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Finding the right cool-toned eyeshadow palette for you may feel like a mission but, once you’ve settled on one palette with a range of standard colors you can combine to create a number of different looks, you’re sorted.
Eyeshadow may be one of the makeup products you use when you’ve got a spare few minutes in the morning or one you can’t leave the front door without. Whatever your personal feelings about eyeshadow palettes are, we’re sure you can agree that you should have at least one in your makeup collection.
When it comes to eyeshadows, most palettes will follow either a cool-toned color story or warm-toned one. Depending on your skin tone and personal preference, you’ll normally steer yourself in the direction of one of these two options — but knowing which one will look the best on you is more of a science than you may think.
Here are some of our favorite cool-toned eyeshadow palettes, some from the drugstore and some that are a little more high-end, depending on your budget. All feature a range of cool neutral shades that deliver a versatile combination of colors for any natural look or experimental
How to figure out if you have cooler-toned skin or warm undertones
Before you start looking for the perfect cool-toned palette for you, it’s a good idea to discover what undertone your skin has.
Everyone has different undertones, and knowing what yours is will make choosing makeup products infinitely easier. Not only will it help you to figure out which eyeshadows will look the best on you, but it will also help with picking out the perfect foundation, concealer, or blush shade for your complexion and skin types.
Your undertone will fall into one of three main categories:
- Warm: Characterized by gold, peach, and yellow tones
- Cool: Characterized by red, pink, and blue tones
- Neutral: Characterized by olive tones or a mixture of warm and cool tones
If you’re not sure which one of the categories you fall under, you can try the vein test. Take a look at the visible veins on your wrist under natural lighting. If your veins look blue or purple, you probably have a cool undertone.
If your veins appear olive or green in color, you have a warm undertone. Finally, if your veins have a blue-green color, or if they match your skin, you fall into the neutral category.
A similar test you can try involves wearing your favorite pieces of jewelry. Cooler-toned skin tends to look better with silver jewelry, warm undertones look better with gold jewelry and, if you think both colors of jewelry are equally as flattering on your skin tone, you probably have neutral undertones.
What makeup colors look best on cool undertones?
Once you know what undertone your skin has, picking out the most flattering makeup shades for you will become a breeze.
We’ve all been there when a foundation shade has looked too pink or yellow on our skin, or an eyeshadow just doesn’t look quite right — it’s normally because it is the wrong undertone for you.
People with cool skin tones will normally look better when they choose shades that have a hint of blue in them to compliment their cool undertones. Look for shades like cool blues, purples, greens, rosy pinks, and reds that have a blue base if you want your makeup to look flawless and flattering.
How do you choose warm or cool eyeshadow?
When you’re makeup shopping, it should be easy to spot the difference between cool-toned eyeshadow palettes and warm shades.
Warm eyeshadow palettes will contain lots of oranges, chocolate browns, glittering golds, and yellow shades. On the other hand, a cool-toned eyeshadow palette will contain a lot of taupes, grays, greens, blues, and purples.
The best drugstore cool-toned eyeshadow palettes
The drugstore is home to some of the best cool-toned eyeshadow palette picks that won’t cost you the earth, they also have a great range of cool-toned options.
We’ve picked out 6 beautiful palette options that we think you should pick up on your next visit to your local drugstore.
Jason Wu Beauty Flora 9 Eyeshadow Palette in Euphoria – $18.29
The first cool-toned eyeshadows to mention is one of the Jason Wu 9 Eyeshadow Palettes, specifically the Euphoria palette.
Filled with 9 shades that tread the line between cool and warm tones, this is the ideal eyeshadow palette for any makeup enthusiast who wants to start moving away from warm-toned shades,
Each shade in this cool toned eyeshadow palette has a creamy texture, good color payoff, and lasts well throughout the day.
Whether you’re a fan of shimmer or matte finishes, this palette has a bit of everything.
Wet n Wild Color Icon 10-Pan Eyeshadow Palette in Nude Awakening – $5.39
Wet n Wild is one of our favorite drugstore makeup brands for their quality, yet insanely affordable, products — and their cool toned eyeshadow palettes are really something to write home about too.
With the perfect mix of shimmer shades and cool tones, this eyeshadow palette could easily work for any skin tone and create a beautiful cool toned makeup look.
