The Coolest New Eyeshadow Palette? The One You Bought in the 2010s

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, StyleCaster may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

We all remember the eyeshadow palettes of the 2010s—whether you were an Urban Decay Naked Palette or loved the Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette for its deliciously scented shadows, eyeshadow palettes had their moment in the 2010s. While the eyeshadow palette craze has come and gone, we can’t help but reminisce about our favorite palettes from the past. And thanks to TikTok, they’re here for their long overdue comeback. 

For a lot of us, these palettes carry fond memories. There was nothing like saving up money to buy an eyeshadow palette at Sephora and then running home to watch YouTube tutorials. While a lot of us look back and cringe at how we did our makeup back in those days (hopefully those blocky brows aren’t coming back anytime soon), we still can acknowledge that eyeshadow palettes were at their peak then. And even when our beloved palettes reached the point of no return, it could be hard to let them go after they’d been a staple in our makeup routines for almost a decade. 

While a lot of the OG palettes from the 2010s era have been discontinued (RIP Naked2 Palette and the original Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette), it might be worth it to look for your favorite online and rekindle your love for palettes. Unsurprisingly, online scalpers have fully taken advantage of the recent nostalgia for eyeshadow palettes. While a lot of the discontinued palettes are selling for upwards of $100 on secondhand sites, that’s not a price most of us are willing to pay for “gently used” makeup. So if you’re one of the lucky few that hasn’t hit pan on your favorite palette, remember to cherish every use that’s left.  

Some may say that eyeshadow palettes are impractical. And while that’s a valid criticism, they were once the most exciting part of our makeup collections. If you’re worried about collecting too many clunky palettes, the most sustainable option is to use the palettes you already own and only repurchase the ones you already love and desperately need to replenish. But it can still be fun to look back on some of the palettes you once obsessed over, purely for the nostalgia factor.