5-in-1 Makeup Palettes: One Kit for Every Look

There is a reason every makeup artist carries palettes rather than dozens of single pans. A palette is edited. Someone has already checked that the shades sit well next to each other, that the finishes complement rather than compete, and that you can build a whole face without opening a second product. For everyone else - the traveller, the beginner, the person with a five minute morning - that curation is the entire value.

What actually goes into a multi-use palette

A well built 5-in-1 palette usually covers five jobs: eyeshadow, blush, bronzer or contour, highlighter and either a brow powder or a lip shade. Bigger sets such as the 5-in-1 Makeup Palette Book lay these out in sections so you are not hunting for a shade mid look. Studio style kits like the Kevin and Coco Facechart 36 Colour Face Palette go further and add cream bases and correctors, which is what you want if you do makeup for other people as well as yourself.

How to choose the right one

Match the undertone to your skin, not to the swatch

Peach, warm brown and terracotta shades flatter warm and olive undertones. Rose, mauve and cool taupe suit cooler skin. If you cannot tell, look at the blush shades - a palette whose blushes look wearable on you will almost always have wearable eyeshadows too.

Count the neutrals

The pans that get finished are matte beige, soft brown, deep brown and one warm mid tone. Bright and glitter shades look exciting in the pan and get used four times a year. A palette with at least five usable neutrals gives you your money back.

Check the pigment, not the pan count

Thirty-six weak shades are worse than twelve strong ones. Swatch with a dry finger. Good pressed powder deposits colour in one pass and does not crumble. Metallics should look wet and smooth, not gritty.

Three looks from one palette

The five minute everyday

Sweep the lightest matte over the whole lid, press the mid brown into the outer half, take the same brown along the lower lash line with a small brush and finish with a soft blush high on the cheek. Skip highlighter on rushed mornings; the eye already has dimension.

The office to evening switch

Keep your daytime base and simply deepen the outer corner with the darkest brown, then press a metallic - a champagne or a soft bronze - onto the centre of the lid with a flat finger. A Holographic Metallic Eyeshadow Palette is made for exactly this move, because the shift shades read as subtle in daylight and dramatic under warm indoor light.

The full glam

Build in three steps: transition shade in the crease, colour on the lid, deepest shade in the outer V blended upward. Add contour under the cheekbone, blush slightly above it, and highlighter on the top of the cheekbone and the bridge of the nose. The trick is always the same - blend the boundary between any two shades before adding a third.

Making a palette last

• Wipe the pan surface with a clean tissue weekly to remove the hard film that builds up from oils on your brush.
• Never dip a wet or cream-loaded brush into a pressed powder pan.
• Store flat and closed. Dropping a palette shatters pans; a shattered pan can be revived with a few drops of rubbing alcohol pressed flat and left to dry overnight.
• Powder shades keep for about two years. If the colour stops paying off in one swipe, it is done.

Is a big palette worth it for a beginner?

Yes, with one caveat: start using it in halves. Learn the neutral section first and get comfortable with placement and blending. Once your everyday look is automatic, the brights and metallics become fun rather than intimidating. One good palette plus three brushes will take a beginner further than ten single products bought at random.