{"id":737459,"date":"2025-11-25T19:34:04","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T16:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=737459"},"modified":"2025-11-25T19:34:04","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T16:34:04","slug":"eye-shadow-palettes-are-back-and-better-than-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=737459","title":{"rendered":"Eye Shadow Palettes Are Back and Better Than Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SHADOW PLAY<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Eye Shadow Palettes Are Back and Better Than Ever<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
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After a drought brought on by the \u201cclean girl\u201d era, a slew of new palettes prove eye shadow is making a comeback.<\/div>\n
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By <\/span>Parizaad Khan Sethi<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

November 24, 2025<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Photography by Ben Hassett<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n
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Eye shadow died two years ago. Gen Z\u2019s clean girl beauty army buried it with the side part, skinny jeans, and going out tops and danced on its grave, their mouths slicked with lip oil and cherub cheeks dabbed with pocket blush. For years, millennials and Gen X watched paralyzed, fearful of dipping back into their half-used Naked palettes lest they become the subject of a devastatingly-edited TikTok declaring them cringe.<\/p>\n

Now, at last, the drought in the shadow space has ended: A steady stream of big, bold palettes are being launched this fall. Palettes with eight, 12, even 18 (!) wells holding hypershine multi-chromes, soft-touch mattes, multidimensional pearl pigments, molten metallics, astral sparkles, and sueded satins have hit the market, largely from makeup artist-founded brands like Pat McGrath Labs, Danessa Myricks Beauty, and Makeup By Mario.<\/p>\n

Among the liberators of the clean girl movement is makeup artist Hung Vanngo, who recently debuted his makeup brand with a robust eight eye shadow palettes, each with varying shades of a specific color, like purple, green, or red. \u201cI actually went into the creative process with [even] more than eight palettes, if you can believe it,\u201d he says. (More are coming soon.)<\/p>\n

A few seasons ago, launching a brand with more than one eye shadow palette\u2014or even a single eye shadow palette\u2014might have seemed like overkill. But, according to Alexis Androulakis, a product developer and one half of The Lipstick Lesbians duo, today, it feels like meeting the moment. \u201cI think we’re seeing the reinvention tour of palettes,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

But the plot twist no one saw coming in this beauty fan-fic is that Gen Z is now into eye shadow, too\u2014the clean girl look be damned.<\/p>\n

Just look at the lids of some of the buzziest stars among Gen Z: Chappell Roan is obviously an eyeshadow queen. Jenna Ortega\u2019s been serving up gothy-glam with lots of shadow-based contouring on the eyes. Katseye\u2019s Lara Raj and her pop star sister Rhea are constantly in high-impact shadow looks, ranging from the smoky to the sunset eye.<\/p>\n

Even fashion runways have returned to color: there were brightly-hued lids at shows from Anna Sui to Zankov and everything in between (Collina Strada, Area, and Private Policy).<\/p>\n

How Eyes Became Everything<\/h2>\n

For those wondering why eyes have started trending again, makeup artist Isamaya Ffrench has a theory: \u201cWe will do clean girl core until we\u2019re bored and then we will do the complete opposite. Happens annually!\u201d She\u2019s right.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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After the 2010s, \u201ceye shadow went through a serious slump, and it was because of fatigue and oversaturation,\u201d says Androulakis, referring to the multitude of eye shadow palette launches\u2014Urban Decay Naked, Too Faced Chocolate Bar, and Morphe x Jaclyn Hill among them\u2014during this time. Consumers turned to cheek and lip products instead\u2014and then the same thing began to happen. \u201cNow what we’re about to see is the over-saturation in the lip and cheek category, forcing consumers back to eye,\u201d she says. This time around, however, new innovation in the space has resulted in shadows far superior to the dusty shades of yore.<\/p>\n

Better Tech, Better Payoff<\/h2>\n

Advancements in raw materials and in manufacturing processes are introducing us to several varieties of textures, says Androulakis. She points to the deep chocolate brown shade in Danessa Myricks Beauty Lightwork VII as an example: \u201cYou’re going to feel a texture that’s a hybrid between a mousse and a pressed powder.\u201d The palettes of today, she says, \u201chave less fallout, more adhesion to the skin, more dimensional, multi-chromatic effects and are going to make the experience of using eyeshadow way more fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Danessa<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Danessa Myricks Beauty<\/p>\n

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Lightwork VII Freedom Palette<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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$128<\/span><\/p>\n

Sephora<\/p>\n

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Manufacturers from Korea, Japan and Italy, and even U.S. and Canada are performing unprecedented eyeshadow alchemy, says Androulakis: \u201cThey’re not just baking the eye shadows over in Italy, they’re doing things to them that involve slurrying, back injecting and hybridizing four, sometimes five, different methodologies that we’ve never seen before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Palette Girl Fall<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s no surprise that many of the brands bringing this technology to the forefront are those with makeup artist founders. \u201c[Your lids are] where you have the most surface area on your face to be playful, and manipulate the light and dark, shadows and lines,\u201d says Androulakis. “Right from your lash line to your brow bone, that whole area is just begging for your art.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Some of these artists, renowned for their own creativity and for enabling that of others, never stopped launching palettes in the first place. Pat McGrath releases Mothership palettes annually (some years there have been more than one; we\u2019re currently up to number 12) and has a holiday palette out now called Gilded Nirvana. The brand calls it twelve shades of \u201cgilded bliss,\u201d and that may only be slight marketing overreach. The makeup artist Danessa Myricks has made a name\u2014and a brand\u2014for herself by cramming as much retina-searing gleamage into a palette divot as possible. Makeup artist Lisa Eldridge got a head start this summer and gave us five pocket-sized palettes this summer with mattes, metallics, and color-shifting shimmers.<\/p>\n

