Best Neutral Eyeshadow Palette for Everyday (Mattes Included)

The best neutral eyeshadow palette is the one you'll finish, and that usually means mostly mattes: a lid shade close to your skin, a soft brown for the crease, a deeper brown to define, and one or two shimmers. Our top pick is tarte's tartelette in bloom. It's nine mattes and three shimmers in rows that already go together, and it won Allure's Best of Beauty award for best palette in 2021 and 2022, per tarte.

A lot of "neutral" palettes are really four browns you'll use and eight shimmers you won't. The six below are ones where most of the pans earn their place. We picked them from brand shade lists and retailer listings, and every one is still sold on Amazon by the brand or through its own listing.

Quick picks

tarte tartelette in bloom Amazonian clay palette

Best for: your first good neutral palette, or a replacement for one you've hit pan on.

What we love

• Nine of the 12 shades are matte, per tarte's shade list: an off-white, warm taupe, peachy nude, tan, peach, chestnut, dark brown, black-brown and an aubergine. The three shimmers are taupe, bronze-copper and champagne.
• tarte arranges it "in coordinating rows for 3 easy looks," so you don't have to work out which shades go together.
• tarte lists it as Allure's Best of Beauty best palette in both 2021 and 2022.
• The aubergine and black-brown double as liner with a damp angled brush, which saves buying a separate liner.

Keep in mind

• It leans warm. If peach and terracotta look orange on you, the matte version below is cooler.
• Only three shimmers. If you love a shiny lid, you may want a single shimmer shadow on the side.

Key ingredients: Amazonian clay and mineral pigments, per tarte.

How to use: tarte says to "mix & match shades to create a variety of looks." Start with one row: lightest all over, middle in the crease, deepest at the outer corner.

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Anastasia Beverly Hills Soft Glam Eyeshadow Palette

Best for: a warm eyeshadow palette if you like rosy, terracotta browns and a bit of shine.

What we love

• 14 shades: 9 ultra-mattes and 5 metallics, according to Dermstore's listing and the Amazon listing sold by Anastasia Beverly Hills itself.
• It comes with a dual-ended brush and a large mirror, which makes it a palette you can travel with.
• Dermstore's tip for an easy soft bronze look: "apply Rustic through the crease of the eye and press Bronze onto the lid."
• ABH says it's formulated without parabens or sulfates.

Keep in mind

• It's warm, verging on pink and orange in places (Dusty Rose, Mulberry and an orange or two). On very cool or olive skin, a few shades may sit there unused.
• It's the splurge pick here.

Key ingredients: not listed by the retailer pages we used.

How to use: use the warm matte neutrals to define, then press a metallic onto the center of the lid with a fingertip. Dermstore says a setting spray brings out the metallics more.

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tarte tartelette Amazonian clay matte palette

Best for: the best matte eyeshadow palette here, especially for cool or neutral undertones.

What we love

• Every shade is matte. tarte describes "cool-toned, super blendable shades."
• The range covers ivory, cream, nude, pale pink, light brown, taupe, warm brown and chocolate, plus mauve, mulberry, dark plum and black, per tarte.
• No shimmer means less glitter fallout on your cheeks, and in our view mattes are the most forgiving on lids with fine lines or texture.
• Same three-row layout as in bloom.

Keep in mind

• All-matte can look flat if you like a glowy lid. Add a separate cream or shimmer shade if you miss it.
• The plum and mulberry shades are on the bold side for a strictly neutral look. Think of them as your evening row.

Key ingredients: Amazonian clay and mineral pigments, per tarte.

How to use: taupe in the crease, cream or ivory on the lid, black or plum smudged along the lash line for evening.

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Laura Geller The Delectables Earthy Essentials Eyeshadow Palette

Best for: oily or hooded lids where powder shadow creases by lunch.

What we love

• 14 baked matte and shimmer shadows. Laura Geller says they're "baked from cream pigments for 24 hours," for a "smooth blendable texture and minimal fallout."
• The brand calls the formula "creamy and crease-proof," and its own site says it gives color "with no creasing, fallout or transfer."
• Earthy and warm, with a mix of neutrals and richer browns.
• Sold on Amazon by Laura Geller New York directly.

Keep in mind

• Baked shadows feel different from pressed powder. They're softer, so tap the brush rather than swirling it.
• Laura Geller also makes a Timeless Tones version with black in it, if you want a cooler, more classic lineup.

Key ingredients: baked cream-to-powder pigments, per Laura Geller.

How to use: Laura Geller's directions: light shade over the whole lid, mid-tone in the crease, deeper shade at the outer corner, and a light shade in the inner corner for more brightness.

