Eye makeup can be a bit intimidating. What colors do I use? What colors will compliment my eye color? These are just a few of the many questions that can arise when starting to play with eye makeup. I used to get overwhelmed with all of the options: neutrals, rainbows of colors, shimmers, mattes...the list goes on and on. But there's a really simple way to understanding eye makeup and what will work best for you.
To compliment a color, you work with shades and tones of the color opposite on the color wheel. For blue, the complimentary color is orange; which is why golds and browns are most recommended for blue eyes. Did you know that brown is a shade of orange? Just a fun little fact. However, you can also use analagous colors to compliment your eye color, meaning colors that are next to each other on the color wheel and share a common base. For instance a darker blue would work well with a purple and a lighter blue. Which is exactly the scheme of colors I created for this look.
My eyes are a mix of blue and green, and I wanted to accent more of the blue in my eyes. I applied a vanilla eyeshadow to the lid and under the brow bone to highlight (remember my post on highlighting and contouring...lighter colors pop) and used a blue-purple shade in my crease. I then lined my upper and lower lashes with navy blue pencil and applied a white liner to the top and bottom inner rims. I used the navy as my base color, a blue-purple in my shadow palette, and then the blue in my eye color to make this look harmonious.
How simple is that? You can also take the color wheel theory into your wardrobe to help you mix and match colors. Color theory in general is quite fascinating.
Here are the products I used to create this look:
Laura Geller Baked Highlighter Duo
L'oreal Double Ended Eye Illuminator