The Best Eyeshadow Palettes in South Africa in 2025

The Best Eyeshadow Palettes

At Hairhouse Warehouse, we stock some of the best eyeshadow palettes of all time from top professional brands. Eyeshadow palettes contain multiple shades, and often finishes, in one compact.

Eyeshadow palettes offer complete versatility. A palette takes up less space than dozens of single shadows, and it’s easy to see and use the various colours.

By using different colours in different ways, you can create endless looks from soft and simple to bold and dramatic. By day, opt for barely-there nude eyes. At night, vamp it up with shimmery, smoky eyes.

If you’re wondering how to choose an eyeshadow palette, see our Q&A. We answer your questions about the best eyeshadow palettes in South Africa.

There’s a palette for every colour, finish and budget.

Overall best eyeshadow palette

We think this is one of the best eyeshadow palettes in South Africa. It’s from leading brand Crown Pro, which is known for its award-winning make-up and make-up brushes.

The 35 Colour OMG Eyeshadow Palette is a go-to palette designed to suit any look. Whether your desired style is everyday neutral, smoky and sultry or colourful, this palette has you covered. It also includes a mix of shimmer and matte eyeshadows.

The colours are highly pigmented and long-lasting, and blend well to create any look.

Best bridal eyeshadow palette

If you’re doing your own makeup on your big day – or a friend is doing it for you – invest in this palette.

The beautiful collection is the best wedding eyeshadow palette. It’s full of warm golds, browns, coppers and pinks in matte and shimmer shades.

Use any of the mid-tone shades on the lid or base for a natural, barely-there look on any skin tone. If you prefer a bolder eye, apply the deeper tones to the lid or build depth in the crease.

Use lighter tones to highlight the brow bone or inner corner of the eye. If you want a smoky eye for the evening, use the deeper cool tones.

Best value eyeshadow palette

There are 40 colours – from greens, blues and lilacs to coppers, browns and pinks –  in this collection, one of the best affordable eyeshadow palettes available in South Africa.

The colours are pigment-rich with a satin finish that’s not as shiny as a shimmer or as flat as a matte. The texture is creamier and less dry than matte shadow.

It’s one of the best cheap eyeshadow palettes with highly pigmented colours that blend beautifully.

Best matte eyeshadow palette for green eyes

Red is opposite green on the colour wheel, so this collection of matte eyeshadows is ideal for green eyes.

It’s full of shades with red hues, like maroon, coral orange and pinkish red, that will accentuate green eyes. The rosy golds also have a red undertone that make green eyes sparkle and shimmer.

There are 30 pigment-rich colours, including light and dark shades, to help you achieve any look from barely there to bright and bold.

Best brown eyeshadow palette

A palette of brown shades is useful for all eye colours and skin tones. This is a must-have 35-shade collection of warm browns, golds and mauves in matte and shimmer shades.

Use the colours to create soft, everyday natural looks or bolder, smoky eyes. Apply in layers for more pigmentation.

The warm browns and golds intensify brown eyes and make blue or green eyes pop.

Best gold eyeshadow palette

If you’re looking for a palette of luxe golds and coppers, choose this one. It contains 10 rich, warm-tone shades that range from soft and light to dark and intense.

Five shimmer shades complement five matte shades. They can be built up and blended to create infinite looks from subtle and sophisticated to bold and glam.

We think it’s the best copper eyeshadow palette in South Africa and it’s great value.

Best neutral eyeshadow palette for brown eyes

This duo eyeshadow palette for brown eyes from South African brand Hannon is formulated to enhance the natural brown colour pigment.

Apply the lighter shade over the entire eyelid to create a soft and sheer backdrop before applying the darker shade in the crease or as a subtle outline of the eye to make brown eyes deep and rich.

This duo also works to make blue eyes pop.

Best colourful eyeshadow palette

This is one of the best bright colour eyeshadow palettes with a gorgeous mix of bright, rainbow colours.

The Crown 16 Colour Chroma Eyeshadow Palette contains five shimmery and 11 matte shades to mix, match and blend to create dramatic, statement eyes for day or night.

