I Have Blue Eyes. Which Eyeshadow Colors Work Best For Me?
I have blue eyes, and if I had to pick one thing I really liked about my face, it would be them! Because of this, I’ve always let them sort of stand out on their own and never really got into the whole eyeshadow thing. I’ll pat some concealer on my eyelids and maybe a light dusting of a cream color shadow, or I’ll go crazy and put a little bronzer on them, but that’s about it. However since getting my color analysis done as well as getting wiser (aka older), I’ve been looking for ways to get my face and features to pop even more. Something has to start doing the heavy lifting! Brown mascara has been one way as of late, but I’ve been wanting to lean into different eyeshadow colors.
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It turns out that just like there are different clothing colors that look good on you based on your skin tone, the same is true with eyeshadow and eye color. But like clothing color, all rules are made to be broken. So if you’re like me and have blue eyes and happen to love plum eyeshadow, nobody is stopping you! Wear that plum! But if you’re also like me and looking for a good place to start, this article will hopefully help steer you in the right direction!
As you go through this article you’ll see the colors most recommended for blue eyes (such as the Mauve below). I’ve tried them out on myself using my trusty computer (technology!). I’d love your feedback…Which one do you like the best on me, and which one do you think I should skip?
The Color Wheel Explains It All (Such As Why Orange Makes Blue Look Bluer)
All of this comes down to the color wheel. The last time I had heard of a color wheel was in seventh grade, but now that I’ve become obsessed with the world of colors after my analysis, I am having a blast making them for myself online. And it’s fascinating what I’ve found out.
Blue (my eye color) is on the opposite side of orange on the color wheel; and because colors are strongest next to their opposing colors, all versions of orange (copper, bronze, rust, terracotta, peach) and lots of types of gold will make blue look stronger next to them.
Tonya Riner, the makeup artist who has worked with blue-eyed Kate Upton and Alexis Bledel, says it’s all about the peachy and warm-toned shades. “Warm hues like bronze, copper, and gold are best as they create a striking contrast and give blue eyes a captivating allure.”
As I was going down the eyeshadow rabbit hole, I also found this fascinating 2018 study in Frontiers in Psychology that found eye makeup on the upper lash line “significantly increased attractiveness ratings,” in users wearing it. The result was NOT the same for lower eyes and lips, so do with that info what you will!
Before we talk more about the best colors, one thing that matters a bit more for eyeshadow when it comes to your eye color is your undertone. If you haven’t pinned yours down, our guide to finding your undertone and color season walks through the tests worth trusting (and the ones that aren’t). Bottom line: Warm undertones can definitely pull off coppers and golden bronzes. Cool undertones usually do better one step rosier, in rose gold and champagne territory. And icy shades are a real option too. Riner calls tone-on-tone shades another great option: “Icy, cool shades play beautifully with the reflective quality of blue eyes and can create a soft, ethereal look.”
Start With Copper
If you have blue eyes like me and there’s ONE item you purchase after reading this article, it should be a copper or bronze shadow. It’s also the easiest one on this list to get wrong, so the type of eyeshadow you choose matters most. I have always been a cream shadow girl, so I was relieved to learn that the simplest method (cream stick) will also be your best starting point. Just rub the product across your lid, smudge with your pinky finger for an instant softening effect and you’ll be done by the time your coffee is ready to sip.
One product that keeps coming up as “the best” is Laura Mercier’s Caviar Stick in Rosegold. This has been a number 1 seller at Sephora for years with over 220,000 customers saving this to their “loves” section. You don’t need a brush (win!) and because there’s a rosy tone to the color, it’s less likely to turn orange on cooler skin. Just remember two important items before you purchase it: First, it dries extremely fast, within 60 seconds; so you’ll want to make sure you finish your application quickly. Second, if you have either hooded eyelids or oily lids (I have both) it may start creasing a few hours in unless you’re wearing an eye primer underneath.
If your undertones run warm and you want more depth, you might want to try Burnished Bronze instead, which is more of a darker metal than rose gold.
Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Color in Rosegold
A blend-with-your-finger shimmer stick that makes copper wearable on cool undertones.
If you’re looking for something less expensive to try out, ColourPop’s $7 Super Shock Shadow in So Quiche offers the same warm copper-bronze glitter. The color comes with an ultra light and bouncy texture that can be worked with your fingers as opposed to brushes. It also dries very quickly, which makes layering important, because if you apply too much it can become thick and chunky. But with an average 4.8/5 across all reviews of their Super Shock line, people seem to love it. One blue-eyed BEE with pale skin love the shimmer: “I love copper and gold shimmery shadows. Matte is a no-go for me in this shade!”
ColourPop Super Shock Shadow in So Quiche
A $7 copper-bronze glitter that applies with a fingertip and dries down fast. Certified cruelty-free (PETA).
And, we can’t talk about copper eyeshadow without pouring one out for Urban Decay’s discontinued cult-favorite, Naked Heat. The official stand-in is the Naked Shaped palette in Warm ($56), which covers a similar copper-to-brown range.
From the Hive
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Copper is the shade family our BEEs with blue eyes defend the loudest. One reports that orange-leaning shadow “makes my eyes look SO blue, even behind my glasses.” Another was told she’s a cool summer in her color analysis and doesn’t care: “I have blue eyes and have always used copper eyeshadows and I will not stop.” The recurring tip is to deepen the outer corner with a warm brown so the copper reads intentional instead of like loose glitter.
When Copper Reads Orange on You
So, what if you fall in the other color family and copper reads a bit orange on you? For people who have fair, cool-toned or neutral skin, a “true” copper can look more like a sunburn than a bronzy goddess moment. If that’s true for you, try leaning towards a champagne color instead. It’s warm enough to enhance blue eyes yet pale enough to act well on cool skin. One BEE told us: “I have tried so many different shades of copper but I have never found any that didn’t look ridiculously orange on me.” She’s not doing it wrong. Another BEE with the same coloring reports that “oranges and reds make me look kind of sick sometimes.”
