Favorite Shade vs Most Used Shade

I thought it would be interesting today to compare shadows within palettes, particularly figuring out if my favorite pan is also the one with the most usage. I have three pre-made palettes, so I'll be focusing on those.

Lorac Nude Skinny

Nude Skinny is easily my oldest palette, and I think its usage reflects on my journey with color and eyshadow in general. In the early days I used to use my pans up as evenly as possible. This meant that if something had pan showing it had gone through significant use. The only pan in this palette that reached this status is the first one from the left. It makes sense though, as this is the only cream color in the palette and the only one I would have used with every single look.

Ignoring that one, my most used shade is just one over. A few years ago I absolutely loved subtle gold eyeshadow. I had not yet ventured into the world of color and was still gaining confidence in applying makeup in general, so the less obvious something was the better I usually felt. Nowadays though my favorite would be the copper shade, the fifth one in the palette.

ABH Subculture

For subculture, we also need to distinguish the "used for blending" outliers. Cube is basically gone, and Dawn is halfway there. Both of these shades were used to blend out shadows, so I'm not really counting them. I do really like Cube since its color-shifting quality is not something I would generally think to use. I'm also somewhat interested in seeing what it would look like as a face highlight; I've been eyeing Nyx Snow Rose lately, which I think is similar, and find it so interesting that Temptalia gave Cube an F but Snow Rose an A-.

So, if I'm disregarding these blending shadows my most used shades in Subculture are actually my three most favorites: Roxy, Edge, and New Wave, with the latter barely beating out the other two for the title of most used. Roxy definitely surprised me the most because I was not at all interested in even that type of color when I bought Subculture. Once I realized how beautiful it looked in the crease, I've been enjoying experimenting pairing it with different colors.

New Wave and Edge though were basically my favorites from the get-go. Initially I thought I would love the blues (Axis and Untamed), but I keep going back to the yellows instead. Both Edge and New Wave work wonderfully in the crease or on the lid, and it is so much fun combining them with oranges and others in that family.

Urban Decay Petite Heat

Speaking of oranges, let's move on to Petite Heat. Like with the other two my most used shade is technically the leftmost, Inhale. It's the lightest shade and the one I use to blend out edges, so it's understandable that it would have the biggest dip. Besides that one though, Heist is definitely the most used. At first I thought that Heist, Wild Thing, and Hot Spell would show similar usage, but after closer inspection it's quite obvious that Heist has been used much more. Between Heist and Wild Thing I'm not sure which I love more. They are basically my favorite types of colors to use around my eyes, and I absolutely love having an entire palette based around that.

The Bad and Boring Makeup Tag

What is a foundation finish you don't like?
I rarely wear foundation anymore, but if I were to purchase a bottle right now I highly doubt I would buy something that was ultra matte. I find that very interesting too because I like the majority of my makeup to be matte (eyeshadow, eyeliner, lipstick, blush), so why wouldn't I want my foundation to be matte as well?

What is the worst mascara you have ever tried?
Admittedly, I haven't tried many mascaras. Once I found Clump Crusher I pretty much stuck to buying that one. In recent years I've only used four different mascaras, and two of those (L'Oreal Butterfly and Covergirl Supersizer) I remember not liking as much as the other two (Covergirl Clump Crusher and Covergirl Full Bloom).

What is one thing you tried once and then thrown away?
I'll name two: the two bad mascaras from the previous question. To be fair, I received both from Target Beauty Boxes, and neither was something I would have chosen for myself. They were both black mascaras, which I never use.

What is the most boring eyeshadow palette you own?
It's so funny to call this the most boring palette now because I remember how excited I was to hunt this down a few years ago. Lorac Nude Skinny is probably the epitome of "boring" palette to many people. It's a small palette that's essentially a handful of browns, but I love it. It's a palette I need to use more often, come to think of it.

