Good eyeshadow palette gift for teenager - help me choose please !

[naturalooks15]

Which one of the palettes below would be a good choice for teenager who doesn't yet wear any make-up and will start out with occasional make-up maybe -

1. Urban Decay Naked

2. Tarte Toasted

3. Urban Decay Born to Run

4. ABH Soft Glam

[naturalooks15]

Thanks So I am coming back to you all. I am glad you guys pointed out the brushes etc. since I was just focusing on the palette 🙂

I wasn't quick enough and Tarte Weekly Wow small palettes were sold out so wanted to check which palettes from Ulta are good quality -

1. Colourpop

2. Morphe (is colourpop better than this?)

3. NYX

4. Juvia's place

[WinglessOne]

I had to check which ColourPop palettes Ulta sells online, and I’m glad my number one CP recommendation’s still available: Dream St. 

Details & other CP recommendations: 

Spoiler

Dream St. is a good mix of neutrals, pops of color (2 pretty teals and a coral red), mattes, and shimmers. It’s very versatile, yet fairly safe and not too intimidating. A beginner who shies away from color can start with the neutrals and work their way into those other colors. I’ve played with this palette a bit and had no major problems with it: shades blended well, didn’t feel super chalky, and the mattes weren’t patchy. 

If your teen likes warm bright sunny colors, Yes Please is another option Ulta sells. I don’t usually recommend that one unless it’s for someone who’s not easily intimidated by color and loves warm tones. 

Too bad Ulta doesn’t sell You Had Me At Hello. That’s what I sometimes recommend to folks wanting to give a beginner a warm cranberry palette. Oh, and I Think I Love You is another warm palette: mostly browns, bronzes, golds, and coppers, with a black matte. I see Ulta does sell Double Entendre which is a very neutral palette, but I Think I Love You provides more versatility. 

Juvia’s Place: Of the 4 palettes I’ve owned, Masquerade is my favorite by far. If your teen’s intimidated by color, that palette might overwhelm her—though the shades are nicely arranged with neutrals at the bottom and brighter colors up top. I plan to depot 2 of my other Juvia’s palettes (I’ve decluttered a 3rd) so I can keep just the shades that work well for me. But I’ll probably keep Masquerade intact. 

Swatches & other Juvia’s palette notes: 

Spoiler

Dry Masquerade swatches, interior lighting, no primer.

Generally speaking, Juvia’s shimmers are better quality than the mattes. The shimmers are usually amazing. But the mattes tend to be patchy. Just something to consider. 

I had the Afrique palette and quickly decluttered it. Too many mattes were patchy and the shimmers weren’t up to par. 

Lots of folks love the neutral Nubian palette. I don’t have that one, but I do have Nubian II: it has enough neutrals for a beginner to play with, but also some nice shimmery colors to explore. 

I also have the Magic palette but I’m not very impressed with it. Some of the shimmers are nice. Some of the mattes need lots of building up. 

Juvia’s Magic swatches, dry brush, interior lighting.

Hopefully someone else can give you Morphe recommendations. 🙂 I don’t have much personal experience with those palettes, but plenty of folks love ‘em. 

[Mrose251]

@naturalooks15 I’m actually impressed with the two brushes I own from NYX Professional. The bristles are fairly soft and I haven’t experienced any shedding. To me, Morphe brushes are a hit or miss. You can get some decent brushes from them for the price but I feel there are other brands out there in that price range that are a little better in durability and quality. May I also suggest checking out BH Cosmetics brushes.

[naturalooks15]

Thank you all for wonderful suggestions. I had missed the weekly wow announcement this week so will check them out and also Ulta for Yarte deals and colourpop palettes in Ulta.

[CheerMomma]

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@naturalooks15

@naturalooks15 My DD14 loves the Tarte Tease palette and the eco tools enhancing eye brush set is perfect with it. She loves makeup (the Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree) and this is one thing she uses almost daily and has hit pan in. It was actually mine but she “commandeered” it and the brushes. 

[Mrose251]

@naturalooks15 If you are interested in the Tarte palettes. May I suggest checking out Ulta (U.S.) this Saturday (12/15) since they will be having the Tarte Tartelette, Tartelette 2 and Tartelette Toasted on sale for $19 each. Plus, you can also use a 20% code if you have one. With that deal, you could even gift more than 1 palette as an option. 

[WinglessOne]

For teen beginners, I usually recommend either a ColourPop palette or one of the Huda Obsessions palettes. CP is definitely a more cost effective option if you think your teen recipient won’t do eye makeup in general on a regular basis. Neither brand is my favorite for shadows; but for a young beginner, I’d recommend them over Urban Decay and ABH. 

