What Color Shadow for Eye Color Guide: How to Pick the Best Shade

Elevate your makeup game by incorporating your new secret weapon: color theory. Using tricks you likely learned in art class, you can actually enhance the color of your eyes by using complementary shades of eyeshadow. Ready to make those peepers pop? Read on to learn the best shade for your eye color and techniques to level up your look.

Choosing the Right Eyeshadow for Your Eye Color

Brown Eyes

Brown eyes typically pair best with warm tones, champagne colors, and golden eyeshadow shades, highlighting the warmth and depth in the many shades of brown.

While warmer shades, like those in our ColorStay Looks Book™ Eye Shadow Palettes, are perfect for brown eyes, you might have other options if a bold look is what you’re after. So what color eyeshadow for the lid on brown eyes looks best if you want to go all out with your makeup? More daring colors that still complement brown eyes perfectly include blues and purples. You can find plenty of bold shades to complement your beautiful brown eyes in our Revlon x Megan Thee Stallion Big Bad Palette.

Blue Eyes

Struggling to determine the best eyeshadow to complement your big blue eyes? In this case, the right eyeshadow for your eye color depends on what you’re going for. If you want a subtler, gentler look that still complements your blue eyes, try shades of shimmery gray and earthly browns, or contrast your blue eyes with a copper or peace color that makes them look more vibrant.

You can also make your eyes stand out with a stunning smokey eye look. Among the best eyeshadow colors for blue-eyed people are deep grays for a smokey eye look, which intensifies blue eyes even more. For a complete smokey eye palette, try your favorite shade of the PhotoReady™ Eye Contour Kit.

Looking to experiment and find what color goes best with your blue eyes? Check out our ColorStay™ Crème Eye Shadow for a classic, shimmery look, or go bolder with our Illuminance™ Crème Eye Shadow Palette.

Hazel Eyes

Hazel eyes are incredibly versatile, meaning you’ll have a few fantastic options to enhance your eye color and make your eyes stand out. Go for bold purples or light pinks to make your hazel eyes really pop. These colors perfectly contrast hazel eyes for a vibrant, pleasing look. Try our ColorStay Day to Night™ Eyeshadow Quad to accomplish this look.

Green Eyes

Vibrant green eyes are stunning on their own, and picking the right eyeshadow shade can accentuate even more. Warm colors complement green eyes beautifully, enhancing the earthiness of this color to display its natural beauty. If you want to go for a warm look, our So Fierce!™ Prismatic Eyeshadow Palette is right up your alley. If you want a subtle contrast, try gorgeous shades of warm reds and oranges–bold but subtle enough to let your eyes do the talking.

If you’re looking for eyeshadow colors for an eye color like green on a night out, create the perfect nighttime look for your green eyes by opting for stunning purple shades or a silvery, smokey eyeshadow.

Gray Eyes

Rounding out the colors on our eyeshadow chart for eye color shades are gorgeous gray eyes, perfectly complemented by cooler tones like silver or ice blue. You can find these stunning shades in our PhotoReady Eye Contour Kit™.

However, the eyeshadow shade that goes best with gray eyes largely depends on your skin tone, hair color, and other appearance factors. The best shadow for eye colors like gray is often a charcoal smokey eye, especially if you’re going for a more dramatic effect. The smokey eye works effortlessly with most eye colors if you know what you’re doing.

How to Use Eyeshadow Based on Eye Shape

Round Eyes

The goal with round eyes is to elongate your eyes when applying eyeshadow. To accomplish this, intensify the eyeshadow on the outer third part of your eyelid instead of going the whole way across. Doing this limits the round appearance of your eyes, allowing for a stunning eyeshadow look that complements your eye color and shape.

Monolid Eyes

Your goal of eyeshadow on monolid eyes might be to make the eyes look more open and large, making eyeshadow and makeup placement crucial. Adjust your natural crease to give yourself more space to apply the eyeshadow. 

A pro tip to make your eyes appear open and larger is to use shadow underneath your bottom lash line instead of eyeliner in your waterline. This step expands your eyes and brings your whole eyeshadow look together for the perfect outcome!

Almond Eyes

Almond eyes are the most common eye shape–luckily for people with this shape, pretty much any style for applying eyeshadow works beautifully with almond eyes. Have fun experimenting!

Downturned Eyes

Applying eyeshadow to downturned eyes can give the appearance of lifted eyes. This goal can be accomplished by using a smokey eyeshadow on the outer corner of your eye and lifting it to give the appearance of an upturned eye.

Once your eyeshadow is applied, top it off with your favorite eyeliner and mascara to define the eyes and accentuate your eye shape.