Shop My Stash: All That Warm Brown, Coppery, Peachy, Orange Eyeshadow Goodness

Warm brown eyeshadows of varying depth and finish are all the rage this year - just look at the palettes that have come out in the past 6 months or so, be it from mainstream or more indie brands. In the past, I tended to shy away from very warm tones on my eyes, because I find them to be rather tricky on very fair, cool-toned complexions. While a metallic copper halo smokey eye looks smashing on someone with a medium/ tan skintone, on me it looks like I'm suffering through a stye or a case of rabid rabbit eyes - I'm sure you know what I mean if you're a fellow pale girl.

However, I've recently been feeling swept up by all the orange/ peach eyeshadow hype; I think it's partially the weather finally warming up, but mostly overdosing on ALL THE TAUPE in the past 2-3 years. I have nevertheless promised myself not to purchase another neutral eyeshadow palette, even if it features some new-to-me shades (as discussed in detail in this post) - and while I'm still allowing myself to pick up a single eyeshadow or two where I think it may benefit my collection, I decided first to shop my stash and see what I already own in the general category of warm neutral shades. I actually really enjoy pulling out all my freeform magnetic and premade palettes on a day off and getting busy swatching and rearranging them into new color combinations, so I thought I'd take you along for the ride; maybe you too will be inspired to browse through your collection and rediscover some forgotten eyeshadow gems.

I first started by selecting some of my favorite warm metallic shades that have remained in my stash after various declutters. I've mostly focused on single/ depotted pans from my Z-Palettes for this post, which means that I do in fact own more of this shade category but the eyeshadows are scattered throughout my premade palettes (you know, the ones I haven't subjected to fire + a sharp tool yet). I've also pulled some lighter warm shades I would use as an all over lid shade, and finally some dark warm browns for the outer corner/ lash line. All swatches were done with a finger on bare skin and photographed in indirect natural light - also, let me know if you prefer the shadow names as a caption under the photo or in the actual photo, like today. Let's start by the lightest warm shimmery shades, and medium matte transition/ crease/ blending shades:

Ah, MAC All That Glitters, that old chestnut. I was actually intending to declutter this shade as it tends to pull rather warm and peachy on me, but it's perfect in this subset, isn't it? Stila Spontaneous, from the In The Moment palette (reviewed here) is one of those shades that I tend to forget about easily, even though it's a beautiful color with a stellar formula, possibly the best one out of the whole palette. Too Faced Honey Pot from the Natural Eyes palette is the only true gold remaining in my stash - if you own the original Urban Decay Naked, Half Baked is nearly identical.

Inglot Matte 337 is one of two matte medium browns in my stash, and despite the appearance in the pan, it pulls almost peachy on the skin. TheBalm Sultry from the Nude'Tude palette is slightly deeper and more yellow. I threw in Catrice's blush in Rose Royce (reviewed here) to show that you really don't need the Limited Edition Too Faced Perfect Peach palette, if you're still lusting after one - I'm sure most of us have a matte or satin peach blush in our collection that can be easily worn as eyeshadow in the crease to warm up the look.

Now, those medium depth shimmery/ metallic shades are what I consider the eptiome of warm neutrals. I've roughly divided mine into two groups: the upper row in the photo above (and the first three in the arm swatch) are all more yellow/ orange toned, the bottom row all pull more red/ pinky peach. If you still own the LE Wet n'Wild The Gilded Age trio (shown here), all the shades in there are right on trend, especially the Eyelid and Crease Shades (the latter is shown in the next grouping). BareMinerals Truffle from LE The Finer Things palette (reviewed here) is another save from my declutter box; it's a gorgeous cognac/ chestnut shade that I'd like to incorporate into more looks. Lastly, the bronzy shade from LE Visee Bitter Brown quad (featured here) is the most neutral and sheerest of the bunch, so probably the most effortless to wear for my personal preferences.

Now, as for these pinky coppers, I actually find them easier to wear on myself than the previous three. The Eyelid shade from LE Wet n'Wild Dancing In the Clouds Trio (shown here) is a stunning penny copper with silver microglitters. Too Faced Push Up is my favorite shade out of the entire Natural Eyes palette; if you don't own that, I believe Urban Decay Toasted or MAC Sable are quite similar. Lastly, Fyrinnae Witchy Woodland Creatures may appear quite neutral compared to these other shades, but it does have a strong pink lean that warms up any eyeshadow look.

Dark warm browns - I only own satins and low shimmer finishes - is my smallest subset, and something I may potentially look into expanding in the future. I would mostly use these shades in the outer corner or very sparingly into the crease, or to smoke out a lashline. Look how gorgeous these are in a concentrated arm swatch!

BareMinerals Fate from the Truth quad (reviewed here) appears quite neutral or even cool-toned in the pan, but on my skin it definitely pulls very warm - yet another bM shade I forgot about, but it's going to be perfect for those warm neutral looks. Stila Whim from the In The Moment palette is a stunning chocolatey shades with almost burgundy shimmers, but the formula is a bit dry and not terribly pigmented. Now, another shade from that LE Wet n'Wild The Gilded Age trio; this one is the most shimmery of the bunch, again with those beautiful dark red shimmers. And lastly, the dark brown shade from Visee Bitter Browns - I'd say this one is more neutral than warm-toned, but I wanted to remind myself what it looked like when swatched.

And here's what my small Z-Palette looks like after this swatch session. I still use my theBalm Nude'Tude that I'm trying to pan this year every time I wear eye make-up, but I like to keep the small Z-Palette on hand to have more variety in my looks - I tend to rotate the shadows in it every couple of months or so. The only additional shades inside that haven't been discussed today are Too Faced Heaven, a matte ivory, as well as Velvet Revolver and Sexpresso from the Natural Eyes palette.

I hope you enjoyed this edition of Shop My Stash - I need to do these posts more often, it's a lot of fun to go play with my collection! What eyeshadow shades have you been reaching for recently? Do you arrange them in your Z-Palettes or reach for singles and specific palettes?