The number one beauty question searched online and asked of makeup artists is “What makeup is best for my eye colour?” Of course it’s the top question asked of Carmindy, makeup artist for TLC’s “What Not to Wear.” The following is her answer, in an excerpt from the book Get Positively Beautiful: The Ultimate Guide to Looking and Feeling Gorgeous ($23.99 CAN/$21.99 US) by Carmindy. Copyright © 2008 by Carmindy. Reprinted by permission of Center Street, a division of Hachette Book Group USA, Inc., New York, NY. All rights reserved.
“Opposites attract” is my motto when enhancing eyes to look vividly alive. By choosing shadows, liners and mascaras that contrast with your eye colour, you turn up the voltage of your irises for an electrifying beauty. Whether your peepers are blue, green, brown, or hazel, using opposing makeup colours will always make them “pop.”
Now remember, there are no hard-and-fast rules: the following are only suggestions to help you sensationalize your eyes. Play with this “opposites attract” idea, and pay attention to the compliments sure to follow!
Brown Eyes Play with deep shades of navy and sapphire smudged into the lash line for a subtle edge that is alluring but not over-the-top. When using blue eyeliner, follow with neutral lid colours like soft shimmering browns for a modern look.
Brown-eyed girls can also have fun with shades of green. Experiment with forest and emerald to discover what really sparkles on you.
Blue Eyes Smudge on shades of chocolate brown, taupe, or bronze to make the blue really come alive. Blue shadows compete with your natural colour, so play to the positive by skipping blue hues.
Green Eyes Try eyeliners or shadows in eggplant, purple, burgundy, lavender, or amythest. The contrast of colours will give you the sexiest emerald stare.
Hazel Eyes Hazel eyes look incredible when paired with green shadow. My personal favourite is a sparkling forest green applied across the lid and under the lash line. This shade deepens the brown tones while bringing up the green.
Photography by Peter Buckingham
If you’re a beauty geek and need to see a colour wheel to know what the opposites of your eye colour are, hit The Best Makeup for your Eye Colour, an earlier BeautyGeeks post.
Now see how easy your beauty can be when you know your best shades?
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Thank you! I was going to write to you to ask what to do for blue eyes!! Of course, mine are blue-green so I’ll have to figure something out but this really helps! Thanks again!
Try magenta, brown, burgundy and grey :-)
I have Grayish Blue Eyes and i was wondering what color would look best on me
Hi Brittney,
Any colour that looks good with blue eyes should also look good with grayish blue. Play with the tones a little, go for warmer shades with a little more red or orange undertones — russets and copper. Those shades will bring out the blue in your eyes. Also try plums and purples to see what happens.
If you think about it, grey is the kind of neutral that looks good with everything, so you really have a lot of possibilities if you want to emphasize that tone in your eyes. Grey eyes aren’t terribly common, so have fun. It’s about creating contrast, so make sure whatever you choose isn’t too close in hue to your actual eye colour.
Let me know if any of that helps,’k?
I find myself struggling to find recommendations for my eye color. I’ve got deep olive green eyes with lots of yellow and brown flecks. I’m hesitant to use golden shades because I have a lot of yellow in my skin tone. I’ve got brown hair with a lot of natural blonds and reds in it. What recommendations would you have for me for eye colors?
Oh my, I’d love to see your eyes, Larissa. They sound stunning — you probably need very little beyond mascara to emphasize them. Any chance you’d send a photo to imabeautygeek@gmail.com?
I’m thinking burgundy, eggplant and plum would be great options for you. I want to say copper, too. Copper (like a new penny) is really pretty with deep green, and it’ll pick up the flecks in your eyes. Should also work with your skin tone.
Keep me posted!
Sent :) Hope to hear from you soon.
Well unfair — not only do you have spectacular eyes, they’re huge! Yes, I think all those colours will work, either as liner or as a wash of colour on your lids. Also consider trying burgundy mascara.
1) Line with a soft brown or burgundy eye liner or eye shadow (try one with a little shimmer — pretty), and smudge with an angled liner brush or a Q-Tip
2) Curl your lashes
3) Apply Benefit Bad Gal Mascara in burgundy.
You’ll have what I like to call “look-again” beauty. People won’t know why they have to keep looking at your eyes, but they will, again and again.