What is a makeup trend you think is boring and want to go away?
I feel like I'm all about boring makeup. If I wanted a trend to go away it wouldn't be because it was boring. I mean, I'm tired of colorful highlighter, but I definitely wouldn't call that boring makeup.

What is the worst liquid lipstick you have tried?
Back when I used liquid lipstick, I only tried ones from Tarte, Smashbox, Stila, and ABH. Tarte was the Sephora birthday gift and just wasn't a color that suited me, so I threw it out before I even really considered how I felt about the formula. I remember liking the one from Smashbox, but I just did not wear Out Loud enough to justify keeping it around. I don't remember having strong feelings either way with the Stila products I tried. But the liquid lipstick from ABH. Oh man. I struggled so much with my lipline when I used Kathryn. I hated it too because I got compliments whenever I wore it and I bought it primarily because the name has significance to me. But I would get so frustrated whenever I tried to apply it.

What color do you think is the most boring one?
Maybe black? I think it's just because I remember the time when so many people wanted an extremely black eyeliner to make wings. Plus, I highly prefer colored mascara to black.

What brand do you think is coming out with the most boring things?
Benefit is the first brand I thought of. I might be wrong, but it seems like they only release one new cheek product a year along with a handful of their current products packaged together in some new kit. I'm just not interested in purchasing multiple blushes at once or buying eyebrow products period, and that's all I associate with the brand.

Which step in your makeup routine is the most boring one?
I have been applying the same eye primer since I got my first non-drugstore palette nearly five years ago. I've gone through at least four different tubes, but the Lorac Behind the Scenes Eye Primer has not failed me yet.

If you had to chose between a good base with a bad eyelook or a bad base with a good eyelook which one would you choose?
I feel like it depends on the day. I wear glasses, so my eyelook is often obscured. But I know that i would be ticked off if I spent time working on an eyelook only for it to come out bad, so for that reason I'm going to choose to have a good eyelook.

Sydney Grace Is On My Mind

The first time I ever heard about Sydney Grace was a few years ago when Georgia Harris mentioned their single eye shadows in a YouTube video. Back then they weren't even called Sydney Grace, and I had little to no interest in the company. At the time I was convinced that I could get any single shadows I wanted through Mac - even though I had never even seen a Mac product anywhere besides a computer screen.

Well, fast forward three or so years and I've of course realized that Mac doesn't actually fulfill all my eye shadow wants like I had been convinced. But this doesn't mean that I immediately jumped straight to browsing Sydney Grace's inventory. My first step in accepting the Mac "lack" was eagerly awaiting every release (of which there were many) to see if I liked any of the limited edition single eye shadows. Months dragged on, and eventually it felt like I was lucky to even see a release with a single eye shadow period.

So what changed? I started noticing Sydney Grace being featured on Temptalia. Now, I used to check Temptalia multiple times a day when I was in the early stages of my makeup journey. When a brand was on that site, it felt like it must have a good reputation if Christine reviewed it. I started finding myself checking Temptalia's swatch inventory for Sydney Grace products instead of just scrolling down for hopes of a new Mac launch. When I started searching for dupes of my favorite shades in Subculture many Sydney Grace shadows started showing up there as well. All during this time various YouTubers I was watching continued mentioning Sydney Grace shadows in their videos.

I bet you'll never guess which brand's single eye shadows are at the top of my wish list. It's strange too because one of my biggest "rules" with purchasing makeup is that I want to be able to touch and test a product before I buy it. There is no way I'd be able to do that if I bought from Sydney Grace. But nevertheless I'm still drawn to their shadows. The one that started the increased interest in the company was Geese a Laying, followed closely by French Hens. By now, my wish list is easily approaching a dozen shadows, even though I am easily content with the eye shadows I already own.

