Unexpectedly Great Eyeshadow Colors for Brown Eyes
By Alina Avery
One of my favorite things about having brown eyes is that they are incredibly neutral, and allow for lots of experimentation with different eyeshadow colors. Here are a few I’ve tried that I wouldn’t expect to work, but found surprisingly beautiful. Of course, these are shadows where I found the quality to be impressive, too.
I have this in the single, but can’t find it on Sephora. It’s a hero color for Clinique, especially for their lip products, but works amazingly on eyes as well. The blackened burgundy, slightly shimmery shade has just the right amount of warmth and depth to make eyes pop and the red-brown tone is surprisingly wearable and neutral. I especially liked this one when my hair was either very dark or very light. I don’t reach for it as often now that my hair is a bit redder since that’s sometimes too much red, but it’s still a gorgeous shade. It looks great with a slightly heavier contour and a super shiny lipgloss.
2) Marc Jacobs Beauty Style Eye-Con No.7 in Night Owl
Specifically, the third shade in this palette is BOSS. This goldenrod shade is so unique. I haven’t seen a true dupe for it. Probably because no one would expect a yellow-gold eyeshadow to be wearable, let alone pretty, but it looks amazing on brown eyes, and the formula is super soft, blendable, and pigmented. It brightens eyes and draws attention to them without being too bold. I’d finish the look with a shimmery nude blush, a matte lip, and a whole ton of black mascara. Confession time: I bought the whole palette just for this color. And I don’t regret it.
3) ARDENCY INN MODSTER Manuka Honey Enriched Pigments in Peacock
This is a duochrome shade that shifts between metallic brown and shimmery green. It catches light beautifully and works especially well as a liner, but since it shifts color based on what angle you’re looking at it from, it can be blended all over the contours of the eye to give a seamlessly blended multi shade look with just one product. The color isn’t super unique; I think MAC Club and Blue Brown pigment (a loose pigment) are similar, as well as Nars Malacca and Kat Von D On the Road (maybe discontinued?), but the Ardency Inn formula is spot on. Pair with a red lip for a night out or a soft pink blush for the daytime.
Here are swatches of 1, 2 and 3 from left to right. I took shots in natural light from a few different angles so you can really catch the duochrome in Peacock:
And a quick snap of me in the Marc Jacobs shadow (an actual stealth snap from my desk) to let you know just how passionate I am about this color:
