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Best Cool Toned Eyeshadow Palettes for 2026
Cool Toned Eyeshadow Palettes
Hey friends! This post was one of your favorites when I first published it in 2018, and cool toned palettes are still frustratingly hard to find, so I’ve given it a full refresh for 2026. Below you’ll find my current cool toned eyeshadow palette recommendations, with indie options, vegan options, and luxury options, all cruelty free as always. I’ve also kept my original 2018 recommendations at the bottom, with notes on what’s been discontinued, since I know many of you still own and love those palettes.
Update: August 2026 – Refreshed with my current favorite cool toned palettes and availability notes on the original recommendations.
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Cool Toned Eyeshadow Palettes for 2026
These are the cool toned palettes I currently recommend. Many are from indie brands, which is where the best cool-toned color stories live these days.
Bellabeautebar
Bellabeautebar is my #1 eyeshadow brand right now, and several of their palettes are perfect if you love cool tones like I do. I wear their eyeshadows more than anyone else’s. I love that the mattes are a buildable formula that I find easy to build up to opacity and blend out. Their multichromes and shimmers are breathtaking. Use code CORDELIA to save at Bellabeautebar.
Kaleidos
Kaleidos makes some of the most unique finishes in the game, and these palettes all work beautifully for cool toned looks. I own and love Twilight Rush and Venus Trap. The formulas are extremely buildable. And they’re cruelty-free and vegan. Find them at Kaleidos for €19,07 or at YesStyle.
- Kaleidos Twilight Rush – cool-toned purple mattes with a sparkling lilac to pink duochrome
- Kaleidos Black Jasmine – grungy cool-toned greys with a sparkling silver metallic
- Kaleidos Cold Brew – cool-toned mauve taupe mattes and a lilac to gold duochrome
- Kaleidos Flowing Haze – cool-toned mauve mattes and a lilac to gold duochrome
- Kaleidos Glowing Iris – cool-toned iris blue purple mattes with a purple metallic
- Kaleidos Venus Trap – cool-toned nude mattes with a chromatic taupe glitter
Lethal Cosmetics
Lethal Cosmetics is a vegan and cruelty free brand, and a great option for my EU readers since they ship from Germany. Find them at Lethal Cosmetics.
- Lethal Cosmetics Spellcraft – a deep and moody cool-toned color story with rich mattes, shiny metals, and transformative multichromes
- Lethal Cosmetics Raava – cool-toned blues, greens, and shiny duochromes
- Lethal Cosmetics Vaatu – cool-toned purples with duochromes and multichromes
Black Moon Cosmetics
Black Moon Cosmetics is one of my top 5 makeup brands, and this palette is perfect for cool toned lovers. The mattes are beautiful and impactful. Find it at Black Moon Cosmetics.
- Black Moon Cosmetics The Cat’s Meow – their newest palette that contains cool-toned mattes.
Cosmic Brushes
Cosmic Brushes is a UK indie brand that makes affordable, gorgeous eyeshadow palettes. They are cruelty-free and vegan. Find them at Cosmic Brushes.
Girlcult
If you’ve been following my blog, you know I adore Girlcult’s chameleon shades. You can find Girlcult at YesStyle.
- Girlcult #45 Sea – beautiful cool-toned quad with a blue matte, plum matte, glittery silver and blue.
- Girlcult #51 Black Words – cool-toned quad with a taupe brown, matte black, and prismatic silver and blue.
Idun Minerals
Idun Minerals is a Swedish indie brand that I adore. They are cruelty-free and vegan.
Singe
I love Singe makeup brushes! I have yet to purchase an eyeshadow palette from them but the Succulent Dew is the first color story I’ve loved from them and it’s mostly cool toned!
VE Cosmetics
VE Cosmetics is a cruelty-free and vegan indie brand from the UK. They make stunning eyeshadows, lipsticks, glosses, and more.
