Eyeshadow is the colored powder you apply to your eyelids and the area of your face above your eyes, and it can play many roles in your personal style. One way you may want to use eyeshadow is to change the perception of your eye color, such as bringing out a striking shade or emphasizing certain highlight colors within the iris.
Blue Eyes
- The striking color of blue eyes can be sharply emphasized with grays and deeper blues or drawn out with browns and oranges. Silver or gold can be a fun contrast, especially if a less-formal look is desired. You may want to avoid certain competing colors like the bluish-greens that de-emphasize the blue in your eyes. If you have flecks of gray or different shades of blue in your eyes, you can match a gray or blue shadow to those highlights, drawing out the subtle colors of your iris.
Brown Eyes
- Women with brown eyes have the advantage of being able to wear a wide variety of colors and still achieve a good look. To bring out the color of your brown eyes, try a stark contrast like lime green. For a more low-key accent, try shades of brown and beige. If you want to draw out highlights such as golds or greens, you can find a shade that matches the desired color emphasis. If you have very dark brown eyes, dramatic colors such as purple or teal can give you a memorable look.
Other Colors
- Hazel eyes often include browns, greens and blues, so women with this eye color have the advantage of many choices that can lead them in many directions. Brown can emphasize the brown hues; green can emphasize the green hues. Avoid too much blue if you don't have any blue highlights; this could dull a brown-green hazel. Women with green eyes may be best served by the brown palette, but they could choose a different shade of green, particularly if the eyes are not monochromatic.
Other Considerations
- Personal taste is often a factor in how you emphasize your eye color. For instance, some women may want to avoid matching their eyeshadow precisely with their eye color, because that could create a one-note look to the eyes. Other people may enjoy that look. In addition, the color of lipstick and other makeup elements such as blush can be used in conjunction with eyeshadow to alter the perception of your eye color. Eyeliner or mascara work particularly closely with eyeshadow, as they outline the eyelids and lengthen the lashes, respectively. Bright-colored lipstick or eyeliner can work well with more neutral eyeshadow, and vice-versa.
