Eye Makeup Tips: A Color Cheat Sheet for Stunning Eyes

Choosing a wrong shade of eye shadow can make you an object of unwanted attention. Great choice of eye makeup enhances the overall natural beauty of any woman’s face without drawing unnecessary attention to makeup. At the same time, wrong shades can drain natural colors of your complexion and make you look sick. Proper understanding of skin tone differences and eye shadow colors can help you avoid these pitfalls, so here are a few valuable eye makeup tips.

Hazel Eyes

Women with hazel eyes can use shades ranging from brown to green. These colors are often accompanied by flecks of gray or gold to underline their natural radiance.  You can easily play with hazel eye makeup to dramatically accentuate your eyes. If you wish to highlight the green in hazel eyes, opt in for lavender, plum or violet eye shadow. If you wish to accentuate the brown in your hazel eyes, then apply yellow, grays and browns – you will notice the difference!

Best makeup colors for green eyes

Buying makeup is a whole lot of fun, but it's not just about picking shades that complement your skin tone. You should also take your eye color into account as well. If you have green eyes, try these makeup tips to bring out the best in your eyes.

Play with purples

Bring out your gorgeous green eyes with purple shades of makeup. Because purple is on the opposite side of the color wheel from green, it's a great choice for green-eyed gals. To widen the look of close-set eyes, apply shades of deep plum eyeshadow toward the outer edges and a lighter shade of purple toward the inner eye. If your eyelids are a little droopy, do the opposite. Avoid purples with blue undertones, as well as blue eyeshadow and eyeliner. If deep shades of purple are a little too much for you, ease into the purple look by using grayish-lavender shadow.

SheKnows beauty expert Nina Sutton advises, "For green eyes, choose color tones such as dark green, lavender, purple, plum or lilac. Gold and copper are great for highlighting green eyes. For eyeliner, it is best to avoid black and to choose browns or gray, which are much softer and not so harsh. A general rule of thumb for green eyes is to choose warm shades vs. cooler shades. Choose mascara in a brown tone as well so the face does not look harsh or overpowered."

Avoid silver

If you want to experiment with metallics, avoid silver shades on the eyes. However, bronze, copper and gold look absolutely fabulous with green eyes for evening. Earthy brown or dark green eyeshadow with flecks of gold are also terrific choices.

Ditch the black eyeliner

Everyone loves black eyeliner but it isn't the best choice for green-eyed women. Use chocolate brown or espresso liner for everyday wear. To spice things up, try plum or gold. To open up your eyes and make them pop, add a little white eyeliner to the inner corner near the tear duct. If you absolutely have your heart set on black liner, pick charcoal instead of true black. But believe us — brown will look much better!

Best makeup for women with brown eyes

Since brown doesn't have an opposite or complementary color on the color wheel, most eye makeup colors will work for women with brown eyes. Follow these simple makeup tips for brown-eyed gals to look your best and enhance your natural beauty.

"Brown eyes are the one color that most eyeshadow colors work well on," says SheKnows beauty expert Nina Sutton. "The determining factor is usually the depth of the eye color — are they almost black, or are they medium brown?" Women with brown eyes can also pull off both black and brown eyeliner (brown works best in the day and black at night).

For deep brown eyes

If your eyes are dark brown, medium to dark shades of eyeshadow will work for you. Try plum, forest green or charcoal gray. Check out the flecks of lighter color in your eyes and use those hues to select your eyeliner color.

"For darker brown eyes, also try dark browns or mauves," says Nina. "Gold and bronze is also beautiful on dark brown eyes."

For medium brown eyes

"Medium to light brown eyes can try green, violet or bronze colored eye shadows," says Nina. You truly can wear almost any color of eye makeup if you have medium brown eyes. A purple or green eyeshadow palette can work equally well for daytime. Experiment by pairing neutral shadow with metallic eyeliner in copper or bronze for evening.

For light brown eyes

Avoid black eyeliner, if you have light brown eyes, and use dark brown or other colors instead. Apply a neutral shade of shadow on the lid, a darker hue of the same color in the crease, and then line your eyes in gold or green to reflect the flecks of color in your iris.

If your eyes are so light they are hazel, try Champagne tones with violet, bronze or brown liner to define the eye, offers Nina.

Mix things up

Because dark colors can minimize the look of your eyes, you don't want to use too dark of eye makeup with brown eyes. Mix things up by combining dark brown eyeliner with light eyeshadow to put the focus on your eyes, making them look big and bright.

For a spectacular evening look, brown-eyed ladies should try a metallic silver shadow on the lid paired with a metallic plum eyeliner along the bottom lash line. You'll knock 'em dead with this color combination that really brings out your beautiful brown eyes.

Best makeup for women with blue eyes

The right makeup should enhance the natural blue of your eyes, not overpower or deter from the color. Whether you are headed to work or a special night out, follow these simple makeup tips for blue eyes.

Pick the right eyeshadow

For the office, stick with eyeshadow in brown, rose, terracotta and neutral shades. Embrace the idea of purple eyeshadow to really accentuate the color of your eyes. Lavender works for daytime, while deep plum is a wonderful option for evening. For a special night out, blue-eyed women also can try metallics (both silver and gold work well), turquoise and icy pink.

Go for the smoky look

For evening, dark blue mascara looks fabulous on blue eyes, especially when paired with smudged charcoal eyeliner. Try smoky eye makeup using charcoal gray or purple shadow.

"For blue eyes, choose dark blue (the dark blue tones can help to bring out the natural blue tones in your eyes), gray, silver, violet or lavender," says SheKnows beauty expert Nina Sutton. "For night time, blue combined with black is a great look. For eyeliner or mascara, try navy instead of black for a dramatic, yet less intense look," she says.

Wing it!

Cat-eye or winged eyeliner looks awesome with blue eyes. Winged liner puts all the focus on your baby blues, and looks terrific in any shade — from black to turquoise and violet to orange... yes, orange liner. A subtle, barely-winged look will work for everyday wear. But for special occasions, get dramatic with a thicker, more exaggerated line.

Tone down your lips

Emphasize your gorgeous blue eyes, whether they are pale blue or deep sapphire, by toning down your lip color. Pick a matte lipstick in a peachy brown shade or a pale pink. Bright or dark lip color will take the focus off your peepers. For your cheeks, add a light sweep of blush in a very natural hue.

Doll Eyes Makeup Tutorial

This bold look has a very dramatic touch to it: that is why it is compared to a doll’s eyes. Its charm lines in the combination of black and white eyeliners. Here is how to achieve the same effect:

• Apply a thick line of white eyeliner under your eye for a glowy look, then smudge with slightly with a thin brush.
• Now using a black gel liner, contour the waterline from the middle to the outer corner of the eye.
• Apply black liquid eyeliner on your upper lashline and finish it with a wing at the outer end.
• Smudge the black color gently with a brush for a more dramatic finish.
• Blend in the black and white colors in the outer end of the eye so that the transition is smooth.
• Apply a generous layer of black mascara.