If you’re unsure how to wear bright coloured eyeshadow, start by using it as an eyeliner, applied to the lower lash line, on the outer corners of the eyes or on the centre of the eyelid only.

Best pink eyeshadow palette

Pink is a universally flattering shade if it’s worn correctly. This palette contains perfect matte pinks and purples from pale and pretty to bold and punchy.

To prevent your eyes looking sore or bruised, avoid using colour in the waterline and lower inner eye.

Use sheer pinks as an inner corner highlight in a smoky eye or pop a vibrant colour on the centre of your lid to make your eyes appear larger. The retro-style tin lid is great for mixing colours.

Best eyeshadow palette for over 50

This is the best matte eyeshadow palette for mature eyes in South Africa.

Matte eyeshadow highlights eyes without taking attention away from them. Shimmery and frosty eyeshadows accentuate wrinkles and sometimes have an aging effect.

Avoid purples, bright greens and blues that are harsh on aging skins and make eyes look overdone. This palette contains neutral, warm shades and subtle pinks that make eyes look brighter, lighter and fresh.

Best eyeshadow palette for smoky eyes

Many of the best eyeshadow palettes contain shades that can create smoky eyes. This professional palette was designed especially for smoky and intense styles.

It features 12 spotlight shades in shimmer/foiled finishes and eight complementing transition shades in a matte finish. The spotlight shadows can be used wet or dry, depending on the desired look. Use the matte shadows as transition shades in the crease, brow bone and outer corner of the lid.

The cool, jewel colours are highly pigmented, blend well and complement every skin tone.

Best wet and dry eyeshadow palette

We love this palette for achieving a dramatic look using wet and dry eyeshadow. Use dry for sheer colour and wet for dramatic and long-lasting shades.

This collection has an exciting range of colours from nudes to jewel shades that give full, rich cover.

Best mini eyeshadow palette

We love the Stargazer 10-colour eyeshadow palettes that come in a vintage-style tin box. Colours range from Flower Power pinks and Sea & Sky blues and greens to ever-popular Classics and rainbow-coloured Vivid.

The small and compact design make the palette easy to carry and the lid can be used to mix colours.

Q&A

An eyeshadow palette contains multiple colours – and often finishes – in one compact. The shades can be used to create various looks.

A palette takes up less space than many single shadows. Plus, it’s easy to see and use the different colours.

That depends what you want to use the palette for. You may want one palette with multiple shades and finishes or a selection of palettes in different colours.

You could choose one with matte brown shades for smoky eyes or shimmery brasses and golds for party eyes. Decide what you need and then look for the best palette available.

For hygienic reasons, it’s best to replace an eyeshadow palette after one year, though some last up to two years. Store eyeshadow palettes in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight.

Use a makeup wipe to clean any shadow residue around the borders of the palette. To clean the shadows, lightly scrape the top off with a disposable mascara wand or cotton bud. Dust off that layer.

Makeup artists and professional beauticians recommend matte eyeshadow and low shimmer shades for mature eyes.

Shimmery and frosty eyeshadows accentuate wrinkles and make a woman look older. The aim is to highlight eyes without taking attention away from them with bright, shimmery colours.

Avoid purples, bright greens and blues that are harsh on aging skins and make eyes look overdone. Choose neutral, warm shades and subtle pinks that make eyes look brighter, lighter and fresh.

Based on colour-wheel theory, opposite colours can be used to make your natural eye colour pop.

Best eyeshadow palette for blue eyes

For blue eyes, choose rich browns, dusty roses and warming golds.

Best eyeshadow palette for hazel eyes

For hazel eyes, golden colours enhance the brown and green flecks.

Best eyeshadow palette for brown eyes

For brown eyes, opt for blues, teal and turquoises, or coppery gold tones, to make your eyes rich and deep.

Best eyeshadow palette for green eyes

For green eyes, use colours with red undertones, such as shades of red, burgundy, rusty browns and even purple.

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