Hourglass also went palm-sized with its six Curator Eyeshadow Palette quads, while Byredo released an 18-pan palette created by makeup artist Lucia Pica called Bibliophillia. Both have metallic, satin, and matte finishes.<\/p>\n

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\"Hourglass<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Hourglass<\/p>\n

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Curator Eyeshadow Palette<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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$68<\/span><\/p>\n

Amazon<\/p>\n

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$68<\/span><\/p>\n

Ulta Beauty<\/p>\n

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\"Byredo<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Byredo<\/p>\n

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Bibliophillia Eyeshadow Palette<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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$115<\/span><\/p>\n

Byredo<\/p>\n

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But Make It Gen Z<\/h2>\n

While Gen Z\u2019ers admire the likes of Chappell Roan, many are wading into the eye shadow waters more delicately themselves. \u201cGen Z wants their eyes to feel defined and fresh without looking heavy. So [we as a brand] are not gravitating toward multi-color smoky eyes the way we used to, instead leaning into more soft mattes or neutral tones to sculpt the eye,\u201d says makeup artist Patrick Ta, the founder of Patrick Ta Beauty.<\/p>\n

For his part, Vanngo works regularly with A-list clients with massive Gen Z followings\u2014including Selena Gomez\u2014and knows what\u2019s beauty catnip for that audience. \u201cGen Z may favor the clean girl aesthetic but that doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019ve abandoned eye makeup,\u201d he says. \u201cEye shadow has evolved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vanngo\u2019s aim was to make shadows that meet people where they are. One of his palettes has matte shades that are a cream to powder formula with high impact pigments that lock down on the lid; there are also satin shades for an upgraded finish without glitter, and then a few metallic shades with a \u201csophisticated blend of pearls to give maximum reflection and luminosity.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The neutral palettes sold quickly, but so did the bolder colorways like purple and blue. \u201cIt was amazing to see that consumers were just as excited about color as I am, but I never imagined how vocal they would be,\u201d says Vanngo.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Not Just About Color<\/h2>\n

Some brands are realizing that even glitter, if done right, will find its way onto a Gen Z eyelid. Makeup brands just need to learn how to reel them in. Ta, another bonafide Gen Z makeup whisperer (his clients include assorted Kardashians, Gigi Hadid, and Ariana Grande) launched Major Dimension Eye Illusion Eyeshadow Duos with a \u201cscattered sparkle effect\u201d which he says the younger generation loves \u201cbecause it feels fresh.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat success gave us confidence that eye shadow, especially when done intentionally, resonates,\u201d Ta says. The brand just launched three edits of Artistry Edit Eyeshadow Palettes, a set of six neutral shades in light, medium, and deep colorways to sculpt and contour the eye. Four more shades of the duos came out, as well.<\/p>\n

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\"Patrick<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Patrick Ta<\/p>\n

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Major Dimension Eye Illusion Eyeshadow Duos<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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$42<\/span><\/p>\n

Sephora<\/p>\n

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$42<\/span><\/p>\n

Kohl’s<\/p>\n

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\"Patrick<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Patrick Ta<\/p>\n

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Artistry Edit Eyeshadow Palettes<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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$44<\/span><\/p>\n

Sephora<\/p>\n

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$44<\/span><\/p>\n

Kohl’s<\/p>\n

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\"Isamaya<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Isamaya<\/p>\n

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Beauty Core 1 and Core 2 Eyeshadow Palettes<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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$110<\/span><\/p>\n

Isamaya (Core 1.0)<\/p>\n

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$110<\/span><\/p>\n

Isamaya (Core 2.0)<\/p>\n

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No one has proved that glitter has a place in makeup more than Ffrench. Arguably, some of the most popular new launches were her Core Palettes, two reboots of her limited-edition Industrial palettes, probably the most fervently-demanded eyeshadow since Urban Decay launched Naked. Fans of the original\u2019s high-glitter pigments and bondage-inspired packaging have been feral for it for years, and those who missed out on collecting the original were waiting impatiently for a re-release. They weren\u2019t shy about making their needs known. \u201cPeople were asking me in real life and on every single post. [They were in my] comment sections, DMs on Instagram and Tiktok. I was seeing old palettes go for \u00a3600 on eBay\u2026 it became a cult! They needed to come back,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

And now, they have\u2014and thanks to those new advancements, they\u2019re somehow even better.<\/p>\n

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Read more about eye makeup:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  • Allure<\/em> Best of Beauty 2025: Eye Winners<\/li>\n
  • 7 Best Eye Shadow Sticks for Foolproof Glam<\/li>\n
  • 12 Best Eyeliners for Smudging, Flicking, and Tightlining Galore<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

    Source URL: https:\/\/www.allure.com\/story\/the-return-of-eye-shadow-palettes-2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    SHADOW PLAY Eye Shadow Palettes Are Back and Better Than Ever After a drought brought on by the \u201cclean girl\u201d era, a slew of new palettes prove eye shadow is making a comeback. By Parizaad Khan Sethi November 24, 2025 Photography by Ben Hassett Eye shadow died two years ago. Gen Z\u2019s clean girl beauty […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":737460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[52],"class_list":["post-737459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-allure-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=737459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/737460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=737459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=737459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=737459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}