Thread: eye shadow colors for brown eyes, fair skin?

Inspired partly by the stage makeup segment in Secrets of the Stage 3, and now by the awesome photoshop makeover Lauren did back in September, I'm feeling inspired to work on a new eye look.

I usually do contours in chocolate brown, copper, and light gold. I want to try something more colorful, but nothing I've tried has been flattering. Someone recommended plums, but I looked like I had a black eye! (It may just have been too blue-toned.)

I'm going to stop by the drugstore and buy some cheap eyeshadows to play with new color combos before I invest in some better-quality ones. Can anybody suggest some colors to try?


I have brown eyes and fair skin:

You're so adorable! I bet you could look to Dita Von Teese for makeup inspiration. I've seen her use a buttery yellow and it looked great. Also pale to medium golds, not too brown. With plums, if you looked bruised, it actually might have been too red/burgandy. Look for violets. Pair that with VERY dark violet gel or liquid eyeliner, almost black. And a siren red lipstick. Shu Umura is supposed to have "the perfect" red. Play up your eyebrows in an old hollywood way, they're beautiful.
You could probably do a green look too.

Similar coloring here...I use plum and burgandy for contouring and I stay away from pearly highlighting shadow...matte is best, unless you go for the Eye Kandy for sparkling on purpose. Oh yeah--charcoal is good too.

Originally Posted by Doozer

Similar coloring here...I use plum and burgandy for contouring and I stay away from pearly highlighting shadow...matte is best, unless you go for the Eye Kandy for sparkling on purpose. Oh yeah--charcoal is good too.

Actually, all the eye makeup in that shot is Eye Kandy. I like the sparkle, but I'm in it mostly because I sweat a LOT, and it never runs off.

I have the same coloring as yours and I'm a big fan of olive (MAC has a great one with golden specks in it). You could also go for old gold. Deep teal in moderation for accents. Old rose.

I love the Eye Kandy!

You should go to Sephora or some other store to get a make-over. The people at Sephora always try crazy colors on me and I discover something I wouldn't have picked out for myself.

Try this tutorial on YouTube - Exotic Bollywood Bridal Wedding Inspired Make Up - posted by Panacea81. It was interesting because she used yellow on the lid which I thought would be ghastly but was really gorgeous. I don't recall her skin tone though.

I've seen alot of brown eyed beauties over the years wearing dark navy or indigo eyeshadow and it look awesome. Really made the brown eye color pop.

I'm fair with brown eyes, dark brows and lashes and dark red/auburn hair.

My dance make-up palatte is very simple, really:

1) Almost-white shadow on lid and at browbone

2) Very dark brown for everything else, including outer 1/3 of lid

3) I have a very sparkley (but not with glitter) very light gold that I smooth at the browbone and over the lid

4) Occasionally, I'll use a dark purple shade as an extra bit of color at the outer 1/3 of the lid and for contouring from the crease

5) Upper lid liner is either very dark brown, black or charcoal; lower lid liner is very dark brown

6) Tons of black mascara or falsies

7) For brows, some of that very dark brown eye shadow applied with an angle brush

Folks often say that if you have brown eyes you shouldn't use brown eye shadow; that may be the case for some, but it is probably the best color look for performance make-up for me; my eyes seem to grow to twice their normal size and look really cool . . . they even seem to sparkle more!

Deborah

Originally Posted by EzmaSiddiqah

I've seen alot of brown eyed beauties over the years wearing dark navy or indigo eyeshadow and it look awesome. Really made the brown eye color pop.

I forget about that because I don't currently have any blue shadows . . . but that's great, too!

Deborah

casbahdance, we have the same coloring! Dark brown eyes, very fair skin, and my hair used to be a brilliant reddish brown. Now it's more brown brown.