This cool toned palette contains the basic light shades that are office-friendly and perfect for daytime wear while having the right darker shades to amp up any look or transition your makeup into the evening.
essence Mini Eyeshadow Palette in I Like to Mauve It Mauve It – $3.99
If neutral cool tones aren’t your thing, you can also experiment with some fun colors to compliment your skin tone.
This cool toned eyeshadow palette is a great example of how you can get creative with cool toned makeup colors. With a mixture of metallic finishes and shimmer finish shades, all of these colors lean on the cool, purple side.
Although these shades aren’t bright or in your face by any means, it’s a subtle way to play with color and experiment more with your makeup looks — and it’s only $3.99.
Juvia’s Place The Taupes Eyeshadow Palette – $15.00
Whether you’re traveling, or just like to carry a small makeup bag on you at all times, having a small palette that contains the 6 cool toned eyeshadows you need to create a cool tone eyeshadow look is important.
This palette from Juvia’s Place has all the basic eyeshadow shades you would need, including a nice metallic bronze, pretty shimmer finishes, and simple eyeshadow colors that will look good on anyone.
As far as drugstore eyeshadow palettes this one is very impressive.
e.l.f. Cosmetics Bite Size Eyeshadow Palette in Truffles – $3.00
I love these bitesize eyeshadow palettes from e.l.f. I have some of their warm eyeshadows and am obsessed with the luxe formula, buttery mattes, and the fact that I rarely have to wear an eyeshadow primer with them.
They have a few different color combinations which are perfect for a range of skin tones and are perfect whether you like full-face or natural makeup. Truffles is one of the cool toned eyeshadow palette options they have, it comes with a metallic grey, a caramel brown shade, a warmer brown eyeshadow shade, and a dark gray. Whether you wear them all together or play around with different looks, the shades are perfect for everyday wear or occasions.
ColourPop Of Quartz Pressed Powder Palette – $14.00
Although ColourPop gets a lot of attention for their Supershock eyeshadows, I am equally as impressed with some of their pressed powder palettes, especially this Of Quartz one.
You get an intense color payoff from each of the eye shadow shades that make it such a great affordable eyeshadow palette. You’re not going to get bright colors in here, but the color scheme of cool mattes in this cool eyeshadow palette will look great on cool or warm skin tones.
Mixing light tones and matte finish eyeshadows, this palette will look great on green eyes in particular. This is one of my favorite drugstore cool toned eyeshadow palettes as the shadows are highly pigmented and really make your eyes pop.
High-end cool toned eyeshadow palettes
Got a bit more money to spend? There are a lot of great eyeshadow palettes that may have a higher price tag but offer incredible quality shadows that can take you from a simple, office-friendly look, to a party-worthy smokey eye.
Here are just a few of the best cool toned eyeshadows for a cool skin tone.
ILIA The Necessary Eyeshadow Palette in Cool Nude – $38.00
We love ILIA, their makeup products are great, but it had taken me a while to try their cool toned eyeshadow palette — but I’m so glad I got there eventually.
This selection of flattering shades contains your classic neutral tones, mixing in matte shades and cool neutrals for a color combination that you don’t see all the time in other palettes.
I really like the cool shades in this palette, which look really great on brown eyes.
Makeup By Mario Ethereal Eyes Eyeshadow Palette – $68.00
Finally, we have the most expensive eyeshadow palette of the bunch, but one that is definitely worth it if you have the money to spare. It’s the Ethereal Eyes palette from Makeup by Mario.
Full of beautiful cool toned colors, all with the expected creamy texture and high pigmentation you’d expect from a luxury brand to create natural looks or more creative looks.
The cool toned colors in this palette feature ones with a pretty sheer sparkle, and shimmery eyeshadow shades that provide a beautiful soft focus effect to the eyes and compliment any skin tone, there are also some rose-hued neutrals to provide a bit of balance. There is a reason this has become a cult favorite, it has various shades for a subtle everyday look, but the metallic cool shades that catch natural light and sparkle like nothing else, it’s an incredible addition to your makeup kit.
This is definitely one of the most beautiful cool toned eyeshadow palettes that I think would work on any skin tone – plus, it gets extra points for the large mirror it comes with.
Create your perfect eyeshadow look using cool tones
In this article, we’ve taken you through our list of the best cool-toned eyeshadow palettes to up your eye makeup game. Every cool neutral eyeshadow palette we mentioned will help you create a wide variety of looks that complement your personal style, eye color, hair color, and skin tone.
Which cool toned eyeshadow palette was your favorite?
