How to Pick the Best Eyeshadow Palette For Your Eye Color

Look out! When it comes to dazzling eyes, there’s nothing like the ocular artistry of a palette. NEW YOU considers the options.

By Leslie Chatman

Whether it’s a bold, smokey eye or low-key neutral look you seek, eyeshadow palettes are a multi-hued method to easily experiment with alluring lid color, inspiring a different look every day.

When searching for the perfect panoply, however, there’s more to consider than the dazzle of choice. Wearability, matte shade to shimmer shade ratio, staying power, pigmentation, and how the shades look with your natural eye color are all key factors to shadow smorgasbord success.

“When choosing an eyeshadow palette, choose one with the shades that are going to complement your skin and eye color,” says celebrity makeup artist D’Andre Michael. The ideal shades should brighten eyes and enhance your natural eye color to create a cohesive look, allowing you to put your best face forward.

Finding the perfect shades to make your peepers pop isn’t always an easy task, though. Sometimes, the colors we cleave to aren’t exactly the right ones for our overall skin tone. And the many options available can seem like both a blessing and a curse, as shoppers can get lost in all of the palette possibilities. Brands are routinely releasing coordinated palettes with some of the most beautiful, trend-setting shades, textures, and finishes, making it a murky task to narrow down the options.

Here, Michael helps to put your palette panic to rest, breaking down the ideal eyeshadow shade for every eye color along with his go-to picks.

Brown Eyes

Brown eyes afford quite a bit of shadow versatility. “Women with brown eyes are lucky because they can wear nearly every color eyeshadow, but shades of purple, green, blue, gold, and charcoal really look beautiful,” says Michael. “Blue happens to be my favorite for contrast with brown eyes. Deep navy with a little sparkle works well.” Finish the look with black mascara and liner to make eyes stand out.

Artist selection: LORAC PRO Palette (LORAC; $44).

Blue Eyes

Blue eyes pop when paired with grays, browns, and golden hues. “Blue eyes look beautiful with earth tones, like browns, taupe, and sand, or colors with a slate-gray base. Bronze shades offer a nice contrast,” says Michael. Brighten the look with shades of peach, coral, or pink.

Artist selection: Urban Decay Naked2 Eyeshadow Palette (Urban Decay; $54).

Hazel Eyes

Bring out the green in hazel eyes with deep burgundy or violet hues. Opt for more earthy tones to enhance the brown tones. “Hazel eyes look best when paired with rich hues like burgundy, brown, raisin, and mocha. Shadows with shimmer look beautiful and gold really makes them pop,” says Michael. “Pale to medium pinks, lavender, and various shades of green also look nice.”

Artist selection: MAC Cosmetics Eyeshadow X15 Palette in Cool Neutral (Amazon; $65).

Green Eyes

Green eyes are grand in rich, bright tones. “Green eyes look beautiful in purple hues, warm mauves, red-brown, and peach,” Michael says. Add a dab of gold, copper, or bronze to make them sparkle,”

Artist selection: Laura Mercier Eye Art Artist’s Palette (Laura Mercier; $55).

Eyeshadow 101: The Basics of Shadow Application

“A traditional three-color eyeshadow application is a classic look that works great in any situation,” says James Vincent, director of artistry and education for The Makeup Show, the largest pro makeup event in the U.S. “Choosing a lighter shade, a medium shade as a feature for color and texture, and a darker shade for depth allows you to sculpt and shape a beautiful eye look.”

1. To Begin, use a small oval brush to apply the lighter color from lash line to brow bone and from the outer corner of the eye to the inner corner of the eye. Note that the strongest deposit of color will be wherever you first place the brush down on the lid.

2. Next, use a soft shadow brush to sweep the medium shade onto the eyelid from crease to lash line from the outer corner of the eye to the inner corner of the eye. The medium shade can be the focus color and can be used to play with textures, trend shades, or a shade that complements wardrobe choice or eye color.

3. Finish with the darker shade. Use a pointed crease brush or soft shadow-crease brush to place shadow into the crease using a back-and-forth motion, like a windshield wiper. Add eyeliner and a coat of mascara to complete this classic eye look.

Pro Tip: The darker shade can be used to add depth, contour, and dimension, as well as double as a liner look for your eyes. A small angled brush can be used to blend the darkest shadow along the top lash line the way
you would apply pencil eyeliner to add depth and give the lashes definition.

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