I find I can do almost any color with black eyeliner. I line my upper lid heavy-ish with black liner, smudge it soft, put a skin tone or shimmery whitish shade at the brow bone, and then pick a color and use one-two shades of that color family for the lid and crease. I've used purple, charcoal, black, olive, shimmery taupe, blue. For dressy day I use a thick chocolate liner and rich warm chocolate for the lid and crease. I usually smudge a little liner on the lower lashes, too.

You have awesome coloring, jmdruadh!! ;) For me, I stick with cool colors (like those mentioned) for performance wear. They just seem more "evening" to me. When I do use a warm color (like taupe or olive), I feel like lining in black makes it more of a glam, night-time look. For me browns or golds only work as a day look.

ok, excuse me for posting large photos of myself. But I liked my eye makeup in these two, so I thought I'd share.

this one, if I could go back in time, I'd smudge a little liner on my lower lash line, it looks a bit forgotten about. Otherwise I think it's a good example of the brown/blue thing. This is royal blue:



this one is a bit of a goofy angle and expression, but I liked how the make up colors melded with my coloring: (soft gray)

Hazel eyes and fair skin here.

My latest favorite is a green eye shadow I picked up at MAC, it is called 'Swimming'. I sometimes use it with another MAC shadow called 'Aquadisiac' (turquoise). I use the green on its own or layer the blue one on top. Really draws out the brown color in my eyes.

I am very fair, dark auburn hair and brows, mottled brown eyes--not quite hazel, but with gold and gold-green streaks on dark brown. I used to have large eyes but thanks to getting old and lids sagging, my eyes don't appear as large. So I am always trying to pop them open with makeup.

The best for me is a sparkly gold contoured with dark copper or bronze. I do use EyeKandy and have a copper, a dark green, gold, and Rooster Tail that I use for liner. Putting gold in the inside corner of my eye and along the outside edge of the bridge of my nose helps keep my eyes from looking too dark and closed. I also put a dot of gold in the middle of my lid.

Originally Posted by Souzan

Putting gold in the inside corner of my eye and along the outside edge of the bridge of my nose helps keep my eyes from looking too dark and closed. I also put a dot of gold in the middle of my lid.

Ooh, that's a good idea. That's why I rarely use black eyeliner- my eyes always disappear inside all the color. I wonder if that would fix it...

So, are you applying gold in a little C-shape (like eyeliner) on the inside corner of your eyes, or dusting it in that whole area?

And you know, that's the area where I have to apply concealer, so I wonder if that would help with that too...

Originally Posted by jmdruadh

Ooh, that's a good idea. That's why I rarely use black eyeliner- my eyes always disappear inside all the color. I wonder if that would fix it...

So, are you applying gold in a little C-shape (like eyeliner) on the inside corner of your eyes, or dusting it in that whole area?

And you know, that's the area where I have to apply concealer, so I wonder if that would help with that too...

You can totally get away with black eyeliner; it depends on the application. You can also get away with many eye shadow colors, it depends on the undertone.

The gold (or pearly white, white, etc.) in the corner of the eyes is particularly helpful if the eyes are narrow set. For regular and even wide-set eyes, it helps them look more open. How you apply it will also depend on eye placement and shape.

Rather than spending double money on drugstore, and then better quality eye makeup, I would just go to a makeup counter like MAC or Makeup Forever, experiment with the colors there, and then make the investment.

There is a bit of a difference in pigmentation b/t drugstore and stage-quality eye makeup so you may not be able to make any comparison and have to spend twice.

People have recommended their favorite and most effective drugstore brands of makeup for stage, which you could use for your own selection. For my work, I have not found anything effective in the drugstore for photography as far as eye shadow, but I require very heavy pigmentation on a regular basis.

My 2 cents...glitter is not as effective in photography because movement and light is what generates the brilliance and sparkle. So for video and stage, it's perfect in any quantity. In photography, however, there is no movement so glitter comes across as flecks of color and disrupts the intensity of your eye makeup application. That being said, glitter can work in photographs, but requires very specific lighting and often extreme close up work.

Originally Posted by Khaleela

I love the Eye Kandy!