Right now Sydney Grace is just the new interesting brand for me, and it's taking some determined self-control to not just buy the things that interest me in this moment. A few years ago I would have likely already filled a 12-pan palette with Sydney Grace shadows. But now that I'm much more conscious of my spending habits when it comes to makeup I recognize that I need to take a step back before placing an order. Now, do I anticipate buying some Sydney Grace shadows before the end of the year? Absolutely. After all, some sort of promotion is happening near the end of this month. And even though I have no clue what the promotion is for, something tells me I need to be following their social media presence in the next few weeks.

Why though? I never follow brands on social media. I get my makeup news from Temptalia, and lately I've enjoyed reading about any releases on my own terms, rather than being bombarded by them on YouTube. What is it about Sydney Grace that encourages me to make an exception on the social media follow? the swatch before purchase guideline? I'm slowly trying to figure it out for myself.

Unexpected Discounts After the Purchase Date

When I started being more selective in my makeup purchases, I decided that waiting for expected sales was going to be the easiest way for me to stop most impulse purchases. Over time, I realized that I was no longer buying items impulsively but rather after long reflections; even when the expected Sephora sales came around I was barely buying anything and often skipping the sales entirely.

New products were still being released constantly, but nothing really caught my eye. Enter Subculture. I waited  at least a week before buying it. I knew that Anastasia eyeshadow palettes were often highly sought after and that a discount on that particular palette was unlikely. Oh, how little did I know.

So when Petite Heat became the new palette I again waited. I had "learned my lesson" with Subculture and this time waited even longer to purchase Petite Heat. When Sephora had an unexpected percent off sale a few weeks later I decided it was finally time to buy Petite Heat. But of course what happened at Black Friday that year? Petite Heat was half off somewhere and even still continues to be randomly discounted throughout the year. I knew that Urban Decay palettes were likely to be discounted, but that was usually the limited edition releases. not items that had been added to the permanent line.

It's hard not to feel disappointed that I didn't get the huge discounts others did. I have to remind myself that I got something I really wanted, not just because it was on sale. After all, if you wouldn't purchase something full price, should you really purchase it on sale? I feel like that was a big mantra in r/makeuprehab last year.

It's easy to get caught up in what you missed out on. For me as a budget shopper, something that's been ingrained in me since childhood, missing a significant sale is huge. But it shouldn't matter so much to me. I didn't know those sales were coming. I practiced patience and waited to see if maybe it would happen, and that's all I can ask. I didn't make these purchases impulsively.

If I had waited to purchase Petite Heat I would have saved maybe $10, but then I wouldn't have been able to play with and explore the palette at the time of year when I did. I don't think that saving that money would have been worth it, but in the back of my mind I can't help but think about how much more significant 50% off is over 10% off. It's so easy to focus on the numbers behind it rather than just appreciating the item for what it is. And that's something I'm actively working on this year.

An Appreciation for Subculture

In the last couple of weeks I've been drawn to a new eyeshadow palette. Not new due to release date, but new as in not the Petite Heat that has been my siren call for most of the year so far. It feels strange too because I consider Subculture much more of a fall palette, but I've really enjoyed playing with some of the colors during this current heat.

It's quite amusing how I was ready to almost give up on bold colorful eyeshadow when this palette was released two years ago. I had bought a custom Mac palette in early 2017 and been thoroughly disappointed with three of the colorful shades I had chosen. Indian Ink, Naval, and Bottle Green looked like beautiful rich shades online, but because they were pro store exclusives I bought them sight unseen. While they may be decent build-up shadows, they were not the type of product I was interested in. When Subculture came out a few months later, I was amazed at how it contained so many of the bold colors I had wanted to put into my custom palette. It had the purple, green, and blue I was hoping those Mac shades would be, plus more.

What I find interesting though is that the colors I was most interested in are the colors I use least in the palette. I remember being so excited for Axis. It is such a beautiful color after all. But just because I like a color doesn't mean I'll like it as an eyeshadow. I barely wear my Urban Decay eyeliner in Mainline because I find it overwhelming, so why do I think I'm going to wear more of that color on a larger surface area of my eye? I'm not. I'm just not.

