11 Shades of taupe

When it comes to eyeshadow colors, I tend to love an arrange of shades. I’m a sucker for browns, blues, purples and greens mostly. Of course there is the general pop of bright colors as well: full on orange, fuchsia pink, royal blue, pastel green and lavender are all colors that I love to wear from time to time as well. But when it comes down to the color I wear the most, that is foolproof for any time of day and goes with everything, I love me some taupe. And taupe is a color that you can find in abundance in make up lines. But it’s also a color that is very fickle. Taupe isn’t just taupe. It is a mixture of grey and brown and sometimes even a bit of purple. Depending on how that mix comes about gives you a different kind of taupe. You usually don’t see just how different one taupe is from another, until you put some swatches together. Let’s have a look at my 11 favorite shades of taupe with some descriptions on why I love them so much, swatches and some honorable mentions.

MAC Satin Taupe

A more brown shaded taupe, MAC’s Satin Taupe is a staple in many make up collections. It’s a very universal color that is great on its own, in the crease or as a darker shade to deepen an eyelook. If you are looking to buy your first MAC eyeshadow then I can suggest you looking into this one.

Urban Decay Naked 2 Suspect

The entire Naked 2 palette is fairly cool toned and taupe in nature. It’s one of the reasons why I love it so much and why I never regretted getting it in addition to my Naked 1. One of my most used colors in the palette is Suspect, which is still fairly brown in nature, but has a golden sheen to it, which makes it a bit cooler toned than Satin Taupe, but warmer than the next shade.

Famous by Sue Moxley Cafe Culture Palette (second shade)

This shade doesn’t have a name AND Famous make up doesn’t exist anymore as far as I know. But this is the BEST grey/ silver taupe ever. If you look at this in the pan it may look silver, but scroll down for the swatch and you’ll see that it has a hint of brown in it which makes this a very bright and cool toned taupe.

Make Up Designory Taupe

On to one of the few matte taupe shades featured in this post. This taupe is very brown, but it works like a charm. If you’ve never tried Make Up Designory and you can get your hands on some of their stuff, then please do not refrain. Their eyeshadows are amazing!

Catrice Under Treasure

A very budget friendly taupe is Catrice’s Under Treasure from the Liquid Metal range. It is no secret that I love these eyeshadows and Under Treasure is by far my favorite. This is a perfect 50/50 mix between grey and brown with a hint of golden shine.

Cover Girl Taupe Tapestry

A very similar shade is another budget friendly shade, but only available in the US. It’s a tad more brown than golden compared to Catrice’s Under Treasure but still a good alternative. This is one of my favorite single eyeshaodws. I use it all over the lid and in my crease and lower lashline.

Inglot matte eyeshadow taupe

My love for all things Inglot eyeshadows is again something you may have heard of before. In my first Freedom System palette I included this matte taupe shade. Unfortunately I forgot to write down the shade’s number, so now I don’t know it anymore. It’s a medium taupe color with great pigmentation and pulls more brown than grey.

Too Faced Naked Eye palette Lap Dance & Like a Virgin

If I want to go for grey toned eyelooks the palette I reach for is Too Faced’s Naked Eye palette. Included in this palette are some great taupe shades which pull more grey than brown. Lap Dance is a shimmer with a hint of purple to it. Like a Virgin is a buttery soft matte that is a perfect mixture between brown and grey.

Sleek Au Naturel Palette Bark

A darker taupe color is Bark from Sleek’s Au Naturel Palette. The picture is a bit washed out, but I love this color for crease work. It is the more intense and darker version of Too Faced’s Lap Dance.

Urban Decay Vice 2 Derailed

Last but not least is one of my favorite shades from the Urban Decay Vice 2 palette. Derailed is the deepest taupe I’ve featured here. It’s more of a dark brown with a greyish sheen to it, but because of that still a taupe. It’s super shiny which is why I love wearing this all over my lid.

Swatches:

1. MAC Satin Taupe
2. Urban Decay Naked 2 Suspect
3. Famous
4. Make up designory Taupe
5. Catrice Under Treasure
6. Cover girl Taupe Tapestry
7. Inglot
8. Too Faced Naked Eye Lap Dance
9. Too Faced Naked Eye Like a Virgin
10. Sleek Au Naturel Bark
11. Urban Decay Vice 2 Derailed

Honorable mentions:

• Maybelline Permanent Taupe Color Tattoo
• Dior Diorshow Fusion Mono in Millennium
• Essence Taupe of the Pops

Which is your favorite shade of taupe?