You should go to Sephora or some other store to get a make-over. The people at Sephora always try crazy colors on me and I discover something I wouldn't have picked out for myself.

My sister suggested asking for help at Sephora too. Plus, they carry the two high-pigment eyeshadow lines I've heard recommended several times (NARS here on Bhuz, Makeup For Ever from the makeup artist interviews my sister processed at her old job and now from Azhia).

And here I thought they were more like an outlet store, rather than full-service. I wonder if I should call for an appointment...

In the meantime, I'd love to hear more suggestions! And thanks everybody for the tips so far.

I also have brown eyes and fair skin. My hair color at this time is a reddish/brown (usually some sort of red). I found that certain colors, including some shades of brown make my skin tone more sallow. I've done okay with caramel/champagne colors as well as some shades of plum/purples, khaki/olives and charcoal. I also do wear black mascara and a black pencil liner (which is smudged) that are staples for everyday and "special" make-up.

I'm darker and more yellow in the skin than you, but it looks like you're still fairly warm toned (which might be part of why the purples and plums looked like black eyes on you--they do the same on me. They make my eyes VERY green, but look really weird with my skin coloring.)

One of the colors I sometimes use is Cranberry from MAC. I also know a paler gal who uses this same shade. I tend to blend it with Nylon (a whitish color) at the inner corner and under brow, a golden shade in the inner-middle lid, Cranberry from mid-lid outward and Embark or another dark brown at the corner/crease (blend well!) My paler counterpart uses something else in a pinky/peachy tone (sorry, don't know what it is) instead of the gold and I think she may be using a slightly different shade from the embark, but it's also in the warm brownish family, and the Cranberry is more dominent. It looks really pretty.

If you have a MAC store near you, go to them--tell them what you do and that you're looking for eye makeup ideas using color. Maybe even consider some of the costumes you use most often. Have them put some eye makeup on you. :-)

Side note: Azhia, can you believe it??? After initially missing all those days of girl school so many years ago, I've actually learned enough about eye makeup to offer specific shade and blending recommendations? *LOL* Would you have thought that possible a couple years ago? ;-)

I think that purple and green eye-shadows are very flattering for brown eyes. I have found flattering purple shades from Chanel (Amethyst) and MAC (Top Hat). I would like to find a pretty bright green shadow that doesn't look washed-out or grey when applied. Does anyone have a product recommendation for a strong emerald green?

Hi there...fair skin, hazel eyes, and auburn hair here too. I use Loreal's Hip purple combo when I feel like being a little saucy. I bet that you could easily wear coppers, greens, and turquoises (like Mac's aquadisiac--it's lovely). Plums would probably look great on you too. :D

Have fun shopping for new eyeshadow colors!

When you are performing, don't be afraid to go for darker colors if you are fair-skinned. A fellow bellydance friend of mine was always unsure of what colors to wear before shows. Because she is also caucasian and fair-skinned, she would wear the lighter pastel colors from the red and pink family.

One day she had a show so told her to let me do her make up for her. She has green eyes. I am African American (obviously) and I told her to wear my colors. She was a bit reluctant at first but I told her it would make her stand out as opposed to looking more plain or washed out for the performance. I used some deep browns, bronzes, burgandys and wines on her eyes and I used copper eyeshadow on her cheeks in place of blush and she looked amazing.

You can wear darker shadows but don't wear heavy, black eye liner unless you have a higher brown with larger lids. lf you have small eyes wear dark brown liner and if you are using liquid, don't make your lines too thick. If you want your shadow to go on a bit heavier, dip the applicator in cold water first, then dip it in the shadow and apply. It gives a more dramatic look.

Don't be afraid to go darker. You are performing so you need to stand out. I swear by Cover Girl eyeshadows. The individual colors and trios are the best.

