Makeup Wars – Battle of the Taupes
I know some of you love taupes! All the Taupes! I’m in a new group called Makeup Wars and for our inaugural war, we’re doing a Battle of the Taupes!
I raided my makeup collection for some of the colors that I thought fell into the category of taupe. I am not an expert on taupes, mind you, but I have come to appreciate them.
Wikipedia defines taupe as a dark brownish-grey color, however, people frequently disagree on what taupe means. Taupe has a lot of variation, including rosy taupe, sandy taupe, pale taupe, taupe grey, golden taupe, silvered taupe, plum taupe… you get the idea. The variants go on and on.
My taupe of choice for this war is Fyrinnae Damn Paladins. It’s described as a soft satiny taupe with a gentle blue highlight.
This is Damn Paladins. It’s a truly magical taupe.
I’ve got some other taupes to share, too.
Concrete Minerals Lolita – shimmery taupe with pink undertones
Darling Girl Witch & Famous – a gorgeous plummy taupe with gold reflect
Geek Chic The Pointy End – A taupe with a real edge to it, The Pointy End is your graduation from practice neutrals. Pearlescent and smooth as summer silk, with a sharp silver glint.
MAC Nebula – dark greyed brown with pearl
Makeup Geek Moondust – metallic silver taupe
Make Up For Ever 127 Metallic Taupe – taupe shimmer
Shiseido Pink Sands trio taupe – platinum taupe
Silk Naturals Catalyst – a blackened taupe with hints of gold
Silk Naturals Glory – a base of taupe with golden highlights- that’s punctuated with glints of green, copper, peach, and gold.
Silk Naturals Idolize – a purple blue color with an intense layer of gold on top. It’s very complex-a combination of 12 different shades of mica, and some pigments too. It’s very very close to MAC Idol Eyes.
Urban Decay Mushroom – warm pale grey
Urban Decay Pistol – light greyish brown
Urban Decay S&M – steel grey with subtle taupe shift
L’Oreal Bronzed Taupe – bronzey taupe (didn’t take a close up picture of this)
Silk Naturals Mink – shimmering plum brown, a clone of MAC Satin Taupe. It’s shimmery and earthy with complex highlights of purple, and bronze.
Silk Naturals Lurid – plum taupe velvet matte, a clone of MAC Moth Brown. At first glance it’s a brown/grey/taupe color, but it has strong plum undertones. It does have a little bit of a shimmery mica in it, but it’s more matte than shimmery.
Silk Naturals Moonstone – warm light grey shadow with subtle shimmer, a clone of Bobbi Brown’s Moonstone.
Silk Naturals Ion – a neutral golden taupe with hints of copper.
Silk Naturals Fusion – dirty copper plum. At it’s core is a deep plum that when worn over primer becomes a something almost primal- and it pops with golden highlights.
L to R 1 = Fyrinnae Damn Paladins – Darling Girl Witch & Famous – Silk Naturals Catalyst – MAC Nebula – Concrete Minerals Lolita – Makeup Geek Moondust – Geek Chic The Pointy End – UD Pistol – UD Mushroom
L R 2 = UD Stray Dog – Illamasqua Facade – Silk Naturals Glory – Silk Naturals Idolize – UD S&M
Top to Bottom = Shiseido Pink Sands trio taupe – MUFE 127 Metallic Taupe – L’Oreal Bronzed Taupe – UD S&M
More taupes!
I really like Ion and Fusion the best of these three.
I want to include what Silk Naturals says about clones: We clone products so you can have the colors that you love, but with much better ingredients. Because we don’t use talc, bismuth oxychloride, binders, petroleum products or preservatives in our color formulas there may be some slight differences between the original and the SN clone.
Finally, I put together some other taupes in addition to eyeshadows, so you can get all tauped out!
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner Pencil Stray Dog – shimmery brown taupe
Illamasqua Intense gloss Façade – taupe beige
Nyx Taupe Blush – taupe beige
Cult Nails nail polish Tulum – milk chocolate taupe with subtle gold shimmer
Taupe for your nails! I love the subtle golden shimmer of Tulum.
Since Fyrinnae Damn Paladins is my taupe eyeshadow for the battle, it’s in the center here. I included UD Stray Dog eyeliner pencil, Illamasqua Intense gloss in Façade and Nyx Blush in Taupe to complete the face.
Nyx blush in Taupe works well as a contour shade on me. I don’t find Façade particularly flattering on me, but I may not have found the right way to wear it yet. Stray Dog is nice for a more subtle liner on the lower lash line.
Damn Paladins steals the show from them all!
Damn Paladins on the lid, upper crease and lower lash line, Nebula to contour and outer lower lash line.
See the full look here.
Please check out the other blog members of Makeup Wars and see the rest of the Battle of the Taupes!
What taupe shadow does Pammy Blogs Beauty love so much that she has not only repurchased it, but also hit pan on it again? Its MAC’s Satin Taupe!
Phyrra has more taupes in her makeup collection than she expected, but her weapon of choice is Fyrinnae Damn Paladins.
Beauty and Fashion Tech compares MAC Satin Taupe and NARS Lhasa
Beautiful Makeup Searchhas a drawer full of taupe eye shadows but uses Urban Decay’s Midnight Rodeo more than any other, so she had to declare it her fave.
The Pink Sith has found a taupe from FACE atelier called Metallic Taupe to tempt you. See where it falls on the taupe scale of awsomeness.
Beauty411 – MUFE Taupe
Marcia from Beauty Info Zone repeats an old favorite for her Taupe Makeup Wars choice. See which it is.
Prime Beauty – Favorite Taupe
15 Minute Beauty Fanatic fell in love with Wet’n’Wild Nutty Eye Shadow. Somehow it makes her look amazing for just $2.
Raging Rouge selects her favorite taupe shadow MAC Satin Taupe, without a second thought.
