Why have we fallen out of love with eyeshadow? And how to embrace it back into our lives with loving arms

Every makeup lover will tell you that the first piece they ever got was an eyeshadow palette. Mine was a pink and blue one that my mum bought me from Superdrug. I remember always having to get made up for ballet exams, carefully putting shiny pink eyeshadow on to make me stand out. But suddenly, I turned 13. Eyeshadow was too juvenile, and eyeliner was what the cool girls were wearing.

Since I was 13, I have worn eye makeup almost every single day. Yes, even during lockdown. And it seems that makeup trends have shared a similar sentiment. The glam look was a staple of the 2010s. Influencers like Manny MUA, Laura Lee, and Jeffree Starr defined the decade with full-coverage foundation (the grip the Huda Beauty #FauxFilter Foundation had was inescapable), huge matte lips, and lastly the main event – the intricate eyeshadow designs.

In the 2010s, we were all rocking cut-creases and perfectly blended neon eye looks to pick up bits from Tesco. Admittedly, the collective decision that it was okay to go out in perfect makeup while being greasy and wearing trackies was not our finest moment as a society.

However, the second we hit 2020 it seemed that time had run out for the trends of the 2010s, and a new era with a new set of decade-defining looks was ushered in. Suddenly ‘clean girl’ was all the rage, with minimalist makeup styles and 20-step skincare routines becoming the priority. But where did eyeshadow go?

With the shift from maximalism to minimalism, many aspects of our makeup routines have stayed the same: we still put on foundation and concealer, make our eyebrows look perfect, and use the same type of mascara we chose when we were 14. However, eyeshadow suddenly went from being front and centre of our makeup looks, to being completely snubbed.

I can say with confidence that most of my Morphe eyeshadow palettes, that I bought due to pressure from YouTubers plugging their 10% off affiliate codes, are now expired. I think what was worse, was that I had used James Charles’ affiliate code to buy all of my Morphe products.

Most interestingly, Morphe – the powerhouse of the 2010s – has now gone bust. You could not go anywhere in the 2010s without Morphe’s overhyped makeup brushes and palettes being shoved in everyone’s faces. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

I can even admit to falling into the minimalist trend with my makeup. I used to wake up every day at 6am to do a full face – including a detailed eye makeup look – just for school. Now my mates are lucky to even see a speck of eyeliner on me.

It’s difficult to definitively say what caused this sudden change in attitude towards eyeshadow. I think part of it may be because of the beauty guru drama. When ‘Bye Sister’ dropped, it forced the final nail into the coffin that was the monopoly YouTube makeup gurus had on the makeup world.

Brands like Tarte and Too Faced heavily relied on interaction from these self-proclaimed ‘gurus’ in order to shift their products. Once ‘Bye Sister’ occurred, we all got bored of their personalities.

They may have been ‘gurus’, but they were also deeply flawed people who have a history of problematic behaviour, and have since been exposed for more troubling actions. Makeup lovers no longer wanted to support these individuals, who promoted high volume and dramatic makeup, and instead opted to follow supposedly less problematic influencers who have more minimalist routines such as Emma Chamberlain.

Let’s also not forget how much cheaper it is to have a simple makeup routine. We’re still in a cost-of-living crisis after all, and we cannot be buying 20 products for one night out.

You may be reading this article because you like me, are secretly praying for the comeback of eyeshadow. Well, why don’t you become the pioneer of its return instead?

Eyeshadow is versatile, and in fact fits in with a lot of current trends. You can still apply the minimalist nature of a 2o23 makeup routine while incorporating the top makeup products of the 2000s.

Instead of returning to cut-creases and gradients, only use one colour on your eyelid; white for a Y2K vibe, blue to match the coquette aesthetic, and black to go with the ‘rockstar gf’ trend. You can even simply use eyeshadow on your bottom lashline to match the colours of your outfits. We don’t need to be leaving eyeshadow in the past, instead, just modernise it to fit your current aesthetic.