Originally Posted by aamel_MirahAmmal

I'm darker and more yellow in the skin than you, but it looks like you're still fairly warm toned

Actually, I'm fairly cool-toned. The lighting in that one is a little funky. Here's a more accurate one:
(although it's hard to say how color will display for you; I'm getting different colors in Safari and Firefox on the same computer!)

http://www.nadirajamal.com/Photos/tealface.jpg


I didn't make it to the drugstore or Sephora this weekend (my husband had secret valentines plans), but I did play around with what I had on hand and some "free gift with purchase" samples my mother in law sent me. I tried:

- violets
The ones I had were too sheer to work for stage makeup, but the colors were very flattering. I think the more blue-toned violet is a better look for me than a more reddish plum. (Good call Jetgirl!)

- blues/teals
These weren't unflattering per se, but I looked kind of like I had taken a box of crayolas to myself. Maybe it would work better with a more more skilled application. My eyes disappeared in that big pool of color, but it did make the brown of the irises pop. I think blues could work for me (maybe as part of another color scheme), if I can find a way to make the eyes themselves look more defined.

- burgundy & peach
If I had left the house with this on, I swear somebody would have called social services.


I also learned, while trying to reproduce the shapes in Lauren's photoshop makeover, that "apply in the crease" does not actually mean "apply in the crease", but rather "apply in an appx 1/2 inch-wide swath centered around the crease".

Originally Posted by jmdruadh

Actually, I'm fairly cool-toned. The lighting in that one is a little funky. Here's a more accurate one:
(although it's hard to say how color will display for you; I'm getting different colors in Safari and Firefox on the same computer!)

http://www.nadirajamal.com/Photos/tealface.jpg


I didn't make it to the drugstore or Sephora this weekend (my husband had secret valentines plans), but I did play around with what I had on hand and some "free gift with purchase" samples my mother in law sent me. I tried:

- violets
The ones I had were too sheer to work for stage makeup, but the colors were very flattering. I think the more blue-toned violet is a better look for me than a more reddish plum. (Good call Jetgirl!)

- blues/teals
These weren't unflattering per se, but I looked kind of like I had taken a box of crayolas to myself. Maybe it would work better with a more more skilled application. My eyes disappeared in that big pool of color, but it did make the brown of the irises pop. I think blues could work for me (maybe as part of another color scheme), if I can find a way to make the eyes themselves look more defined.

- burgundy & peach
If I had left the house with this on, I swear somebody would have called social services.


I also learned, while trying to reproduce the shapes in Lauren's photoshop makeover, that "apply in the crease" does not actually mean "apply in the crease", but rather "apply in an appx 1/2 inch-wide swath centered around the crease".

Sounds like you got busy! It's fantastic that you took the time to play around. As for your application questions, seriously, the DVD will help.

three words: NAVY BLUE EYELINER!

whoopsie

Originally Posted by jmdruadh

Actually, I'm fairly cool-toned. The lighting in that one is a little funky. Here's a more accurate one:
(although it's hard to say how color will display for you; I'm getting different colors in Safari and Firefox on the same computer!)

http://www.nadirajamal.com/Photos/tealface.jpg

omg girl, Look at your coloring! Dita dita! Dita in plums



I can't find a picture of her with the pale yellow/gold look, but maybe it was in the Fredrick's catalog.

For strong color like teal, I get s dark version of it; then apply it as very very wide eyeliner -- not so it is completely covering the lid. Sometimes you can do a smudge below in the outside corners too. Or just get Azhia's vid!

BTW, talk about makeup transformation
Dita when she was Sweet

Originally Posted by Azhia

Sounds like you got busy! It's fantastic that you took the time to play around. As for your application questions, seriously, the DVD will help.

Thanks, Azhia. I've heard great things about your video, and loved the online clips, but I'm trying to be strict about how I use my business funds right now. I'm not allowing myself to buy anything without making a business case for the purchase, and I'd need to know exactly which techniques are covered in order to make an informed case for buying your DVD.

Originally Posted by jetgirl

omg girl, Look at your coloring! Dita dita! Dita in plums

Oh, she is so cute! I'll have to google for some other photos...