Viseart
My original luxury recommendation lives on! The Cool Mattes palettes have been reissued in Viseart’s VisePRO line, and there are gorgeous new cool toned additions too. Find them at Viseart Paris.
Other Cool Toned Popular Palettes
These are the popular palettes that I see people mention on Reddit and around the beautysphere that are cool toned.
- Sigma Beauty Cool Neutrals Palette – 14 cool neutral shades inspired by Brazilian agates (find it at Ulta)
- ColourPop Stone Cold Fox 30-Pan Palette – 30 cool-toned matte and metallic shades (find it at Ulta)
- Urban Decay Naked2 Basics Mini – cool toned neutral mattes (find it at Urban Decay)
- Morphe 9M Midnight Dune – cool-toned dune-inspired neutral color story (find it at Look Fantastic)
Cool Toned Eyeshadow Singles I Love
Palettes aren’t the only way to get your cool toned fix. These are the cool toned singles I reach for constantly. If you want to know why I think singles deserve a place in your collection, read my complete guide to building a custom makeup collection with singles.
- Lisa Eldridge Maude – cool-toned grey lavender matte that’s perfect for a one and done wash of color
- Lisa Eldridge Liza – cool-toned charcoal grey with iridescent magenta, violet, blue, green and disco ball silver pearls.
- Devinah Esme – cool-toned plum nude (Devinah has tons of cool toned mattes that are amazing; use code CORDELIA to save with them)
- Devinah Suki – mauve plum nude
- Urban Decay Tease – cool taupe matte (find it at Ulta)
- Nabla Ambra Grigia – slate grey matte
- Nabla Vetiver – sand grey matte
- Nabla Smoke – greige matte
- Nabla Blue Tonka – deep charcoal blue matte
- Nabla Oud – dark cool brown matte
Cool Toned Eyeshadow FAQ
What does cool toned eyeshadow mean?
Cool toned eyeshadows have blue, grey, or pink undertones rather than yellow, orange, or golden ones. Think taupes, mauves, plums, slate greys, icy silvers, blue-based browns, and lavenders. If a brown shadow leans reddish orange or a nude leans peachy gold, it’s warm, not cool.
How do I know if cool toned eyeshadow will suit me?
Cool toned shadows are most flattering if your skin has cool or neutral undertones, meaning you look best in silver jewelry, your veins appear more blue than green, and pure white flatters you more than cream. That said, anyone can wear cool tones. If you’re warm toned, a cool toned lid with a warm transition shade in the crease bridges the difference beautifully.
Why are cool toned eyeshadow palettes so hard to find?
Most mainstream palettes are built around warm neutrals because warm browns and golds are considered universally safe by big brands. That’s why the best cool toned color stories now come from indie brands like Bellabeautebar, Kaleidos, and Lethal Cosmetics, who aren’t afraid to build an entire palette around greys, mauves, and blues.
What is the best cool toned eyeshadow palette for beginners?
Start with a cool toned neutral palette rather than a colorful one, since you’ll reach for it daily while you learn. Bellabeautebar Morally Grey is my personal go-to neutral cool palette, and Viseart’s VisePRO Cool Mattes palettes are the luxury classic if you want a formula that blends itself.
What is the best budget cool toned palette?
The ColourPop Stone Cold Fox 30-pan gives you the most cool toned shades per dollar of anything I’ve seen at the affordable end, and ColourPop is cruelty free. Cosmic Brushes is another affordable indie option with entire 20-pan cool toned palettes.
Are cool toned and ashy the same thing?
Mostly, yes. “Ashy” (or dusty) is just how people describe cool, grey-leaning shades, especially browns and taupes. If a brown looks ashy or muted rather than rich and reddish, that’s the cool undertone doing its job. On cool skin tones, those ashy shades read as natural shadow instead of muddy.
What eyeshadow colors make blue and green eyes pop?
Cool toned plums, mauves, and burgundy-leaning shades make blue and green eyes stand out because of the contrast with red-violet tones. As a blue-green eyed person, plum shadows are my forever cheat code. Cool greys and taupes also let lighter eye colors do the talking. See my how to make your eye color pop article.