Retrodiva realizes that she doesn’t have any taupe shadows at all! Find out which one she chose to review for Makeup Wars.
Brooke from BlushingNoir shows you how to use Tarte SLATE Amazonian Clay Waterproof Cream Eyeshadow to make all taupes play well together.
Jessika tells us her dirty secret – the polish insomniac is not just obsessed with polish! Check out her favorite uber affordable taupe shadow from Wet n Wild!
To the best of my knowledge:
Fyrinnae is cruelty-free and vegan.
Cult Nails is cruelty-free and vegan.
Silk Naturals is cruelty-free and most products are vegan.
Geek Chic Cosmetics is cruelty-free and most products are vegan.
Concrete Minerals is cruelty-free and most products are vegan.
Makeup Geek is cruelty-free.
Darling Girl is cruelty-free.
Illamasqua is cruelty-free.
MAC is not cruelty-free.
Urban Decay is not cruelty-free.
Make Up For Ever is not cruelty-free.
L’Oreal is not cruelty-free.
Shiseido is not cruelty-free.
Some products purchased by me. Some sent for consideration. All opinions are my own.
Amazing swatches! I have fallen in love with Damn Paladins!!!!! Serious LOVE!!! And it looks so great on you! 🙂
I’ve also got Damn Palladins, amongst many other Fyrinnae shadows, & love it. It’s a gorgeously intense shade. Fyrinnae also super stuffs their containers FULL of product, so I doubt I’ll ever run out. They’re probably the best deal around, considering how much they give you & the quality of their products.
OMG Fyrinnae Damn Paladins *slobbers*… seriously, I started drooling…
Damn Paladins is definitely the loveliest! And I love the name haha
I agree with you about Damn Paladins, it’s gorgeous! I love my taupes <3
I must say, I am completely overwhelmed! Bookmarking for future reference!
Ion looks seriously gorgeous! I have a full-size of Damn Paladins and use it fairly often. Another beautiful dark taupe is Serial Killer from Lost in Makeupland. Great for a crease/liner shade or a lid shade on darker skin tones.
Thanks for reminding me, I STILL haven’t ordered from Geek Chic!
I love the look you posted! It looks fantastic.
I need about.. 5 new taupes (at least) because of your hand. Arg!
Which 5? And thank you 🙂
Your comparisons are unreal. You did an amazing job. You put the rest of us to shame. Of course now I have a shopping list! How pretty is the Makeup Geek Moondust. I never bought those but I will now. I wish I had your gorgeous eyes.
Aww thanks Marcia! And definitely check out Makeup Geek! Her shadows are cruelty-free, pigmented, smooth, and lovely 🙂
Oh my! So many pretty colors!
Aww thanks Genia!
I’ve never seen that shade before, but it’s really gorgeous on you! Great swatches, too!
Thanks Nancy!
You have made me want so many of these now!! I fear that Makeup Wars is going to make me go broke, lol!
Which ones scream ‘pick me’?
Kudos for the most comprehensive taupe swatch-fest I’ve ever witnessed! 🙂 LOVE Damn Paladins!
Aww thanks Jen! I was surprised I had so many!
I’ve NEVER heard of a taupe with blue highlights–what a gorgeous and unique shade–Must have!!
Yay! I think you’ll love it Cindy 🙂
OMG. Love this post. How wonderful is comparing all these subtle shade nuances up close! I may need a cigarette after all that excitement. (And I quit like 15 years ago, so I’m SOL.) Damn Paladins is my definite fave of all of these, too, so great choice!
Keep up the awesome bloggin, Girl!
:)BeautyJones
Yay! I’m happy to hear that Damn Paladins is your favorite, too!
Taupe always draws me in. Complex neekids
Hah I love your description ‘complex nekkids!’
oh my damn… I just had a panic attack
that is a beautiful hand!
Aww thanks Brooke! Which is your fav?
Man. You rock so hard for this! Thank you! More makeup pr0n to drool over. *sniffle*
Aww thanks Carissa!
Damn Paladins is the best neutral shadow ever.
The blue highlight just nails it!
Holy taupe shadows! Nice swatches and comparison photos!!! You really captured the shadows well and your EOTD is lovely. Like the inclusion of taupes in other makeup items too. 🙂
Thank you Pammy! I thought I might as well try to include anything else taupe-like that I had.
Oh
My
GAWD
Look at all those taupe shadows. All so beautiful. And so many I don’t own. How is THAT possible. You have created quite a shopping list for me! I love the eye look. It’s amazing.Great Post Phyrra!
Thank you <3 You'll have to tell me your must haves from this list!
Love Damn Paladins, I must have it! It looks gorgeous on you!
Yay! Thank you Adriana!
That taupe look is very flattering on you, but I think taupe may be flattering on everyone. I cannot wear normal browns, but taupe looks great on me!
I have been on a taupe kick lately. I used to only gravitate to bright colors, but started looking for a more every day color I could use. So far, I have tried taupes by Nyx, Essence, L’oreal, Silk Naturals, and Wet N Wild. I love them all.
If you haven’t tried Kind by Silk Naturals, that is another great one. It is a little more silvery, but it looks great with my new grey and black striped shirt. I think I may try some of the Fyrinnae taupes next. I also really want The Pointy End!
I rarely wear taupes, but there are several good indie taupes that are just awesome 🙂 I think I have Kind (maybe?) in my collection. I like silver or grey based taupes because of how they work with my eye color.
For someone who rarely wears taupes, you have an awesome collection of them! I wore the L’Oreal Bronzed Taupe as a crease color with its sibling, Glistening Garnet today. They make a great look together.
Damn Paladins is magical. Your photograph of it is amazing.
Thank you! I was really pleased with how my macro shot turned out.