The Obsession With Palettes

I don't understand the obsession with pre-made palettes. They are constantly released, and so many people seem to jump on them each time. If a YouTuber isn't buying it, they're probably doing an antihaul on why they're not. Often the reason for not buying a palette is because it is too similar to ones they already own, which I feel like just reinforces my idea that there are too many palettes released throughout the year. 

It reminds me of when I first became interested in Mac and there were constant "limited edition" releases month after month. However, now it's on a multi-brand level. So even the brands that rarely seem to release palettes are grouped into the same category as brands like Too Faced, which constantly puts out gimmicky palettes that are easily talked about throughout YouTube. By the time Urban Decay came out with Naked Heat (and especially Petite Heat) it was considered too late by many YouTubers who had already acquired multiple warm-toned/orange palettes. 

It seems like a rite of passage sometimes to own so many palettes, like your rank in the beauty community is determined by how many you own. I find it interesting too to look at makeup flatlays and be able to tell fairly quickly when someone started buying makeup based on which popular eyeshadow palettes they own. 

Over the past two years there has been a shift to talking about a palette's "color story." Nowadays it seems to matter more that the colors in a palette are unique and appear harmoniously together in their pans. Swatches neatly grouped together are sometimes more important than how likely someone is to actually wear those colors. I can appreciate a piece of art with blue and green, but I know I'm not going to wear that. Similarly, while the monochromatic 9-pan Colourpop palettes are quite appealing to look at, I know that I don't need 9 similar shadows. 

I also feel like prettiness is more important than function sometimes. I remember reading posts on Reddit about how someone bought a new palette and was so afraid to use it (or even swatch it) because they didn't want to ruin its pristine appearance. The first thing I did when I received my Sydney Grace shadows a few weeks back was to swatch them and start pairing them with other singles I already had. 

My custom palette does not have a color story; it's just colors I like that pair well together. There are browns, creams, yellows, mauves, and more. The silver looks out of place, but it actually works quite well with many of the shades in there. It seems like a jumbled mess and probably is, but that's fine with me. I feel like some people expect too much out of pre-made palettes. They want so much variety and uniqueness from a palette while still expecting it to fulfill their every want. But then they get mad at palettes for containing boring colors or yet another cream shade. 

I think people forget that single shadows exist sometimes. Maybe they're too afraid of creating their own palette because they expect it to be this beautiful work of art from the get-go. They want everything to look harmonious when it really doesn't need to be. I would love to see a shift happen back to single shadows. But if that happens, I really don't want it to be like receiving deconstructed palettes. I want to see people choose the one or two shadows that speak to them most, not the whole collection.