Beauty
11 Eyeshadow Palettes That Are Perfect For Sweater Weather
Cold weather, warm colors.
Fall is officially here, and in addition to switching up the colors of your nails this season, consider playing around with your eyeshadow and transitioning to more autumn-friendly shades.
Luckily, you won’t need to deviate too much from this summer’s color trends. Much like the earthy tones (think greens and burnt oranges) and shimmery golds that accentuated sun-kissed skin last season, the most popular fall eyeshadow colors are slated to feel equally warm: “I anticipate that honey shades will be popular for fall this year,” Steve Kassajikian, global makeup artist for Urban Decay Cosmetics, tells Bustle. “Generally, warm tones feel very seasonal and embrace the cooler months ahead.” (In other wards, think warm — a useful sentiment you should also embrace when the temps *seriously* drop.)
Kassajikian specifically calls out burnt oranges, siennas, and plums as shades to watch for as the weather turns, while Fatima Thomas, senior artist at MAC Cosmetics, points to hunter green, frosted charcoal gray, deep blues, and soft, pink-highlighted golds as hues she’s leaning toward this fall.
While you can certainly opt to customize your own eyeshadow palette with a selection of colors of your choosing (Thomas likes MAC’s Pro Palette Eye Shadow quad; SHEN Beauty makeup artist Samson Smith prefers MOB Repurpose Palette which allows you to “truly customize” and “replenish individually”), there’s a number of ready-made palettes with autumn-appropriate hues. Below, see 11 fall 2021 eyeshadow palettes to shop this season, all hand-picked by experts (or Bustle-approved) and totally perfect for the season.
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1The Multipurpose Option
This new rose-themed palette has been two years in the making (Anastasia Beverly Hills hasn’t released a makeup palette since January 2020). With 10 matte and shimmery eyeshadows in the lilac, mauve, and brown color family — plus two new blushes — the wait for this holiday party-friendly palette was definitely worth it.
2The Bang-For-Your-Buck Option
“This gem offers a gorgeous selection of [neutrals] with a touch of amber shimmer that works seamlessly on all skin tones,” says Keri Blair, senior artist at MAC Cosmetics. Bonus points for this otherwise small palette containing a whopping nine shades. “The size is perfect for travel or touch-ups on the go and allows you to create many eye looks,” she adds.
3The Highly-Pigmented Option
Thomas touts this heat-themed palette as one of her favorites for the season (and all year-round) due to the rich, warm neutrals and and copper, gold, and bronze shades, which are “universally flattering on every skin tone and eye color.” Due to the variety of textures and finishes in this high-pigment option, the pro says this palette “sees a lot of action in my professional kit and in my personal usage.”
4The Smoky Option
A smoky eye is a classic fall look, and this moody, 12-pan selection from Ace Beauté will help you achieve just that. Featuring a range of purples, browns, and silvers in both matte and metallic finishes, this dark eyeshadow palette is sultry, bold, and ideal for cooler months.
5The Universally-Flattering Option
Kassajikian points to Urban Decay’s Naked Heat Palette as one of his favorites for the season because “it has a nice range of burnt warm shades that complement all skin tones.” With a combination of rich browns, oranges, and siennas, this one is an easy option to carry over from summer to fall. Plus, “the colors in this palette are very flattering on all eye colors as well,” he adds.
6The Beginner-Friendly Option
Ranging from metallic to matte, this earth-toned palette “works on everyone,” says celebrity makeup artist Robert Sesnek. Plus, they’re multifaceted: “I can use these richly pigmented shadows with a damp brush as an eyeliner,” he adds. “With so many natural tones and textures, it makes working and traveling so much easier.”
7The Travel-Friendly Option
Kassajikian also suggests Urban Decay’s Mini Naked Eyeshadow Palette for fall because it ranges from a soft shimmer to a bold smoke. “You can wear this on your virtual work Zoom or go for the deeper shades to define the eye, even wetting the shimmers to intensify,” he says.
8The Long-Lasting Option
Sesneck loves this 10-pan option from Pat McGrath Labs for fall. Since the shades are so highly pigmented, the pro adds that he likes to dampen a brush and even use them as eyeliner too. What’s more, the shadows are super long-lasting. “They are bulletproof and have holding power,” he says.
9The Party-Ready Option
With four shimmery shades — plus a pearlescent highlighter as a bonus — all named after trendy neighborhoods in New York, this recently launched palette from HAN Skincare Cosmetics is a great, fall-friendly option for post-work drinks. “It doesn’t have your traditional brown and bronze fall colors,” says HAN Skincare Cosmetics founder Susan Wong. Instead, the four shades in the quad can be mixed and matched to achieve a subtle or super smoky eye, depending on your mood.
10The Budget-Friendly Option
For celeb makeup artist and Pinterest Creator Erin Parsons, Maybelline’s Nudes of New York Eyeshadow Palette is “a staple in my daily routine.” The pro loves this option because it’s “enriched with warm hues perfect for the fall season.”
The range of colors includes light neutrals, simmering ambers, and deep, rich chocolates. “I adore the ratio of velvet mattes to glimmer finishes which allow you to keep the eye look quite soft and subtle or topped with sparkle for gilded autumn opulence.” At $14, it’s got great value.
11The Professional-Level Option
For more artistry-driven looks, Parsons loves Viseart’s Grande Pro Volume 1x, which includes 35 matte shades. “From the softest eggshell ivory to pure carbon black, there’s not an autumn-esque shade missing from the range,” she says. “The pigmented shades can also be great for out-of-the-box designs or Halloween looks, like this Bardot-inspired Bombshell Eye I created on Pinterest.”
