I wear eyeshadow every day, and here’s the one I’ve been wearing on repeat

Enormous eyeshadow palettes were once something I’d salivate over, and around a year ago, I found myself sorting through a box under my desk of around thirty palettes which had all quietly been gathering dust, and decided something had to change. Sure, they were very handy in my role as make-up artist for having loads of colours to hand when I was working on someone’s face, or when I wanted to achieve something a little more complicated on my eyes—but if you’re anything like me, you’ll have found that you tended to use the same one or, at a push, two colours in your palette, meaning the others were pointless.

The answer for me was to relegate the bigger palettes to my pro make-up kit, and to take a good look at the colours I hit pan on, and those I didn’t. There were very clear themes in the few colours I used, so I decided to invest in single shadows to cut down on clutter and waste. I tried loads, it being part of my job as make-up artist and beauty journalist to know about a wide range of products, and decided YSL’s Satin Crush Eyeshadows were the fastest, easiest and most wearable of all the single shadows I tried. Here's why...

1. The colours are perfection for day-to-day wear

Forget jewel hues or licks of acid colours: these are work horses, the sort of thing I can throw on with mascara without needing to think about whether it goes with my outfit or if I have blended it perfectly. This has cut down my time doing make-up quite considerably because I now don't faff around deciding which shadow to use, instead pulling out this and just sweeping it on.

2. You can apply them with a brush or with fingers

In an ideal world, a brush makes things look more polished, more perfect—but I've applied these plenty of times using just my fingers to gently press and smudge the colours on and they slide on and blend really well thanks to the soft, satin finish. Remember you can always use a cotton bud to blur the edges of your shadow if you don't have any brushes but want it to be a little bit more diffused.

3. The satin finish makes it very easy to use

I adore the finish of them; the soft wash of satin shadow is flattering, diffusing any texture on the lids, and making them look healthy and bouncy under the shadow. And, in case you're a fan of using a liquid eyeliner for a flick on top, it glides on really well after these have been applied.

4. You can use just one shadow for an accomplished look

You really, really don't need six shadows for eye make-up to look great, and these are testament to that. I usually swipe one across my lids, maybe a little underneath my eyes, then add mascara. Sometimes, I'll add a deeper shadow at the outer corner if I want to add extra dimension or create a more striking shape.

Shop all YSL Satin Crush Eyeshadows