There’s a running joke among my group of friends that I am, seemingly, the only beauty editor on planet earth that hates make-up.

OK, so that’s not strictly true, but it’s fair to say I’m not as passionate about it as I maybe should be. Skincare? I’m all over it. I love learning about new technology, new formulas and trying new ingredients that’ll help my skin look the best it possibly can. Fragrance? I’m obsessed. I love sniffing new launches, discovering niche brands and trying to figure out what notes are what (more often than not I’m wrong, but hey, God loves a trier, right?) but make-up? Nah, there isn’t much that gets me excited.

Don’t get me wrong though, I do appreciate it. I know what’s going to be popular and I love watching make-up artists create magic. But I’m just not really into trying new things or experimenting with my look. I never really wear lipstick, I hate blusher and I’ve used the same eye shadow for about eight years (MAC Pro Longwear in Sweet Satisfaction, FYI). I will occasionally do a neutral smoky eye but that’s about as far as it goes.

Well, it was as far as I went until Huda Beauty launched the Rose Gold Remastered Palette, £56 last month. I never tried the now-discontinued original and I already own too many eye shadows (that are sat in my bedroom collecting dust) so I’m not really sure why I took Rose Gold Remastered home with me, but I’m so glad I did.

At first glance it looks a bit scary. All those colours are incredible, if not a tiny a bit intimidating, and I never thought I’d be able to pull any of them off in a million years. To be honest, they probably couldn’t be any further out of my comfort zone. But look at it! It’s too pretty not to use!

So I decided to start simple. I played with a couple of the safer shades: Suede and Dubai. I buffed the former all over my lid with a fluffy brush and then patted the latter on top with my finger, added some mascara (I’m still on the Glossier Lash Slick hype) and was so impressed with the result I posted a selfie on Instagram:

The next weekend I went on a date and experimented with the palette some more. I still played it safe but I added Henna into the mix, blended it into my crease and enjoyed the result more than I enjoyed the date. By this point I was getting semi-alright at applying and blending so I took going for dinner with my family as a chance to properly experiment - because if that isn’t an entirely safe space then I don’t know what is.

I’d seen people on Instagram use the pink shades, and one of my friends pulls a pink eye off like nobody else, so of course I wanted to try it, too. So I did.

I applied Maneater all over my lid, taking it slightly upwards and winging it out, then I brought it under my lower lash line before adding a touch of Doll Face in the outer corners. I finished with a dab of Rose Gold right in the centre of my lid, and guess what? I loved it so much I added a matching lipstick and went outside into the big wide world, got a compliment from the waitress serving us and the next day I posted another selfie. Who’d have thought?

And so, as they say, the rest is history. I’m now fully obsessed with pink eye shadow and I can’t wait to try endless other colour combinations. Rose Gold Remastered has got me excited about make-up, it’s made putting it on fun and it’s made me wonder why I holed myself up in a neutral make-up box for so long.

I also really want to dig out all the other palettes I’ve neglected over the years and play with them. Because, really, that’s the beauty of make-up, isn’t it? It’s not permanent, there are no rules, you can be as bold or as subtle as you like and there is so much fun to be had. I just wish I’d stepped out of my comfort zone sooner because it isn’t half as scary as I thought it would be. And really, what’s the worst that can happen?

Main image: Getty