We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article.

Timeless shades to enhance your everyday beauty look

An eyeshadow palette is always a tempting thing – especially now we're looking forward to a more sociable spring – but will you really use every shade inside that weighty compact?

Unless you’re equipped with the skills (and blessed with the time) to craft a seven-shade smoky eye on a regular basis, you’re likely not getting your money’s worth.

Indeed, the best eye palettes out there aren’t the shouty, saturated ones that barely fit on your shelf – never mind in your bag – but the understated neutral ones, thoughtfully filled with a tightly edited selection of shades that will flatter and enhance your skin tone and your eye colour. If you can see yourself wearing each individual colour, it’s likely a wise investment.

Below, discover the Bazaar verdict on the most grown-up, season-transcending neutral eyeshadow palettes to play with this season – and beyond.

Victoria Beckham clearly understands what the modern woman wants from her make-up. Sleek, sophisticated and as slim as a credit card, these beautiful palettes contain everything you’ll wear, and nothing you won’t.

For anyone truly tentative about eye colour, the Signature palette is a perfect place to start. The gentle bisque shades unify and brighten lids, while the two soft browns are waiting for when you fancy adding a touch of smoky definition.

Tom Ford’s famed Eye Colour Quad arrives in three warm, earthy colourways this season. The powder-to-cream formula is simply outstanding: each soft metallic shade melts over lids, ensuring a seamless blend no matter your skill level. Smudge one on with fingers for a translucent tint, or pick up a brush and use the darker shade to line and define.

At Dior’s AW22 show, Peter Phillips created a modern statement eye, pressing the silvery shade from the brand’s Backstage Eye Palette into the inner corners of each model’s eyes. With the rest of the lid bare, the look was easy yet impactful.

This palette might be neutral, but it was made with experimentation in mind. Use the clever clear gel to transform the classic shades into eyeliners, and add drama with the gold glitter top coat.

Trust Byredo to take a truly acid-spiked approach to neutrals. This blockbuster palette contains velvety-matte shadows in beautifully soft taupes and beiges, disrupted by sun-baked metallics and strikingly high-pigment sparkle. The shades don’t follow the typical gradient path: instead, they’re randomly placed to encourage outside-the-box combinations. Swipe confidently.

A truly classic option, Maybelline's neutral eye palette contains soft matte shadows for understated definition, alongside a few subtle shimmers for a little extra glamour. The texture is impressively soft, with clean, even colour payoff after a single swipe.

Christian Louboutin has finally launched a collection of colour palettes, and this spectrum of eyeshadow shades is a clear highlight. Purchase your spike-studded refillable case separately, then fill it with this edit of six ultra-wearable, exceptionally pigmented shadows, which will offer endless high-glamour looks.

Charlotte Tilbury’s collection of neutral-toned palettes appears to be growing by the day, but this one remains the bestseller for good reason. The four pink-tinged shades flatter every skin tone, delivering everything you need to brighten, sculpt and smoke. If a multi-tonal eye isn’t your thing, each shadow looks beautiful worn solo, too.

Cool tones look especially striking against icy-blonde hair, yet it’s surprisingly hard to come across a palette of steely shades. Roen’s sparkling shadows come in a powder-cream format that blends seamlessly over lids and stays looking dewy and glowing for as long as you’re wearing it.

Beauty Pie's eye colour quads easily stand up to the most luxurious options in terms of depth and smoothness of colour. Now, the brand has collaborated with make-up artist James Molloy to create a series of excellent neutral palettes. The Gold option will enhance brown eyes beautifully, while Silver will make blue and green eyes pop.

Chanel's glimmering Les Beiges eyeshadow palette sparkles in sunlight while remaining beautifully light and soft – no chunky glitter specks here. The spectrum of warm browns and honeyed peaches is versatile enough to work for day and night.

Trust MAC to create a truly wearable series of shadows. The Amber palette contains matte base colours in a spectrum of peaches and bisques, alongside a few subtle, soft browns for adding a hint of smoke.

Nars’ skin-brightening Orgasm blush is so coveted, the brand has built an entire line around the peachy-pink hue. This palette combines a suits-all matte pink – the ultimate eye-brightener – alongside three sheer shimmers that can be used all over the lid or simply to highlight the inner corners for a wide-awake effect