I recently gave my lightly used Huda Obsessions Electric palette to a teen. She’s more of the “ooooh, look at all the pretty colors I can play with” type of person who’s completely comfortable with various color options, so it was the perfect beginner palette for her. 😄 But for teens who are intimidated by those bright Electric colors, the Obsessions Warm Brown palette might work, especially since it has only one shimmer. 

Your teen will also need at least 2 eyeshadow brushes. I’d pick a shader and blender, and I’d maybe add some kind of liner option... either an angled liner or a smudge brush. And I’d give them the wonderful gift of eyeshadow primer. 🙂 

[naturalooks15]

@WinglessOne I am looking at colourpop on Ulta (need to check if 20% coupon applies). If you have a particular one in mind, please let me know.

[greeneyedgirl107]

@naturalooks15 Have you considered any of the $10 Tarte palettes that are on sale for the Weekly Wow?

[kikikawaii]

For a teenager that you do not know if he or she enjoys makeup, you're better off getting something else than an eyeshadow palette. Maybe like those gift sets that come with mascara or eyeliner. Or try smaller palettes like the Tarte, Morphes, Smashbox or Visearts.

It sounds like you're undecided about this teenager, so I would suggest a bath set.

[CookieGirl1]

@naturalooks15 If I'm being REALLY honest, though, it sounds like you're not entirely certain that she's going to use the palette a lot and that she maybe isn't overly cofortable with makeup, so would it be more cost-effective and almost "safer" to get a drugstore palette?  There are definitely some good ones out there that wouldn't cost as much as a higher-end palette and that might prove to be a little more user-friendly for a beginner.

[naturalooks15]

@CookieGirl1 You are right, I don’t think she would use it often at 14 but I want her to have good formula that is easy to work with and she can learn with it and use it for next 2-3 years as she grows. If you have any suggestions from Ulta (NYX or other brands), please let me know. 

[CookieGirl1]

@naturalooks15 I completely understand what you mean and where you're coming from; quality IS important.  Just thought I'd at least ask since there are at least a few drugstore options that I'd recommend--Milani and Colourpop actually make some pretty nice affordable palettes--but it looks like you've picked out some good palette options and I'm sure that she'll ultimately be happy with ANY of them 🙂

[JaneanBT]

Hi @naturalooks15,

All of these palettes are great! I was actually going to recommend the TARTE - Tartelette™ In Bloom Clay Eyeshadow Palette.It has more neutral undertones that are great for every day wear. 

The Urban Decay Naked Palette is also great for a beginner. 

I hope this helps you decide. Either way, I am sure that she is going to love it. 

Best Wishes,

Janean

[mafan]

Given that she doesn’t wear makeup now, I think a palette with lots of different colors will be intimidating. I’d be more likely to give that to a teen that already had some makeup she liked and wanted to try new things. Of the palettes you listed, I would say Naked 1. 

Just to make things more of a challenge for you, look at the small palettes that went on sale today. I LOVE my Tarte tarteist Pro to Go palette. You could add the Hampton contour palette or the Glow to go for face color. Add a lip gloss and a mini mascara and (unless she wants to cover blemishes) a full set of things to play with. (And if she’s dark enough she might not even need mascara.)

[naturalooks15]

@mafan Thanks. She doesn’t like mascaras so maybe an eyeliner with the palette.

[RiniVe]

born to run is great because it has lots of options and a wide range of colours! I think it's a great one because you have some fun colours but still your neutrals. They could stick to the neutrals side until they are more more comfortable branching out to rest the pallette. I personally love my Tarte in bloom palette and toasted palette, I'm not sure why everyone is hating it. They work wonderfully for me. They also are in sturdy packaging, have a large mirror and let's face it, they're cute! I personally have never been a fan of the urban decay naked palettes, I feel like it's just blah even for a beginner. Top choice is Born to run, because you get everything! I'm hoping that helps a little! @naturalooks15

[alexasteph]

@naturalooks15 Have you considered a Too Faced palette for her? Either the TOO FACED - Natural Matte Eyeshadow Paletteor TOO FACED - Natural Eyes Eyeshadow Palettewould be great for a beginner. It has fewer shades and is laid out in a way for colors to go together, which is helpful when someone is first learning how to do looks. 

Ooooh ETA though... some of the names are a little questionable haha, might not be teenager appropriate! I don't generally notice shade names so I didn't even think about it! My apologies. 

[naturalooks15]

@alexasteph Yeah those names would not work 😄 I need to double check names in other palette. I think Soft Glam and UD Naked 1 are safe from that perspective but need to check the other two. 

[alexasteph]

@naturalooks15 A "safe" Too Faced palette is the Chocolate Bar palette (I can't get it to tag for some reason). It does have more shadows, but would be good for a beginner because the shades are quite neutral/natural with just a few pops of color to play around with. I find the Too Faced formula is the easiest to work with, of the brands you can get at Sephora. When I was a beginner I used the OG Lorac Pro palette.