Before you give me the side eye for using 5 palettes for one makeup look, let me give a break down of what its for and how I use it. So in order for me to get the look that I want, I don’t have one palette that has all the perfect shades in. One of the palettes in my top 5 palettes are my eyebrows and the other palette is for bronzing/contouring. In my top 5 palettes in my collection I have a mixture of matte and shimmer shades that I have come to love and use religiously.If you look at the packaging of some of these palettes then you can see that I have had it for a hot minute and of course used the sh*t out of it. By looking at the shade range, you can tell that I am a neutral girl and is not very adventurous with colour yet. Some of these palettes are now discontinued or rebranded but you will definitely find them or similar items in the brands product lines. It’s all about making the product work for you.  First up…

Sephora – It palette: Delicate NudeI have a full review + a makeup look using this palette over here. Now initially I had said that this palette’s matte shades are not up there with my favourites like the shimmer shades. Since doing that review my opinion has changed slightly and I had a whole year to learn how to use this palette and make it work for me. Now obviously the fallout situation with the matte shades will still remain the same but the fact that it blends into nothing… now that opinion changed slightly. Over the past few month I came to the realisation that I have oily lids. I had mentioned it before but I only really realised this when I started venturing into eyeshadows. Since then, I put my Avon Ideal Flawless Liquid Concealer on my eyelids and set it with a powder. After completing that step I am able to work some of the browns into my crease area to create definition and I don’t have to use as much product as I used to before. I realised that my oily eyelids “ate” the product before it could even show up on my lid and when the oiliness were absorbed, the shadows would show up. Using a matte concealer really did the trick and I have to mention that this palette’s brush is one of the only applicators that I have used that I have received in a palette. If I really wanted to, I could use this palette alone to create an entire look but we all know I won’t do that because I am extra AF so I find myself dipping into my other palettes. This palette retailed for R661.97 at Sephora in Dubai Mall.

Clarins – Colour Quartet: Earth You guys, let me just start off by saying that I have had this palette since forever and it should probably be thrown out already but I just love it a heck of a lot. My sister gave me this palette a while back and it was the first high end makeup product that I owned. I didn’t use this palette because I treated it like a collectors item and the other half of me also didn’t want to use it because I didn’t even know how to start off using eyeshadows. Fast forward to new makeup brushes, Youtube tutorials and Pro MUA friend, this palette is my favourite in my makeup collection. This is such a practical palette and in my opinion is the perfect palette for someone that is just dabbling in the eyeshadow world. Obviously because this eyeshadow is so old, it is rebranded and comes in 6 different shades (4 shades in each palette) and is sold directly on the Clarins South Africa website. If you spoil and splurge on yourself at least once then I would highly recommend this palette. It retails for R565. This is a travel friendly palette and you can absolutely create an entire look with this palette. I would usually use the dark gunmetal shade on the outer V of my eye and the last shade to highlight under my brow bone. This palette is quite pigmented so a little goes a long way.

Revlon – Charlie: 8 pan eyeshadow paletteOut of all my palettes this is probably the most daring one. I received this from my MUA friend a few months back but it is such a goodie. I feel like this palette can take any boring makeup look and turn into something spectacular. With my love for neutrals, the looks can get quite boring so I always count on this palette to bring something new. I may not always dip into all of these shades but I especially love the second shade for the inner corner highlight or to tap on the center of the lid. In this palette you receive 7 shimmers and 1 matte. You can’t use this palette to create an entire look but it is such a great addition to your makeup collection. I have found that I can’t use a brush when applying these shadows onto my eyelid so I just end up using my finger to pack  on product and then use a brush to blend out the edges where the shimmer meets the transition shade. Surprisingly for a shimmer palette there is little to no fallout in this palette. The shades also comes across as foiled before you blend it out. This makes the palette quite unique because you can either go for a foiled look or a shimmer look. I am not sure if this palette is still on the market as I can’t find it anywhere online but used to spot it at Clicks for R120 and a few months later in the sale bins.

Signature: Complete Glamour Brows Palette If you look at the packaging of this palette now in the first picture, you will probably see how much I love this palette. To say that I used this palette to death would probably be an understatement. I definitely used the heck out of this palette and is one of my most recommended products if anyone asks for eyebrow kit/products suggestions. Besides the fact that it works like bomb, it is so affordable and suitable for everyone (blondes, brunettes, dark haired). I did a full review on this palette and I mentioned it quite a few times on the blog but this is the only palette I use to do my brows. It doesn’t disappoint and I have my brows beautifully filled all day. The only thing that I don’t use in this palette is the wax and the mini brush. Some days I would mix the black and blonde to give me my eyebrow shade and other days I would use the brown on its own. This ensures that I use all the shades in the palette. Currently retailing for R84 at Signature stores, it is at the top my repurchasing list when this runs out. If you want a more in depth read on this palette then click on the link a few lines above.

Wish – Contour and Bronzing palette: MediumBefore you freak out just a little bit because I am using makeup from Wish, just know that I have been using this palette for almost 3 weeks and I am completely fine, in fact I look like I have been tanning on a beach in Bora Bora – that is how bronzed up I look thanks to this palette. I use this palette for bronzing and not for contouring as I prefer cream contour. I honestly just bought this palette out of curiosity and to my surprise really loved it. Now I only use the bottom three shades in the palette and occasionally the third shade in the top row to set my concealer before applying eyeshadow. This palette retails for under R50 and is dirt cheap in my opinion. I sometimes use the browns as an eyeshadow and have also used the darkest shade to fill my brows, I promise it is worth every penny. The are many different vendors on Wish so you can definitely still find this palette. This palette also comes in a number of different shades to suit your skin tone. If you’re a Wish shopper and/or have the patience to wait 1 month minimum(sometimes months) for your palette then be sure to give this palette a try.

And that is a wrap up of my top 5 palettes that I use almost daily. I am not someone that faffs about with alot of makeup in the morning and I know that I can count on these 5 palettes (including foundation, concealer and setting powder) to give me a 15 minute look.

Have you tried any of these palettes? If so, what are your thoughts?