Eyeshadow Palettes Get More Color in the Spring

This Spring, there has been a noticeable trend in eyeshadow palettes, ranging from the gorgeous to the offbeat. Palettes now feature creative picture prints, 3D textures, and forms representing a more sophisticated design ethos than simpler ornamental flourishes like floral patterns or girlish decorations.

Eye shadow palette, in a shape of a dinosaur.
From Sephora X Coach Collection

The company Byredo has always been to develop a cosmetics collection that seems varied and is not necessarily a matching set in the traditional sense. As a result, the brand offers red mascara and organic-shaped eyeshadow palettes.

Its newest Prismic Eyeshadow Palette comes in more traditional rectangular packaging, but the person on the palette — an amorphous, almost alien-like rainbow-colored figure — hints at what's within.The palette's 18 colors cover the rainbow, yet they are purposefully displayed without any sense of order or gradient shading. The gleaming copper-red sits inexplicably between shimmering fuchsia and rich gold.

"We want to approach color as if people are going to wear it," explains makeup artist and Byredo colleague Isamaya Ffrench. "There are so many palettes out there that look wonderful on a shelf or are fun to open, but you only end up using two colors." "We wanted to create a palette that people would like to wear," she explains.

Coach collaborated with Sephora Collection on a curated and limited edition beauty collection, but the eyeshadow palettes stand out. The oddly-shaped palettes, which include the brand's animal mascots Rexy and Sharky as highlights, are surprisingly valuable and simple to use. These can be attached to bags thanks to the keychain function, and the top pulls out and can also be flipped up to expose a mirror.

To represent the rich leathers used by the house, the colors within trend towards wearable neutrals like sand, onyx, mauve, and taupe, making them somewhat of a surprise due to the evident contrast with the playful outside package. "I wanted to create something whimsical but still very Coach — truly steeped in a rich color palette that echoes our leather legacy," said Stuart Vevers, creative director of Coach.

The Stoned Vibes palette from Urban Decay is the colorful, jewel-toned sibling of the famous Naked Palettes. In this example, the packaging, which resembles a crystal geode, alludes to the colors available within, ranging from Jade, a glitter-flecked green that looks like a valuable stone, to the rich and multi-dimensional Tiger's Eye.

This vegan palette's sparkly colors are really laced with genuine tourmaline to repel lousy energy and come in creamy, velvety textures with an incredible color payoff. At the same time, the glitter within does not fall off when applied.

Chantecaille has produced a butterfly-themed beauty line for Spring. The package includes a photograph of a butterfly, and the colors within are shimmering neutrals designed to imitate a butterfly's wings. They include rose gold, taupe satin, and a unique chrome pearl color that combines pink, green, and gold.

"The colors in this palette are new and vibrant — like the first blooming, crocuses, early flowers, dewy green — the tones represent the initial shoots of spring and their valuable pollinators." The image of the Cephus Blue Ringlet butterfly with the Red Campion Flower on the box is a snapshot of nature in action.

"It all comes back to nature," explains Olivia Chantecaille, the brand's creator. The company is also helping conserve butterflies in Singapore by giving 5% of the earnings from this collection to the Nature Society of Singapore's Butterfly and Insect Group.