THE ESSENTIAL NINE

As most of you will know, I love my custom palettes. I honestly believe that they are the best investment and some of the best makeup products I have in my collection. In this post, I wanted to share my top nine shades that make up my essential palette.

I am very much a neutrals girl and I feel like this palette sums me up perfectly. It is warm in tone and with loads of mattes, I know that I can create so many looks with just these shades. The three shimmer shades at the bottom are my lid shade options depending on what I want, either a bit of colour or something deeper in tone. In terms of the mattes, they are all very warm and I like that I have the option of a more mustard tone or a more peach tone as they are my two favourite colour palettes when it comes to my eyes. The top shimmer shade also has always been my top inner corner highlight so that is also a must in this palette.

As I've just said, the shimmer shade in the top corner is my all time favourite inner corner highlighter which is Makeup Geek Shimma Shimma. It is such an iconic shade and it is just beautiful on the skin. Even all over the lid, this is the perfect pale shade to just open up the eye. As you can see, I have even hit pan on this shade which I think shows just how much I love it and this would probably be the single eye shadow that I would recommend to everyone. I couldn't do my eye makeup without this and so it has to make it in this palette.

This is actually my newest single eye shadow, however, I don't know what I did without it now. Makeup Geek Beaches and Cream is the perfect initial transition shade when starting out with any look. It is a pale warm shade that just adds that the very first bit of shape and colour into an eye look. These Makeup Geek eye shadows are also just gorgeous. The mattes blend beautifully, and especially this shade, it just looks so seamless. 

Sadly, you can't actually get this shade anymore but I needed to mention it in this post because a shade like that is a must in my collection. I love that Freedom Sweet Life is the perfect medium warm brown shade. Even if I want something light on the eyes, just this in the crease would be enough for me because it is just such an easy shade.

Onto a bit more of colour now, Makeup Geek Chickadee is such a great shade to just add the slightest bit of colour. It is a medium yellow shade that I especially love to use in the crease to add some more warmth. I find this so flattering on my eye colour and I just think that although some might find it intimidating, it is such an easy colour to work with. This in the crease with a medium brown in the outer corner is such a natural eye look but that yellow hue just makes it that bit different. It's definitely the sort of easy, pop of colour I would recommend for any neutral palette. 

The next shade is one of my favourite colours ever, not even just in makeup terms. Colourpop Best Coast Scenario is the most beautiful coral shade that I just swoon over every time I see it. It is that perfect medium shade, and it isn't too orange or too pink, it's the perfect inbetween. You can do so much with this shade, whether it is in the crease, all over the lid or even in the inner corner, it is the sort of colour you can get so creative with. Once again, I find this really flattering on my eye colour and that is probably why I gravitate towards it so much, but that is how I would recommend people to ease themselves into colourful makeup looks. I can't really say that this would be my go-to shade in winter as I would associate peaches and corals with being more of a summer shade but nevertheless, like I said, just this in the crease and then building on top of it with some brown shades, does just help add that bit of warm and tone. 

This is the classic eye shadow shade of them all, Makeup Geek Cocoa Bear. It is the infamous warm, chocolate brown shade that no one can live without and I must agree, it is such a useful colour to have. I would never go straight into a look with this colour, but I love add this into the outer corner or the lash line to add that element of depth it offers. When it comes to eye shadow, I have never liked anything too dark or smokey, I would much rather something with is light and fresh, however, whenever I fancy just a bit of dimension and depth, this is the shade I reach for. It isn't too dark with is why I think I like it so much because it is way less intimidating for me. I can't imagine this not being in my essential nine though because it is necessary for almost every eye look I create. 

As for my fine three shades in this palette, they are all shimmers. I say it all the time, but when it comes to eye shadow, I am a matte kind of person, all day, everyday, however, you always need the odd shimmer just to give you that little bit extra and so that is why my bottom line includes these shades. The first one it Colourpop Come and Get It, perhaps my favourite shadow ever because of how beautiful and unique the colour is. It is a peachy pink shimmer, with a gold shift in it and it is the most beautiful thing in the pan but also on the eyes. It has such a metallic finish and is such a dream to use, I can't recommend it enough. This all over the lid with Best Coast Scenario in the crease, a powerful duo, to say the least. I just love this colour though, it is beautiful and definitely one I would recommend to anyone. 

The next shade is Makeup Geek Grandstand which again, I feel like is a very infamous shade, but once again I must agree. It is a gorgeous, metallic, rose-gold shade. I can't say that the formula is my favourite just because it does have a little too much fallout for my liking, however, that takes nothing away from how beautiful the colour is. It is that perfect medium shade that just looks great with any combination in the crease, just this all over the lid and your look is complete. Although it isn't the easiest to work with in terms of formula, it is so versatile when it comes to colour matching and picking something that will give you that element of shimmer. 

Although my final shade in this palette isn't my most used, it is the sort of shade I feel like everyone needs at least one of, which is a dark shimmer. Like I said before, I am not one for super dark and dramatic eye shadow, but that isn't to say that I still don't wear it every now and again. Especially when it comes to nights out or events, sometimes you want something a little more dramatic and glamorous, and Makeup Geek Mesmerized is that shade for me. I am not even sure how you would describe the colour but it is like a deep purplish grey that is so metallic on the eyes, it's incredible. Like I said, this all over the lid with a brown through the create is perhaps the easiest smokey eye in history, but that is just exactly what you want sometimes and so it had to make it into this palette. 

I'd love to know your individual eye shadow recommendations as I am constantly growing my custom palette. Let me know what you think of this selection!

Grace xx