Palettes or Singles?

How many colors of a product do you really need to create a look? Makeup palettes, product containers that include many different products/colors, have been around forever, but it’s just in the last few decades that it’s become more popular to spend the extra cash and get more. When buying a palette, they usually have a theme, and the colors are pre-chosen for you. Most brands have at least one palette that could be any mixture of products including foundation, powder, and lip product. Sometimes, they give you a combination of all to create a specific look. While very convenient and attractive, are palettes really worth the hype or the money?

For palettes, you’re taking a gamble when you buy it. You’re committing to multiple shadows at a higher price than just one. That means if you don’t like the palette or even a few products in it, you’ve still sunk the cost of the whole thing. With single shadows, you’re able to carefully pick and choose which ones you like, but they may add up in price quicker. Here’s a breakdown in the pricing of some popular eyeshadow palettes and popular singles on the market right now:

The new Too Faced Chocolate Gold palette is currently selling for $49 USD. It contains 14 shadows of .85 grams each, and two bigger shadows of 2 grams each. Altogether, this is 15.9 grams. When $49 is divided by 15.9, each gram of product comes out to $3.08. This means each of the smaller shadows would cost $2.62 on their own.

Too Faced Chocolate Gold palette at Sephora: http://seph.me/2EhPBcB

Another favorite is the Urban Decay naked palette. There are a few different version of this palette, but they all take a similar shape and size. The naked palette offers 12 same size shadows of 1.41 grams each. When you add this together, the palette contains 16.92 grams of product. The grand price of the palette,  $54 USD, divided by 16.92 is $3.19 a gram, making each shadow approximately $4.50 on its own.  

Urban Decay Naked palette at Sephora: http://seph.me/2FoxMrN

 Eyeshadow singles are always easy to buy when you only need one color. Many companies sell empty palettes that you can use to  create your own combinations of product in one container. Make up forever sells a variety of products that fit into their magnetic palettes. While the actual palette is only $2, the eyeshadow singles are $17 USD each. $17 USD divided by 2.5 grams of each single means a gram is $6.80. If you're interested in creating your own palette, Make up Forever sells palettes and products of all sizes here.

Make up Forever Eyeshadow single at Sephora: http://seph.me/2DHWEKK

Lastly, to compare another brand, Anastasia Beverly Hills also sells individual shadows. Their shadows are $12 USD each, containing 1.67 grams of product in each one. This makes each gram out to be $7.19.

				Anastasia Beverly Hills Eyeshadow single at Sephora: http://seph.me/2rPfZIw Anastasia Beverly Hills Eyeshadow single at Sephora: http://seph.me/2rPfZIw

 When comparing the math, it looks like the palettes are by far a better value - almost by half the money! However, you do have to consider what you’re actually getting. In a palette, you are getting more shades for a better value, but you get less of each product.

Consider this: When you use an eyeshadow palette, do you use each color consistently? Do you hit the pan in some shades but leave others untouched? A benefit of using eyeshadow singles is that you can choose your favorite colors; therefore, it will get used up.

It’s clear that the value of a palette far exceeds that of a single. The next time you are trying to decide which product to go for, consider the convenience of keeping your colors together vs the convenience of throwing a single eyeshadow in your purse on the go. Consider the colors that will get used vs the ones that are just sitting pretty. Lastly, consider the worth of the product to you. Sometimes a holy grail product is worth the splurge, regardless of whether it’s on its own or a whole palette.