The Best All-In-One Makeup Palettes

If you travel a lot or frequently find yourself “on the go,” it’s a good idea to invest in an all-in-one makeup palette to keep in your bag. While these types of palettes were once reserved for tweens just beginning to experiment with makeup, these days, you can find plenty of elegant palettes from both pro and prestige beauty brands that contain the same types of products you’d buy individually. The best all-in-one makeup palette for you will depend on your complexion and the colors you typically go for, but you’ll want to ensure that your palette contains makeup for both your eyes and face, i.e. eyeshadow, blush, and bronzer or foundation. Bonus points if you snag yourself a palette that includes a lip color or a brush — and double bonus points if your palette has a built-in mirror.

If your palette doesn’t contain a brush, however, there are plenty of great travel makeup brushes to choose from. And while we’re on the topic of travel-friendly cosmetics and tools, don’t forget to invest in a quality makeup bag to form the base of your portable beauty kit. Stock it with some blotting papers, a small hair brush, and maybe a refreshing facial spray; couple that with your new all-on-one makeup palette, and you’ll be ready for anything.

1. The Best Basic Palette

If you prefer a natural makeup look and just need a simple palette to keep on hand, jane iredale’s Pure & Simple Makeup Kit will be perfect. It contains a delicate powder blush, two eyeshadows, a two-in-one lip and cheek stain, and two pressed foundations for concealing and contouring, as well as a tiny blush brush and a double-ended eyeshadow applicator. This comes in five different color palettes to suit a variety of skin tones, and all of the makeup is mineral-based and gentle enough for sensitive skin. The only downside? This palette doesn’t come with a built-in mirror.

• Available shades: 5

2. The Best Palette For Beginners

This palette from Woosh Beauty contains all the makeup a beginner could need, each of which is clearly labelled: four eyeshadows (including a black shade that would work as eyeliner in a pinch — just add a little water!), two blushes, a shimmering highlighter, and several different powders that could be used for contouring, concealing, and foundation. The palette is also thoughtfully designed with a pull-out mirror, and it comes with three little travel brushes as well.

• Available shades: 6

3. The Best Drugstore Palette

Despite costing less than $25, this Physicians Formula Ultimate Butter Collection contains a truly impressive amount of makeup. Physicians Formula is one of the most trusted drugstore beauty brands around, and their line of Murumuru Butter Bronzers is particularly popular. In this kit, you get eight of those bronzers in assorted shades, as well as seven highlighters, seven blushes, 12 lip creams, 24 eyeshadows (both shimmery and matte), and a small mirror. It all folds up into a relatively compact box, so it won’t take up too much room in a suitcase.

4. The Best All-In-One Makeup Kit For Experts

Designed by professional makeup artists, SHANY’s “The Masterpiece” makeup set admittedly isn’t a palette — but if you’re looking for an all-in-one makeup kit, it doesn’t get much better than this. It contains a truly dazzling array of makeup, including six powder blushes, 15 concealers (which can also be used for contouring), 32 semi-matte lip colors, and a whopping 112 eyeshadows in assorted finishes. This is probably too large to bring around in a purse (unless you’re carrying a large tote bag), but it should fit nicely into the corner of a carry-on, or on your bathroom counter.

5. The Best Color-Correcting Palette

This Stila palette doesn’t contain eyeshadow, blush, or even bronzer — but if color-correcting is your thing, it’s an all-in-one palette that’s definitely worth having around. Housed in a luxe gold compact with a built-in mirror, this palette contains seven color correctors (two powders, five creams) to target a variety of skin concerns. In the cream department, you’ve got peach and orange to neutralize unwanted darkness or circles underneath your eyes (peach for light to medium complexions, orange for darker skin); green to negate redness; yellow to conceal unwanted hyperpigmentation; and pink to generally brighten up the under-eye area on light to tan skin. As for the powders, both the yellow and lavender color correctors can be used to set the creams, or to perk up/even out skin. If you fancy yourself a pro makeup artist in training, this is definitely a palette worth experimenting with.

6. The Best Cream Palette For Travel

If you’re looking for something really small to keep in your bag, go with this makeup quad from RMS Beauty. The mirrored compact contains three versatile lip and cheek shades (though you could put them in your eye crease, too), as well as the brand’s best-selling highlighter in the shade Champagne Rosé. Each tinted cream is made of moisturizing, plant-based ingredients that are good for your skin, so this palette is especially ideal for anyone who loves a dewy look.

Note that RMS makes a lot of other, gorgeous all-in-one palettes as well, like their Signature Set, a five-piece compact that includes a clear lip balm, and their Hidden Desire palette, a collection of powders with six truly stunning eyeshadow shades.