Do cool toned palettes work for hooded eyes?
Absolutely. Matte cool toned shades are actually ideal for hooded eyes because mattes create the illusion of depth and dimension where the lid space is limited. If you’re not sure about your eye shape, check my guide on how to tell if you have hooded eyes, and my Hooded Eyes Makeup Manual has step-by-step tutorials that all work with cool toned shades.
Are all the palettes in this post cruelty free?
Yes. Everything I recommend on this blog is cruelty free, and I’ve marked the vegan options throughout the post. If a popular palette doesn’t meet my cruelty free standards, it doesn’t get recommended here, no matter how pretty it is.
Original Cool Toned Eyeshadow Palette Recommendations
Below are my original 2018 recommendations, preserved for everyone who owns these palettes or spots them secondhand. Sadly, most have been discontinued since I first wrote this post, and Lime Crime has discontinued their entire makeup line to focus on hair color. The Viseart Cool Mattes palettes are the survivors, reborn in the VisePRO line linked in my 2026 section above.
Viseart Cool Mattes 2 & Cool Mattes 1
Viseart Cool Mattes 2 eyeshadow palette is the top row and Cool Mattes 1 eyeshadow palette is the bottom row. These were the best cool toned eyeshadow palettes at the luxury price point, and the good news is they live on: both have been reissued in Viseart’s VisePRO line, linked in my 2026 section above.
Lunatick Cosmetic Labs Vampira & Smashbox Prism (discontinued)
Lunatick Cosmetic Labs Vampira eyeshadow palette is the top row and Smashbox Covershot Prism eyeshadow palette is the bottom row. The 3 ‘extra’ swatches at the beginning of Vampira are what Too Faced Shadow Insurance looks like on my arm. Both palettes have been discontinued.
Nyx Gloomy Days vs. Flower Cool Natural (discontinued)
Flower Beauty Cool Natural eyeshadow palette is the top row and Nyx Perfect Filter Gloomy Days eyeshadow palette is the bottom row. Gloomy Days was one of the best cool toned eyeshadow palettes ever, and I’m still sad Nyx discontinued it. Both palettes are gone now, though they pop up secondhand.
Lime Crime Venus III vs. Urban Decay Naked 2 Basics (discontinued)
Lime Crime Venus III eyeshadow palette swatches are on top and Urban Decay Naked 2 Basics palette swatches are on bottom. Venus III was a vegan cool toned eyeshadow palette. Lime Crime has since discontinued their entire makeup line to focus on hair color, so Venus III is gone for good. The original Naked 2 Basics was also discontinued, though Urban Decay has revived the concept as the Naked2 Basics Mini, which I mention in the popular palettes section above.
Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons (discontinued)
This is the Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons palette, since discontinued.
Cargo HD Gradient (discontinued)
This is the Cargo HD Gradient Eyeshadow Palette. It was all cool toned except for the top row and the bottom middle. Cargo Cosmetics is no longer around.
Kat Von D Smoke Quad (discontinued)
This is the Kat Von D Beauty Smoke Quad, an excellent tiny cool toned eyeshadow palette from the Shade + Light era. The brand is now KVD Beauty and this quad is long discontinued.
Best Cool Toned Eyeshadow Palettes Video
In the video I talk about why I thought these were the best cool toned eyeshadow palettes back in 2018. Keep in mind that most of the palettes discussed are now discontinued; see my 2026 section above for what I currently recommend.
Final Thoughts
Cool toned palettes were hard to find in 2018 and they’re still underserved in 2026, but the indie beauty world has stepped up in a big way. If you only pick up one thing from this post, my heart belongs to Bellabeautebar right now, with Kaleidos as your stop for the most unique finishes and Viseart’s VisePRO Cool Mattes as the luxury classic that never left.
What are your favorite cool toned makeup products?
