Quite often there are products that never make it it onto this blog, not because I don’t like them or think they deserve to be shouted about, but because, quite the opposite, they so quickly became part of my everyday makeup bag and just never made it back out. Jones Road Beauty’s single pan eyeshadows – the best eyeshadows, are a perfect example.
I marvelled at their neutrally toned palette and shimmering hues, took a quick iPhone snap (not the image size I like to use on this site) and thought, I’ll get them in front of the lens once I’ve established my thoughts. Some weeks or months later, and these eyeshadow pans now reside permanently in my makeup-doing corner, stacked in a little eyeshadow tower amongst a sea of cosmetic clutter and Miracle Balms.
This makeup mess generally builds up throughout the week and is given a Marie Kondo style re-organisation come weekend. For someone that likes minimalism and order, most days this little corner of beauty reflects the scattered scribblings of my to-do lists. Organised chaos they call it? As an aside I think every person who likes order actually has a space like this – a hidden cupboard of total disorder that feeds creativity and spontaneity. Alas, the eyeshadows.
It’s pretty easy for me to decipher my weekly makeup favourites from what I find strewn across my table. Mostly an overload of cream bronzers, one or two dependable concealers, a go-to pink blush, and my most-used brushes. There’s rarely more than one mascara – I have just two that I use regularly and am unmotivated to try others. Chanel’s waterproof Le Volume de Chanel and Jones Road’s The Best Mascara, in case you’re in the market. And usually, there’s rarely an eyeshadow in sight.
To find not one eyeshadow, not an easy-to-travel-with palette, but nine single eyeshadows setting up home permanently on my makeup table is a first. So when I tell you Jones Road eyeshadows are good, there’s no need to wonder “why haven’t you written about them earlier if they’re so good…”. It’s actually because they’re really – really – good.
Cool tones were the first to drop – think cloudy day colours; greys, ash, whites and silver.
While it feels like warm tones – think summer days; yellow, orange, red – have made up the makeup palette of the last few years, I am all about the former. This paired-back collection of nine feels so spot-on and considered, and exactly what you would expect from a makeup artist icon who just gets how to make women look pretty. You really don’t need a lot of colours, you just need the right ones. Jones Road Beauty get it so right it’s ridiculous.
There’s nothing crazy here – not that single shade within a palette that lives forever, untouched. Jones Road Eyeshadows are like a wardrobe of neutrals, each perfectly wearable. The two lightest shades; Chic and Cream are your perfect basics – the white tee. Chic is a brighter, almost white but we’ll call it off-white, and Cream is well…creamier. Chic is more obvious – I resist the label stark – even on my pale lids, but does an amazing job of banishing the blue or purple hint of veins, whereas Cream is a little more subtle. Both are neutralising and Cream perhaps less overpowering, and a perfect base for blending other shades on top. If I could only have one? Chic.
Ash, a greyish taupe, is that useful shade you’ve been looking for. It’s not too brown – zero orange – and makes a great eyebrow filler for blondes. Likewise, Smokey Grey. If you’ve found some greys too light, too cement-like that they make the eyes look tired, this shade has the right amount of depth to define but not drag down. It’s still very much a grey – not a charcoal, so even fair complexions can wear it without fear of looking too smokey.
Dark Brown is my go-to eyeliner while the pencils are lost somewhere under my makeup mess in need of a sharpen. The eyeshadow is called Dark Brown – it’s dark brown, and needs little more description. I don’t see myself regularly using it on the whole eyelid but I love it across the lash line, and smudged a little higher. If you tend to find dark shades too abrasive against your skin tone – too much of a contrast and too much “like eyeliner”, this is a great one to try. It gives you the definition of thicker lashes, without looking overly done-up. And if you struggle with a pencil eyeliner and would never attempt a liquid, this eyeshadow along with a slim, angled eyeliner brush is the most foolproof way of defining the eyes. You can apply it with a slightly damp brush for more drama, but I find the colour is dense enough dry. The shadow itself is firm enough that you won’t have eyeshadow dust falling all over your just-concealed under-eyes either. Summary: love.
Best Color In The World (BCITW) is my least reached for and in fact, the one that I would likely leave off my cart when I’m re-ordering. But here’s the thing: one girl’s Dark Brown is another girl’s BCITW. It comes down to skin tone/hair colour/eye colour/preference, and if you like a really dark brown – almost charcoal – shadow, liner, or both, you will love this shade.
While those are the sensible, useful shades, the few shimmers are where the fun is at. There are just three, but again, perfectly chosen colours. Because it’s Jones Road, it’s not shimmer like you might be used to. It’s not frosty or metallic but a modern, subtle, light reflecting shimmer that just lifts your eyeshadow look from flat to special.
So Pretty is a silvery, greyish-taupe, shimmer-sparkle you just need to swatch rather than read about. There’s more to it than just a sheer, silvery sparkle that you might associate with Shiseido’s Aura Dew. The shade is versatile and changeable in different lighting, and just really…pretty. What can I can say, this is one of my favourite eyeshadows ever. The End.
Well, not quite the end. So Pretty, a powder version of the Jones Road Sparkle Wash (although both are unique in my opinion) is that eyeshadow you press on and feel a little extra special – just a little more pretty. You could use a tiny bit in the inner corner, or just a press on the centre of the lid, or go all-out and smear it on opaquely if you like a high-shimmer silver. It’s surprisingly dense if you want it to be, but I prefer a light gleam of glitter dust over a base of Chic or Smokey Grey. There’s just something magical about this shade.
Penny and Patina round out the range. Penny is slightly warmer; a copper shade that isn’t too orange or too red. Patina is another favourite that sits near the top of my eyeshadow tower stack. It’s the perfect rich, chocolatey, not-too-golden brown and I love blending some just a little upwards from the lash line, so that it almost diffuses into nothing but adds some excitement to the matte shadow beneath.
This stack of cool toned eyeshadows have got me loving eyeshadow again – they’re just so easy. The second Jones Road drop which is available now and features dusty, earthy pinks and clays might just convert me to the warm side. Just as I adore So Pretty, I’m was crossing my fingers for a powder version of Sparkle Wash in Midas; a gorgeous light gold glitter. Perhaps ‘Champagne’ will tick the box?
This had intended to be a brief shout-out to this collection of nine eyeshadows that somehow missed their day in front of the camera, but these eyeshadows deserve a moment. For those that have skipped ahead hoping for a highlights reel, I’ll sum it up:
Jones Road eyeshadows could easily be the only eyeshadows you ever buy, and you’d have everything you need. They’re practical and beautiful, simplified but not boring, and the only thing that would make me happier is if they were one day all joined together in a convenient travel palette as thin and compact as Shiseido’s Essentialist – love that packaging. Until then, my leaning tower of stacked eyeshadow pans will remain piled high among my makeup mess.
For the products I was supposed to be writing about this week, Miracle Balm in Sunkissed and Magic Hour, stay tuned – this time I’m taking the photographs first.
Find Jones Road at jonesroadbeauty.com (US, Canada, UK only)
Disclaimer: Some products mentioned in this article are pr/press samples gifted without obligation to post. As always, this in no way affects or influences my review.