There are three shades that made me want to use this palette again: New Wave, Edge, and Roxy. I have been pining for some Sydney Grace shadows for the past few weeks, and I've been looking through their catalog try to find shades similar to these three. Right now French Hens and Geese a Laying are inspiring me to create a custom cohesive palette.

I never would have thought that Roxy would become one of my favorite shades in the palette. When I bought the palette I thought it looked so boring. But on a whim one day two years ago I put Roxy in my crease, and my appreciation for the shade instantly skyrocketed. When I first got the palette I challenged myself to use only it for my eyeshadow for 30 straight days, and I'm so glad I did. Doing so really pushed me out of my comfort zone with color, and I learned to pair different colors together I may not have easily considered.

As a whole, I really do appreciate Subculture. I know when it was released it didn't get the best reviews, but I have thoroughly enjoyed using it and really learning about my color preferences from it. I doubt I'll have it for another year, as my favorite shades are quickly being panned, but I am quite glad that Subculture was able to help me find those favorite shades in the first place.

More Meaningful Choices

I have been thinking this past week about how my makeup preferences have changed so much in the last few years. I remember when I first became interested in makeup I wanted to own as many things as I could and have massive collections like the YouTubers I watched. Over time, however, I've realized that I actually don't like having many options. I would rather have a handful of blushes than a drawerful, and even then, I would probably end up wearing the same one or two blushes repeatedly for months.

I feel like a lot of social media is trying to convince us that more is better. The constant influx of releases and barrage of opinions about them make these inflated collections feel normalized in a way. If anything at all catches your eye, you're almost expected to buy it. But I can appreciate the beauty of something without owning it. A lot of emphasis now is placed on brands and products rather than aesthetic and technique, and as a result I repeatedly hear YouTubers harp on about "trying new things."

But that's the thing for me. I don't care really about trying new things, at least not to the extent that they do. I would much rather have a predictable and constant routine than be bombarded with a multitude of choices every day. I would rather spend a month or two figuring out which gold eyeshadow I want and would be most likely to use than have six different ones I can choose from on a daily basis. I have recently come to realize that the fewer choices I have the more meaningful those choices become. 

The Pull to Rotate

I feel like the two big camps in the panning community are those who "rotate products" and those who "project pan/pan that palette." Over the past few years, I've tried both. I remember having a spreadsheet where I tallied how often I used a product. I also remember having weekly makeup baskets and sticking with the same eyeshadow quad (shout out to you, Lorac Satisfying Toffee Crunch) for basically an entire year. And then at some point I just... stopped.

Some YouTuber (maybe Abby Williamson?) I was watching this week mentioned her philosophy was to always use your favorite, not to save it. Once you finish it, you move on to your next favorite. That way you're always using your favorite. When she made that comment (about camping food) I think she was likening it to saving "special occasion" or "too pretty to use" makeup, but I think it relates to constantly rotating products too. When your collection is at a manageable size and you love everything in it, it's easy to use your favorite. Sometimes you have multiple favorites, so it can be difficult to select a favorite. (More "Do I want to wear my favorite red lipstick or nude lipstick today?" Less "I love all twenty of these cream-colored eyeshadows and can't choose which to use today.") But when something isn't well-liked it's easy to weed that item out.

I rotate by finding new combinations to try. I might focus on an eyeshadow palette for a month, not because I want to force myself into a one month one palette but because I'm interested in learning how it works with this blush or that lipstick. Sometimes these explorations last a few days, sometimes a few weeks. Sometimes I simply use a product repeatedly because I enjoy it.

I no longer feel the need to rotate what I'm using to ensure everything gets used. (I also don't project pan anymore, but I've already made a post on that topic.) If I notice I haven't used something in a while there's probably a reason, and it might be a good idea to delve into why. Reflecting on the use and non-use of products in my collection really helps me understand the kinds of products that work for me and that I should bring in with any future purchases.