Claire’s Makeup Design Palettes

This is a group photo of five makeup palettes on a purple background.
This images shows the design files from two makeup palettes, called Natural and Revamped on a purple background..

Natural and Revamped

The initial request for this project was to create the Natural and Revamped palettes. To start, I conducted market research into what types of palettes our competition had in the market, and what terminology to use to describe the steps of each makeup tutorial. I landed on using stock illustration in combination with original illustration and photography to create the look of each palette. These first palettes were best sellers for multiple months in a row, prompting our cosmetics buyer to ask for additional themed palettes.

This is a photo of the inside and cover of a makeup palette called Pop Rockz on a purple background.

Pop Rockz and Sun Kissed

With the success of the first two palettes came more requests and an amazing opportunity. Pop Rocks is a hyper-pigmented, pop-punk-inspired palette. Sun Kissed is a dreamy metallic mix of golds and bronzes. 

While I was working on these palettes, news of the sales impact of Natural and ReVamped made its way across the pond. Our European Union (EU) buyer was delighted with those palettes and requested that we start translating them into the eight languages required to sell cosmetics in the EU at the time.

This is a photo of the inside and outside of a large makeup palette called Designer Eyes on a purple background..

Something Old, Something New: Designer Eyes

This extra-large palette included the existing Natural and Pop Rockz and added shadows for two new looks, Smokey and Glitter. One of the biggest challenges for this palette was finding ways for these different themes to live together in one place. I created tattoo-themed illustrations to tie them together and kept the tutorials very straightforward and streamlined so they didn’t fight with each other.

This is a photo of the exterior of two makeup palettes called Flirty Frost and Party Perfect on a purple background.

Flirty Frost and Party Perfect

Before Elsa let it go, Claire’s flirted with frosty looks. This was a special holiday-themed palette with extra-sweet colors like Sugar Plum Fun and Tinsel Treat. It also came with shimmery lip gloss and glitter mascara. I used snowflakes and northern lights to add thematic elements.

Party Perfect was released at the same time as Flirty Frost but was meant to stay on the shelves after the holiday season. This palette design includes balloons, confetti, rave lighting, and just a touch of Vegas flair. It was the perfect end to the palettes that I designed at Claire’s. 

Not all of the palettes are featured here, but in total, there were 8+ palettes, and another 4 themed mini palettes for Icing. It opened the door for Icing to have its own line of tutorial palettes. It also allowed me to stretch my skills by writing the tutorials and naming the eyeshadow colors, which is something I’ve always loved doing.