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e.l.f. Perfect 10 Eyeshadow Palette, Need It Nude

Best for: trying neutrals on a drugstore budget, or a second palette for your travel bag.

What we love

• 10 shades: e.l.f. lists five shimmers in pink, gold and brown, and five mattes in cream, light pink and "a range from light to dark brown."
• e.l.f. describes a "creamy powder formula" that "applies silky smooth and blends with ease."
• It's 100% vegan and cruelty-free, per e.l.f.

Keep in mind

• e.l.f. says it has "new packaging and updated color lineup," and Amazon notes packaging may vary. The shades you get may differ a little from older photos.
• It's half shimmer, so on very crepey lids, stick to the mattes.

Key ingredients: not highlighted by e.l.f.; it's a pressed powder formula.

How to use: a matte brown in the crease, a gold or pink shimmer pressed on the lid, the darkest brown at the lash line.

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Revolution The Master Icon Matte Nudes Palette

Best for: a budget-friendly nude matte palette with a built-in base.

What we love

• 12 shades: "two rows of buildable nude mattes plus multi-use cream pans," per Revolution's listing.
• The cream pans work as a sticky base. Revolution's tip: "Start with a cream base to grip pigment, then build your look with mattes."
• Vegan, and Revolution says its products are backed by PETA as animal-test free.

Keep in mind

• It's a newer palette and we didn't find an independent review yet.
• Retailers describe the finishes a little differently. The Amazon listing and Revolution both mention creams and mattes; don't expect much shimmer.

Key ingredients: cream and matte pigments; no hero ingredients listed.

How to use: pat a cream shade over the lid with a finger, then blend a matte over it in the crease.

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How to choose a neutral eye palette

Count the mattes first

Flip the palette over or zoom in on the shade list. You want at least four mattes: a shade close to your lid, a soft transition brown, a mid brown and a deep one. Shimmers are the fun part, but you'll go through the mattes ten times faster.

Warm, cool or in between

• Warm palettes (peach, terracotta, copper, golden brown) suit warm and olive skin and brown or green eyes. Soft Glam and in bloom are warm.
• Cool palettes (taupe, grey-brown, mauve, plum) suit cool and pink undertones and look lovely with blue or grey eyes. The tartelette matte palette is cooler.
• Not sure? Look at the veins on your wrist in daylight. Greenish leans warm, bluish leans cool, and a mix of both means you can wear either.

Shades for your skin tone

On fair skin, a soft taupe or light brown is plenty for the crease; dark browns go only at the lash line. On medium skin, caramel and bronze give definition without looking muddy. On deep skin, light "transition" shades can turn ashy, so lean on rich browns, copper and a true deep brown or black that actually shows up. Our opinion: a palette whose lightest matte is close to your own lid color is the one that'll look natural.

Mattes for mature or hooded lids

Mattes and soft satins sit flatter than chunky shimmer, so they're kinder to fine lines and crepey texture. For hooded lids, put your crease shade a little above your natural crease with your eyes open, so it still shows when you look straight ahead. Prime the lid first; our primer guide covers the face side of that. If shadow still creases, a baked formula like Laura Geller's or a cream base like Revolution's helps.

Brushes matter as much as the palette

A fluffy blending brush and a small flat shader do most of the work. Our eyeshadow brush picks cover both, and a makeup brush set is the easy route if you need face brushes too.

Comparison table

FAQs

What is the best neutral eyeshadow palette for beginners?

One with mostly mattes and shades already grouped together. tarte's in bloom is our pick, because its rows give you three looks without any guesswork. On a budget, e.l.f.'s Perfect 10 is a good place to start.

What's the best matte eyeshadow palette?

The tartelette Amazonian clay matte palette, if you want every shade matte and a cooler range. Revolution's Matte Nudes is the budget option and adds cream pans to use as a base.

Is a brown eyeshadow palette the same as a neutral one?

Mostly. Brown palettes are neutral palettes that lean warmer and deeper. If you have deep skin or brown eyes, a brown eyeshadow palette usually gives you more usable shades than a pale, taupe-heavy one.

How do I make neutral eyeshadow last on oily lids?

Use an eyeshadow primer or a cream base, set it with a matte shade, and finish with a setting spray. Baked or cream-to-powder formulas, like Laura Geller's, also tend to hold up better than soft pressed powder.

How should I take off eyeshadow at night?

Gently, with a remover that dissolves it before you wipe. Our eye makeup remover picks cover sensitive eyes and long-wear makeup. The American Academy of Ophthalmology says eye makeup should be thrown away "immediately if you develop an eye infection when you are using it."

Pick the palette whose mattes match your skin, and the shimmers take care of themselves.