How to complement your eye colour with makeup: 6 Beauty Panel tips for blue, brown, hazel and green eyes

makeup match eye colour
makeup match eye colour

The beauty of makeup is in its ability to transform. While full-on makeovers may come to mind, the use of one just product—an eyeshadow, mascara or blush—can alter your appearance in the most subtle way. And when it comes to enhancing your eye colour, there’s no better way to make your eyes pop than with a swipe of complementary shadow.

But how do you know what makeup shade will complement your eye colour best? Do you turn to a colour that matches your eyes or choose one that’s the opposite? Blue eyeshadow may have been a favourite colour on the Spring 2013 runway, but for some of us it may not necessarily be the best choice.

Before you start testing every eyeshadow in your makeup bag, read on. Whether your eyes are blue, green, brown or hazel, the Beauty Panel is here to share their expert tips on makeup that makes eye colour stand out.

Challenge 20: How do you complement your eye colour with makeup? See the answers now! »

With eyes being such an important feature on our face, you definitely want to make sure they stand out. Twenty York Street’s Marilou Moles shares a rhyme as guidance to pick what hues go well with different eye colours. Where you apply makeup is also key: Spiced Beauty’s Jennifer Francis used gold in the inner corners to make her eyes pop, while Liner and Glitter and Gloss’s Dee Thomson suggests that the best way to really make our eyes stand out is coat those lashes with mascara. And proving that the bottom is just as important as the top, A Pop of Colour’s Shayna Wiwierski reminds us to not neglect the lower lash line since it essential in helping to frames the eyes.

Have a beauty question you want to see the panel answer? Send it our way at beautypanel@fashionmagazine.com. Read on for the answers to this week’s challenge and for more goodness, get to know all contributors on our Beauty Panel hub page.

Jump to: ALEXA LOWE | DEE THOMSON | ELLIE SOMFELEAN | JENNIFER FRANCIS | MARILOU MOLES | SHAYNA WIWIERSKI


makeup match eye colour Shayna

Shayna Wiwierski
Winnipeg | A Pop of Colour

If I had to choose my favourite feature, it would definitely be my eyes. They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul, so I love to play them up to make them stand out more. 

When it comes to blue eyes, pinks and purples are the most common colours to make them pop—however, I love switching it up and going with bronzes or greys. 

To really make them stand out, the darker the better. My go-to bronzes are all in the Urban Decay Naked palette (“Half Baked,” “Darkhorse” and “Smog”), which I often layer over Maybelline’s Color Tattoo in “Bad to the Bronze.” Make sure you don’t forget about the lower lash line, as it frames the eye to make them the focal point (you can also apply a neutral liner to your waterline to open up the eye area). Finish off the look with black liner and mascara, and your blue eyes will be unforgettable in no time.



Products used: Maybelline 24-Hour Color Tattoo in “Bad to the Bronze,” Urban Decay Naked Palette in “Half Baked,” “Smog,” “Darkhorse” and “Buck,” Rimmel London ScandalEyes Waterproof Gel Eyeliner in “Black,” Make Up For Ever Smoky Extravagant Mascara in “Black”


makeup match eye colour Dee

Dee Thomson
Toronto | Liner and Glitter and Gloss, Oh My!

When it comes to choosing makeup that will make your eyes stand out, I think it really comes down to your colour choice.  The main goal here is to select shades that complement your eye colour to make it really pop. My eyes tend to veer on the green side, so I like to choose eye shadows in different shades of purple—think plums and lavenders—to really bring out the best of their colour. I find that coppers and bronzes also do a great job of making green eyes stand out!  

Of course, mascara is a must for any eye colour. A couple of coats of lengthening and volumizing mascara will really make your eyes stand out. Paired with the right shadow, you have the perfect combination to make the most of your colour.

 If you’re unsure of what shades to use to best complement your eyes, it’s now easier than ever to find the right shadows and eyeliners.  Many companies have now put together entire lines dedicated to helping you pick the perfect product (shadows, liners and mascara included) to make your peepers pop.



Products used: Lancôme Color Design Eye Brightening All-In-One 5 Shadow & Liner Palette in “Lavender Grace,” Lancôme Hypnôse Doll Lashes Hypnôse Show by Alber Elbaz


Alexa Lowe
Montreal | Stealing Beauty

Products used: Urban Decay Original Primer Potion, Revlon PhotoReady Primer and Shadow in “Avant Garde,”Revlon PhotoReady Kajal Intense Eye Liner and Brightener in “Carbon Cleopatra 001,” Revlon PhotoReady Kajal Intense Eye Liner and Brightener in “Blue Nile 002,” Revlon Lash Potion Volume and Length Mascara by Grow Luscious


makeup match eye colour Ellie

Ellie Somfelean
Montreal | My Beauty Box

Hazel eyes are so versatile. You can work with a myriad of colours and help bring out different undertone in your eyes, with different eyeshadows. My go-to shades are purple, green, gold and dark blue. In the summer I like to opt for gold and help bring out the gold and warmth in my eyes with rich coppery shades and fun vibrant lemony yellows. Gold are the new neutrals. They can work for day time, can be incorporated in a night smoky eye look, you can wear a sheer wash of colour, pigments or even play around with rich eyeliners. My favorite combos are these two M.A.C Cosmetics pigments in “Old Gold” and “Golden Lemon.” They are so opaque and rich and really make my eyes look like honey, especially in the sun. It’s a shame the camera can’t capture that. 

To define my eyes, I like to tightline with a chocolate brown colour and finish up with two generous coats of mascara. Nothing makes eyes sexier than a full set of luscious lashes.

Products used: M.A.C Cosmetics Pigment in “Old Gold” and “Golden Lemon,” Lancôme Hypnôse Mascara, Rimmel Scandal Eyes Khol in “Brown,” Annabelle iTransformer


makeup match eye colour Jenn

Jennifer Francis
Durham | Spiced Beauty

Believe it or not, I use black and gold to make my eye colour stand out. I have deep brown eyes and they really pop when I use a deep dark black to line my top and bottom lid. To finish it off I use a gold to make my inner corners pop. If black and gold are too simple for you I would suggest blue, bronze and green eyeshadow!



Products used: Sephora Outrageous Mascara, Cover Girl Clump Crusher Mascara, Pixi Endless Silky Eye Pen Endless Silky Eye Pen in “Black Noir,” Sephora Jumbo Liner 12HR Wear Waterproof in “Gold,” Hourglass Immaculate Liquid Powder Foundation in “Chestnut”


makeup match eye colour Marilou

Marilou Moles
Ottawa | Twenty York Street

Purple is to green as gold is to hazel but silver is to blue while brown can look good on any hue. It used to be that you try to pick an eye shadow that complements your natural eye colour, however fast forward to this summer; I think there’s a fresher take on this—the study of contrasts!
 
Although the general rule is dark eyes look good in grays, blues, purples, and greens whereas light eyes look good in brown, taupe and bronze, you can have a bit more fun and ignore the rule! 

Since I have really dark brown almond-shaped eyes, I play up not only the eye colour but the shape as well. Keeping things lighter in the summer, I line a thin to medium eye shadow stick in the boldest blue to highlight my deep brown eyes! You can’t get a starker contrast than that!
 


Products used: Almay’s New CC Cream, Rimmel Scandal Eyes Eye Shadow in “Blamed Blue,” Puppa’s Diva Lashes and Maybelline Vivids in “Pink Pop” and “Fuchsia Blast”

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