Do you wear concealer or powder at all? You have nice skin. Just a little concealer under your eyes, on the inner corners of your upper lids, around the base of your nose, and MAC’s Blot Powder/pressed in Medium all over, and your eyes will JUMP out of your face before you even put anything on them. Plus your skin will look flawless without looking like you’re wearing any makeup at all. Gorgeous.
Thank you for the suggestions! I’ll head to the store and show you what comes of it. Should I make any changes to this regimen when going out on the town at night?
Go smoky for your nights out on the town!
1) Line upper and lower lashlines with burgundy, eggplant or plum liner
2) Smudge with matching eye shadow, and sweep same shade all over lid, into the crease
3) curl lashes and add black mascara
You can stop there, or you can change it up with black pencil liner on the inner rims of upper and lower lids (upper is tricky but you’ll get used to it quickly — squinting helps) for a rock’n'roll effect.
Yet another option is to start with a black liner on upper and lower lids, then smudge and layer with coloured (burgundy, eggplant, plum) eye shadow.
For blush, I’d suggest something peachy pink, and for lips peachy pink or soft pink gloss.
Can’t wait to see!
I sent you a picture of the result from the last option that you offered :) Let me know what you think.
Grrr. Wonky comment order again. Reply originally posted 3 April 2009 at 8:14 am
Nice job! I’m having eye envy right now…
Because your eyes are so beautiful and big, I think you could wear almost any colour on them you know. Definitely play in the purple range, see how more intense purples look, play with cool and warm shades, and explore rust and burgundy too. You have so much fun built into those eyes of yours. And pick up a shimmery white or off-white shadow to dab into the inner corners of your eyes. Nothing brightens like shimmery white on pale skin, even if all you’re wearing is mascara.
Thanks for sending the photo!
Please suggest your favourite, reasonably priced, volumizing, lengthening mascara. (I have purchased Dior,Estee Lauder’s in the past and realize that their products are overpriced).
Hi Lily,
Thanks for your question.
I can recommend a few. Cargo Texas Lash (about $20) gives good drama, as does CoverGirl Lash Blast (about $10). My sister swears by CoverGirl Lash Fantastic. Lancôme’s new Oscillation (about $39) delivers impressive results (and no, there’s no reason at all to fear you’ll poke yourself in the eye). I know, that’s pricey, but the real news is that Maybelline is coming out with a similar mascara called Pulse Perfect in the fall (both companies are owned by L’Oréal).
A Smashbox pro makeup artist named Shawn Hlowatzki gave me a great tip I’ve put in an upcoming article (don’t tell anyone I gave it to you early):
Using your volumizing mascara, start at the very base of your lashes, where they meet the inner rim of your upper lids. Do the tiny wiggle and sweep the wand up about 2/3 the length of your lashes, then roll the wand up and off the tips in a little flick. That should help curl your lashes at the same time, actually, and make them look long. It’ll take practice, and it isn’t something you can do when you’re in a rush, but it works.
You may also find something in this post, which features feedback from women with different lash needs on 17 mascaras: http://tinyurl.com/More-on-Mascaras
Do let me know how your search goes!
hi-
if im not buggin you i would really love if you would give me some advice on my eyes. they are an olive color with lighter green shading and honey and gold flecks. i like doing the sandy colors and browns but i dont wanna wash myself out by getting them too dark because i keep my hair dark and have a lighter skin color than most thanks 2 my celtic roots. any advice?
Hi Aurora — sorry it’s taken me a while to get back to you! You aren’t bugging me at all. Email me a photo at j9falcon@gmail so I can give you more focussed suggestions. At the moment I’m thinking copper, lavender, plum, purple and grey.
Gorgeous Girl, pretty much any colour is going to look stunning on you. Although I think warmer or neutral shades will work better than cool colours for you, I want you to try varying degrees of grey, from gunmetal to silver, and see what happens. Should make your eyes look unreal. You’ll just want to add a soft touch of rosy blush on your cheeks to warm your complexion.
Also try the range from lavender to deep purple — anything like that will bring out the green. And try gold to copper to bronze — even rust or cranberry (MAC has a shade called Cranberry, which would be insane on you, and probably bring out a bit more of the blue).
