'Fantastic Five' Series: Top 5 Taupe Eyeshadows

     Hi guys and gals! Hope you're all having a great weekend!  I'm beginning my very first series on this blog, that I must say, I am quite excited about. In this 'Fantastic Five' series, I will be showcasing my top five products under different product categories, and I thought I would kick-start the series today with my personal top five favorite taupe eyeshadows.  I'm a girl who loves her brights, but I love neutrals just as much, and taupes, to me, are far from boring. They can have so many different undertones (purple, bronze, blue, silver, and sometimes even green) and varying effects on the eyes.

     To me, the color taupe in general has such splendor, and is appropriate to wear for practically anything. I must say, it was a difficult task to pare it down to just five. I had a total of seven I really liked and wanted to include, but these ended up making the final cut. Now, let's begin, yes? 

L-R: Fyrinnae Work Safe Blue, TheBalm Just This Once Jamie, NYX Taupe Pearl, L'Oreal Infallible in Bronzed Taupe, LORAC Pewter

Fyrinnae Loose Eye Shadow in 'Work Safe Blue,' $6.95, fyrinnae.com

 This shade is very accurately described on Fyrinnae's website as a satiny medium taupe with a light blue highlight. An incredibly interesting and unique shade. The only thing remotely close to it that I can think of is a shade in the now discontinued BareMinerals Ready 8.0 Star Treatment eyeshadow palette called 'Kudos'. This particular taupe is quite cool-toned.

TheBalm Shady Lady Eyeshadow Single in 'Just This Once Jamie,' $16, thebalm.com

 I love using this over different bases. This is definitely on the purple side of taupe, but it also contains a warm, rosy-toned nuance that really makes it quite dashingly beautiful, especially with my hazel eyes. The finish is a soft refined satiny shimmer, and it's not frosty or heavy-looking once applied. When it all comes down to it, I would classify this as a rosy taupe.

NYX Single Eyeshadow in 'Taupe Pearl,' $5

 A beautiful burnished medium taupe that leans neutral, but has a gold base that makes it just slightly warmer. No grey or plummy undertones, and some taupes make me look rather sick, but this one has just enough warmth and dimension to it, to look flattering. It has a very beautiful, buttery texture and rich, opaque pigmentation. The finish is classified as a metallic, and I would agree, but it's not overly so.

L'Oreal Infallible 24-Hour Eyeshadow in 'Bronzed Taupe,' $6-$8, drugstores

The Infallibles are by far my favorite eyeshadows from the drugstore, and this shade is one of the most gorgeous neutrals in my collection. 'Bronzed Taupe' is a neutral (neither warm nor cool) smokier deep-toned taupe with slight bronze accents and a silver shimmer. This shadow has an almost-foiled liquid metallic finish. The dimension of this shadow is breathtaking, as well as the creaminess of the powder and the formula overall.

 LORAC Eyeshadow in 'Pewter,' available in the PRO Palette

This is a more recent addition to my collection, and I don't know if LORAC is revamping their collection of single eyeshadows (most of the shades are gone from their website and the remaining are on sale for $6), but I purchased this in a kit from Ulta recently, and I've been using this shadow quite a bit since then. It's ultimately a no-frills basic medium, cool-toned greyish taupe-brown with a very soft satiny silver shimmer. I don't detect any additional undertones with this one (at least with my NW15 skin; other skintones may be able to detect more undertones). I wouldn't call the pigmentation rich or anything of that nature, as the shadow actually has more of a thin texture, but although a bit on the sheer side, the pigmentation proves to be solid and easy to work with.

Thanks for reading! What are some of your favorite taupes? Feel free to comment down below!