Anti-Haul Blogpost: "Not My Colours" Orange Eyeshadow Edition

Recently, I've been seeing lots of "anti-haul" posts on Youtube and elsewhere. Basically, in a nutshell, an "anti-haul" is just a list of things you didn't/aren't planning to buy - as opposed to a "haul" which is list of things you bought. From the posts I've seen, it seems to have been partly borne out of a bit of a backlash against Youtubers and "influencers" shilling all sorts of dubious makeup trends and products, so this trend helps people to articulate how they are saving money by highlighting what they are not buying, and what trends they're not buying into.

I'm all for it. I mean, as a beauty junkie and beauty blogger of 7+ years, of course I've hauled many a haul (and have the haul posts to prove it too! But I do agree with the general anti-haul sentiment that not every trend is worth getting into, and not every makeup product is for everyone - after all, not every "must-have" palette is suitable for every type of skintone, undertone, and colour preferences. And while I'm not about to stop hauling (oh no, not at all!), I do agree that I do enjoy my makeup stash best when my makeup purchases are thoughtful and curated, and when I don't just jump on every hype bandwagon. And, I get to save money! So for me, anti-hauling isn't at all "OMG DON'T EVER WEAR MAKEUP!!!111!!!11!", but more of "hey, not every makeup product/colour/trend is going to work for you, and you'll enjoy makeup more if you buy what you're happy wearing, and what looks good on you".

So, with that said, let's get into one of the recent makeup trends that just haven't been doing it for me - warm, orange eyeshadow! There have been a ton of warm and/or orange-y eyeshadow palettes released this season, and the orange eyeshadow was pretty much the "it" item of the summer, and still going strong. But for me, since I have an olive, neutral-cool undertone, the orange eyeshadow trend really just became the "swollen eye" trend. I do love some of these brands (and do indeed have other products from some of these brands here), but here are some of the recently-popular orange/warm/rust-toned eyeshadow palettes that just didn't do it for me.

1. Huda Beauty Desert Dusk Eyeshadow Palette

Huda Beauty Desert Dusk Eyeshadow Palette (Image source)

Huda Beauty is a brand I haven't tried yet, but is basically the makeup brand of Huda Beauty, a very famous beauty blogger with an eyewatering 21 million Instagram followers, and some very gorgeous makeup looks! (She herself is gorgeous, by the way.) Huda is a warm-toned medium-skintoned lady, so it does make sense that her eyeshadow palettes also do have warm shades, and some deeper tones - those are the shades that would look good on her. But for me, those shades just don't look that great - I basically won't be able to pull off much of the top row, and much of the third row, and only some purples in the second row would look good on me. So it's a hard pass for me.

2. Huda Beauty Textured Eyeshadow Palette - Rose Gold Edition

Huda Beauty Textured Eyeshadow Palette - Rose Gold Edition (Image source)

Oh yes, another Huda Beauty product - trust me, I don't hate Huda, or her brand, it's just that a lot of the recent eyeshadow palettes seem to follow the warm/orangey theme. This one isn't as orangey as the other palette, for sure, but it's also just full of colours that don't look good on me (or anyone who is cool-toned, for that matter). I basically can't use all the shades on the top row - except Dubai, and all the shades on the bottom row, except Coco, Suede, and I guess Black Truffle (because they're black and brown shades). The middle row is a mixed bag for me, I could imagine using shades like Bae and Moon Dust on the daily, but not much of the rest. In any case, I do love the look of Dubai and Suede, but I probably can't justify a palette purchase on the basis of a handful of shades - especially when my stash is so large I probably already have similar shades somewhere!

3. Urban Decay Naked Heat Palette

Urban Decay Naked Heat Palette (Image source)

Oh Urban Decay, how I love your palettes, and Oh Urban Decay, how horrible I look in the orange shades of the Naked Heat Palette. I gotta say, I love Urban Decay eyeshadows, and have some of them in the OG pull-off-lid packaging (that shade, which I still have, is Stray Dog - exactly the kind of cool brown taupe that I love and buy literally dozens of). I have the Naked 2 Basics Palette, and the Naked Smoky Palette (which I reviewed here), and I love both to bits. But I just can't with the orange shades of the Naked Heat Palette - these shades are exactly emblematic of the orange eyeshadow trend that is a boon for warm-toned ladies, but just looks bad on me. I could see myself using the first two shades, and the last shade, but every other shade is going to just look like a hot mess on me (see what I did there?). Side note: I love how Urban Decay is calling these "scorched neutrals" on their site, which is a nice touch.

One last confession: I was so tempted to purchase this anyway, because it was all over my Instagram, and I mean, those bright oranges really pop and would look sooo good on Insta! But I didn't, because there's no way I would buy makeup for Instagram purposes, right? *looks away and whistles* But, the way makeup trends go, I just know at some point they're going to release a kickass cooltoned brown/grey/purple palette. And then look who's going to be dropping all her dough on that baby when it launches!

4. Kylie Cosmetics The Bronze Palette

Kylie Cosmetics The Bronze Palette (Image source)

Okay, so this isn't an orange-y palette, but on my skintone, it might as well be. This is Kylie Cosmetics, which has been getting a lot of hype on some social media outlets (Instagram in particular), for being the cosmetics brand of Kardashian Klan member Kylie Jenner - no introduction needed, I guess! The Bronze Palette, as the name implies, it's a bunch of warm bronze and brown shades. Again, this isn't as orangey as some of the other palettes here, and, to be fair, would look great on a much wider variety of skintones than mine, but for me personally, this is not too wearable. I could imagine using the top 3 shades in the left hand corner, and the dark brown right at the bottom right, but the other 5 shades aren't going to look pretty on me. So a pass for me.

Side note: in the Kylie Cosmetics (I'm surprised they didn't call it "Kosmetics" - I mean that pun is just dying to be made) world, eyeshadows are sometimes termed "Kyshadows". I don't mind it, it's pretty cute.

5. Kylie Cosmetics The Burgundy Palette

Kylie Cosmetics The Burgundy Palette (Image source)

Here you go, another kollection of Kyshadows in a little kontainer! The Kylie Cosmetics The Burgundy Palette is another palette that isn't as orangey as some on the list, but just doesn't really have too many shades that will look good on me. Other than the beige shade at the top left hand corner, I...basically cannot imagine using any of the other eyeshadow shades. Sorry, Kylie, I kowtow to your kreative endeavours and your unkanny knowledge of how to influence kontemporary pop kulture, but I just kan't gel with this palette.

So that's it - here's my anti-paen to the orange/warm eyeshadow palette trend that's been so popular these days. If you're feeling like I am, don't fret - makeup truly is cyclical, and trends come and go. Soon the trends will move on to something else!

And, noone asked, but for the exactly 0 people wondering "Darn woman, you've been spitting so much hate mild dislike at the most popular eyeshadow trend now, do your eyeballs even get eyeshadow lovingly brushed on them? And if so, what shades do you like?" The answer is yes, my eyeballs get their fair share of eyeshadow love, and here's a photo of my eyeshadow stash circa 2015 (it's obviously somewhat outdated as my stash has only grown since then):

My eyeshadow stash - yes I actually took out all my palettes for that photo! (Image source)