The Top 3 Nude Eyeshadow Palettes

Let’s talk about nude eyeshadow palettes for a minute. Because over the years, I’ve noticed a pattern…so many brands (and I mean so many) call their palettes ‘nude’ when the shades are basically a variation of pink. Since when was pink considered nude?

Well, they’re not entirely wrong but let me break it down for you…the term nude in beauty originally came from Caucasian skintones. So yeah, if your skin is fair and cool toned, maybe light pinks and soft taupes do feel nude to you. But for the rest of us…especially those of us with brown, olive, or deeper skin tones - that’s not nude. Nude for me means beiges, warm taupes, light to medium browns…tones that actually look like my skin, not pink.

What’s mad to me is that we have beauty founders of color creating ‘nude’ palettes that are still very pink, but don’t cater to brown skin tones. You’d think they’d know better? I say that with love, but also a side eye (ok, maybe less love and more side eye). It’s bizarre to me that we’re trying to push inclusivity forward in the beauty world, when it doesn’t even reflect a broader spectrum of skintones when we say ‘nude’.

So, I’ve put together my top 3 nude palettes that lean towards more brown, beige, and taupe…not pink, and are genuinely wearable for people who’ve never seen themselves in the average ‘nude’ category.

Whether you want a barely there eye look or want to contour your lid for everyday glam, these are the only ones I feel are truly worth having on hand.

These are my ride or die palettes right now: