gives me, so much more than I ever expected it to. The colour stories have inspired me to be more creative with my makeup looks and I love it more than I ever have loved a pre-made palette. I had planned to switch around my palette at the start of March for Spring, but it's still quite chilly and I'm still loving cooler, smokier looks.

I do plan to add some slightly brighter tones for Spring, and I think I'll be developing the pink colour story. I'd like to add a peach, as well as play around with UV-B, Asphyxia and Strawberry Sweets more. I'm still excited to use the greens, and I have just bought the Revolution Deep Dive Palette (£4) to add some extra greens as well as blues into the mix too. I may consider switching up the cool tones and neutrals portion of the palette as they are my least used currently. I love that my palette is fluid and I'm really excited to see how it will change as we move into new seasons, and it's something that I will be doing regular updates on.

Have you ever tried a custom palette?

Disclaimer:This post contains items gifted as part of previous collaborations.