How Do I Choose An Eyeshadow Which Suits Me?

“My mother is not one of those women who wears a lot of make-up. The most she’ll ever wear is foundation and powder. Unfortunately for me, that means she can’t give me tips or tricks on choosing or applying make-up. How do you choose an eyeshadow and once you’ve found one, how do you go about wearing it? Sounds silly, but I’m desperate for help.”

Not silly at all! When I was first learning about eyeliner & eyeshadow, I did some hideous things. My eyes are quite an unusual shape, really big but also kind of almond, so the way most girls do their eye-makeup looks REALLY bad on me. If I line the inside of my eyes (which it appears about 90% of women do), I look like a little weasel & ditto if I try to do a “smokey eye”. I use colourful eyeshadow on an almost daily basis but when I do, I always use it around the outside of my eyes like you would with eyeliner, otherwise I look really tired. I will sweep eyeshadow across my eyelid occasionally but only with neutral colours — I have a very sheer gold & a light pink which work well for this purpose.

Experimentation is good for you, so don’t be afraid to try things out. As you can see from my experiences, not everything works for everybody, so really your best tools are a mirror & some time! I remember going to a M.A.C. counter years ago & asking what colour eyeshadows would suit me. They couldn’t really tell me, & instead suggested I just try a whole lot of different shades. I now wear various shades of blue, green, pink, purple & gold with great success.

Don’t try eyeshadow on the back of your hand. It really doesn’t tell you anything about how the colour will look on your eye since the skin is completely different. Try it on your eyelid, & if you don’t like it, just use some makeup remover & start again.

Remember to consider your skintone when trying eye makeup! I’m a winter & yellow eyeshadow makes me look like I am dying. It’s not very attractive.

Whatever your eye colour, try a colour which is next to it on the colour wheel. For example, I have blue eyes, & green & purple shadows look really good on me. If your eyes are green, try yellows & turquoise. If your eyes are brown, try oranges, golds & pinks.

Makeup artists are your friend. Most of them are great people & they absolutely love to try things out on willing victims participants! Take a digital camera with you so you can get an accurate assessment of the colour.

Buy a good eyeshadow brush & take care of it. Also, if you wet the eyeshadow brush before dipping it into the colour, it will go on more vibrantly & look brighter.