Colour Of Your Eyes
Bring out the colour of your eyes
My parents live on the south coast of Spain and come back home to good ol’ Blighty every summer to visit family and escape the intense heat.
This year, my Mum needed some new sunglasses but had found most of the offerings in British opticians to be incredibly boring and the same wherever you went. As my father will testify, she has always had expensive tastes and had noticed loads of opticians’ shop windows filled to the brim with delightfully different designer options on their travels through Andorra and France on the way up to the Channel crossing. Sometimes, Britain is such a backwater, isn’t it? You’ve only to walk down Oxford Street in London to see exactly the same offerings in all the same shops as we get in every other town in the country - heaven help us!
Finally, we stumbled upon a dream opticans in Derbyshire where they stock all the designer frames and spent a happy hour trying on all sorts of glamorous versions. My Mum confided that she felt she looked ‘very drab’ in the British half light compared to the bright, sunny light of the Mediterranean. She said that her eyes seemed to disappear into the rest of her face and she felt that she looked pale and tired, even though she has a tanned face compared to the rest of us poor pale Brits. She’d already booked to have her eyebrows and eyelashes tinted which would certainly help re-define her features but, in the meantime, she asked me if I thought that a darker eyeshadow might help.
A more defined eyeshadow might certainly help but as to whether it’s darker than normal all depends on the colour of the shadow and of your own skin tone. For instance, paste a dark (or even a light) apricot on me and I look like death warmed up, because I have cool skin tones. But put me in black eyeshadow and…
Some years ago I was asked to model for Elizabeth Arden’s top make-up man at a top-to-toe beauty day. “You must be my evening make-up model, darling,” he exclaimed as I walked into his workshop. “You have just the colouring to show off our new Thunder eyeshadow.” When he’d finished torturing me by pulling the skin around my eyes every which way but loose, even I had to admit that I looked fabulous - rather like Alexis from Dynasty, perhaps, but my friends felt it was a bit too Dramatic for the centre of Manchester in the rush hour on a Friday afternoon and hurried me back to the car as quickly as they could! What else would you expect from a Classic and a Natural? 
Several weeks later I’d organised a trip to the theatre to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show and thought this might be the perfect opportunity to try out my new BLACK Thunder eyeshadow. I’m sure if you’ve ever been to one of these events where even the chaps turn up in basques, suspenders and the most vivid make-up on the planet, you’ll understand my sense of confidence.
But do you know, not one soul even noticed! Even when I specifically mentioned it, everyone peered at my eyes and declared they couldn’t understand what on earth I was waffling on about.
Just goes to show that if you are wearing the right eyeshadow to suit your colouring, your skin tone and your (in my case - mad, outrageous, drama queen) personality, then people will just see YOU!
But, as usual, I digress. Back to the plot…
What is eyeshadow?
Eyeshadow is exactly what it says on the tin – a shadow, and if you choose the right colour, then you can certainly use a shadow behind your eye to frame it and bring it to the forefront; a bit like choosing a great frame for a painting. It’s really important for us to see your eyes. After all, they are the windows to your soul and tell us:
- whether you’re approachable, or not!
- whether you’re interested in what we have to say, or not!
- whether you’re happy, or not!
So, before you leap in and start painting your eyes madly to draw attention to them, may I make a few suggestions to help you look your very best?
Where to apply eyeshadow
- Apply light shades to areas that you want to expand,
i.e. open up - Apply dark shades to areas you want to diminish,
i.e. close down - Generally, use the darkest shade on the crease, a light to medium shade on the lid and, if appropriate, the lightest shade on the browbone.
The dreaded browbone
If you have a large area between your eyelash line and your eyebrow, then don’t apply a highlighter or lighter colour on the browbone; this will just point out to the world and his mother that you have a very large expanse of skin between your eyelash line and your browbone!
Ignore sellers of make-up who insist that you need a minimum of three colours of eyeshadow. They are, after all, on commission; the more eyeshadows they sell you (whether you actually need them or not) means more for them.
Leave the browbone until last. You might decide that you just don’t need anything there at all.
Start with your eyelids
I would suggest that you use a light colour on your lids first. A highlighter is often a great choice for this, or go for the lightest white/cream/pink that you can find. This helps to open the eye up, especially if you choose a colour to match your skin tone. Try these:
- ivory or cream for warm skin
- marshmallow or pinky-white for cool skin
A darker colour for the crease
If you use the same colour eyeshadow as that of your own eyes, I don’t really see the point. You will just close down the eye area - as a blue eye set within a blue shadow is not going to stand out at all. If you really DON’T want people to see your eyes, wouldn’t it be easier to either wear sunglasses or just stay out of sight?
- BROWN eyes can wear most eyeshadow colours, but look softer and more intense with plums and mauves
- BLUE eyes can wear blue shades when the shade is muted or a different blue from the actual eye colour. Avoid overly bright blues and obvious green. Blue eyes can seem much bluer when an opposite shade is used such as peaches and yellow-creams. Greys, the lightest of pinks, plums and reddish brown also look good.
- GREEN eyes look marvellous surrounded by apricots, peaches (but only if you have warm skin tones!) and browns. They appear greener with purples and lavenders. Try deep bronzes, beige, teal and muted shades of greens. Avoid matching a green shade to the eyes or an overly bright green.
- HAZEL eyes range from blue to blue-grey to green, green-yellow and even green-brown. They look best in neutral shades such as purple, grey, smokey blue, green or taupe. Neutral shades allow hazel eyes to change to match the clothing or environment.
Here are some colour suggestions for eyeshadow for the crease, above the eyelid. Read our image, colour, style, and make-up top tips for more in-depth information.
WARM skin tones
Eye colour Eyelid Crease, above the eyelid Brown Gilded Peach Olive Mist Blue Sunny Sand Midas Green Pale Oak Cedar Brown Hazel Camel Leaf Green
COOL skin tones
Eye colour Eyelid Crease, above the eyelid Brown Gilded Peach Plum Crazy Blue Prism Pink Purple Haze Green Magnolia Ash Brown Hazel Marshmallow Dusky Turquoise
Buy Recommended Cosmetics Online
These are just suggestions to start you off playing around with different colours. Find out more about the cosmetics we recommend and how to buy online.
How do you know whether you’ve got warm or cool skin tones?
Try comparing how you look in a gold fabric vs. a silver fabric. Hold these under your chin, close to your face and look at your face in a mirror. I know! I know! Terribly scary stuff, especially as you might look as though you’re auditioning for a part in Star Trek, but try your level best not to laugh too much and decide which YOU look best in.
This isn’t about whether you prefer gold to silver; this is about whether we can see YOU before we see the gold or silver.
If you still can’t work this out, ask an honest-but-kind friend to give you their opinion. Or why not book a colour consultation with an expert?
Lots more hints and tips on choosing make-up to suit your skin tone on the website.
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