For a softer look, stick to the midtone shades in each colour family. But don’t be afraid to stray into the darker hues to intensify colour at your lashlines. After all, it’s only makeup. It can be washed off if you don’t like the result :-)
For fun, go for some makeup playtime at your local department store or MAC store or Sephora. Even if you don’t love the application, you’ll get some ideas from which to springboard.
One more thing, Aurora! I think in your photos you have dark liner on the inner rims of your upper and lower lashlines — that look works for you, too. Try other liner colours such as chocolate, bronze, purple, dark green, navy, indigo… you’re young, so you can really play with colour.
GOSH Velvet Touch waterproof eyeliners come in a wild array of colours and generally don’t smudge. Make Up Forever waterproof liners are a little more expensive, I think, but also come in great colours and are even more seriously smudgeproof than GOSH.
My eyes frequently change colors, ranging from greys to blues to greens. I never know what to do. What should I do for my eyes?
Hi Kaitlyn,
Nature gave you a playground! You get to choose which colour you want to bring out according to whatever strikes your fancy. Play in the purple, eggplant and burgundy to enhance the green; go with chocolate, rust and copper to play up the blue; highlight the grey with navy.
Really, it sounds like whatever you wear will showcase your eye colour. Lucky!
Thanks for your question :-)
this is a big help but i have tricky eyes mine are blue green and and orangy-gold in the middle and i don’t know what color to use…can u please help me?
Hi Tori — sounds like you have a few choices for such pretty eyes! As long as you choose colours that are several shades darker than your eyes, the colour will pop.
You can either emphasize the blue with shades of copper, bronze, rust and rich chocolate browns, or play up the green with purple, violet, eggplant or amythest. A deep, rich green is an unexpected suggestion, but see how that looks. And navy — try navy. I think it’ll play up the orangey-gold.
Good luck, and let me know what look you love best! And yes, it’s okay to love them all!
hi um well i have just recently started to actaully wear eye shadow and im not sure what i should wear to make my eyes stand out, my skin is tan and i have brown hair and my eyes are light green with yellow-ish gold flecks in them and a dark forest green-ish dark blue-ish color kinda in between those to colors i geuss and i wear the almay intense i-color hazel eye liner i dont know if i should maybe wear a different color? well plz help me
Hi Maria,
I’m so sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to you! I did receive your photos, but got derailed before I could answer. Forgive?
You have gorgeous eyes. A rich violet will make them appear more green. You might also like to try a deep burgundy shade to see what happens — should bring out the blue a little more. And this coming Fall is a good time to try gunmetal grey, a deep shimmery shade. I bet it’ll make your eyes look super cool.
Makeup is all about play, and with eyes like yours, you have a lot from which to choose. Don’t worry about getting locked into wearing specific colours all the time. If something appeals to you, try it, see how it looks. As long as the shade is darker than your eye colour, it should make them stand out. And flip through beauty magazines like Allure — if you’re in Canada, you want to look at Glow, FASHION and Flare, too — for inspiration. In Style is another good one to look at because they show so many different looks on so many actresses.
Have fun!
Hi!
All your advice sounds really good, I was hoping you could maybe give me a few ideas too. Mine are a hazel tone I suppose. They have a golden brown in the very middle & turn to green. They look a sort of dark moss green from a distance. I also have yellowy-gold and black dots in them.
I always thought a shimmery mossy green would look good but it never does. I like the results of a dramatic blue smokey eye but according to various internet sites I should avoid blues… Could really do with some help!!
Hi Kathy,
Your eyes sound lovely too! You’d better send me a big jpeg at imabeautygeek at gmail dot com — I want to see!
Re: shimmery mossy green, you want to try a shade deeper or brighter than the colour of your eyes. If you match your eye colour, your makeup will fight with your eyes for attention. That said, you can get around it: if you’re wearing the shimmery mossy green along upper and lower lashes, line the INNER upper and lower rims with a black waterproof liner (Make Up Forever Aqua Eyes in 0L), curl your lashes and wear lots of black mascara. I discovered that trick when I lined my upper lashline with a shade that exactly matched my eyes. Lining the upper inner rim with black made it look way better, kind of neat, actually.
Deep burgundy, purple, eggplant — those shades will sharpen the green in your eyes.
And regarding blues, you might like to try navy, or indigo anyway. Just for fun. Do that black-liner trick on the inner rims to sharpen the contrast — it’s contrast that makes eye colour pop.
Let me know how your makeup play turns out!