Stila’s Glitter & Glow Liquid Shadow in Kitten Karma is a fan favorite for a champagne with both silver and copper glitter to cover both camps (warm and cool undertones) in one pass.
A few things reviewers have noted before you buy: Some experience flaking and problems reworking it once it dries (they say it can become “patchy”). It’s going to be best when applied in one thin layer with the applicator it comes with.
Stila Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow in Kitten Karma
A champagne liquid shimmer with copper sparkle that flatters blue eyes on any undertone. Certified cruelty-free (PETA).
The $4 Quad That Covers a Week of Looks
You can get a full (small) palette with multiple shades rather than just one small single shade eyeshadow with e.l.f.’s Bite-Size Eyeshadow quad in Cream & Sugar. This eyeshadow is made up of 4 warm neutral colors that are priced at only $4; they include a light creamy color, a shimmery champagne, a glittery bronzey color and a dark matte brown. And yes, it’s $4 for all of those colors and it has over 18,000 reviews on Amazon.
Some users say the mattes are very sheer and require some building, and the shimmer may settle into fine lines and wrinkles around your eyes. One pro tip? Try pressing the shimmer on instead of sweeping it to help keep it from settling. .
e.l.f. Bite-Size Eyeshadow in Cream & Sugar
Four warm neutral pans for $4 that cover everyday blue-eye looks from desk to dinner. Certified cruelty-free (PETA).
The $10 Burgundy Mascara Trick
I think this is going to be the one trick I’m going to steal ASAP, especially considering how much I’ve been loving my transition from black to brown mascara. Burgundy is apparently the same idea, but with a much better payoff. “For blue eyes, I love a warmer, red-toned burgundy,” makeup artist Emily Wood told Who What Wear. “The contrast makes blue pop instantly and gives that striking, almost editorial finish without trying too hard.” Yolanda Dohr, a makeup artist at London’s Beam, says everyone can wear the shade, “but it will look especially great on those with green, hazel or blue eyes.”
From the Hive
BEEs describe the shade almost identically: subtle until the light hits. One says the color difference from black “is subtle, but it really makes my eyes pop.” Another, who tested burgundies across four brands, landed on the kind “that appears close to dark brown / black until you’re in the light and then the warmth comes out.” It isn’t unanimous, though. A few BEEs with very fair skin say red-toned lashes read as tired on them (“Made me look bruised,” one admitted), so start with one coat and check it in daylight before committing to two.
The bottle to start with is L’Oréal’s Voluminous Original in Deep Burgundy (around $10), an old favorite among blue-eyed women. A few reviewers say it’s best to wipe the wand on a tissue a bit before applying two thin coats.
L’Oréal Paris Voluminous Original Mascara in Deep Burgundy
The $10 burgundy that reads near-black on lashes and turns the blue up a full notch.
Rethink the Black Liner While You’re at It
I’ve been open about the fact that eyeliner and I are not friends (I once asked readers to teach me, and I meant it), but if I were going to practice, blue-eye reviewers say a lighter pencil is the best option. Black isn’t wrong with blue eyes, but it’s the harshest option against a light iris, and the two most-recommended swaps are more forgiving. The first is Urban Decay’s 24/7 pencil in Bourbon, a dark brown threaded with gold sparkle that has been around for years. It’s soft enough to smudge into a five-minute smoky eye, with the usual soft-pencil trade-offs: it needs regular sharpening, and on the waterline it can migrate by afternoon.
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Bourbon
The gold-flecked brown liner blue-eyed reviewers have kept in rotation for a decade. Certified cruelty-free (PETA).
The second swap is navy, which sounds like breaking the no-matching rule until you see it on. A deep navy sharpens the whites of your eyes and makes a pale iris look lighter next to it, without the costume feel of a bright blue. One BEE with gray-blue eyes reaches for it on days she wants impact instead of color: “it won’t really make them look more blue, but it puts emphasis on how light they are.” Celebrity makeup artist Tobi Henney calls navy “always great as an alternative to black liner”, and Laura Mercier’s makeup team names brown, copper, and navy as the three liner shades to own for blue eyes. Urban Decay’s matte navy in the same 24/7 line is called Sabbath, and one of our blonde-haired, blue-eyed BEEs swears by Jones Road’s navy gel liner.
From the Hive
Bourbon has real devotees in the hive. One BEE has worn it for years alongside Lucky, its copper-orange sibling: “I have blue eyes and these make them pop like no one’s business. Bourbon is brown with a gold sparkle.” She calls it her default whenever she wants her eye color to be the first thing people notice.
Finish Warm: The Peach Blush That Ties It Together
Blush is the one part of this I already had down (it’s one of the five or six things in my daily routine), and it matters here more than you’d think. A warm eye over cool-pink cheeks can read like two different faces. The fix is a peach blush, which repeats the same orange-adjacent warmth one floor down. Even L’Oréal’s makeup editors, writing about gray-blue eyes specifically, single out peachy shades as “extremely flattering.” Milani’s Baked Blush in Luminoso is the classic, a luminous peach with 30,000-plus ratings on Amazon and a permanent spot in drugstore hall-of-fame threads. It is VERY pigmented, so tap the brush once and knock the excess off before it touches your face. The baked shimmer can also sit unevenly on dry patches. One more heads-up: skip Amazon for this one right now (the listing’s pricing has been unstable) and buy it from Milani or Ulta.
Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso
The cult $13 peach that carries the warm color story from your lids to your cheeks. Certified cruelty-free (PETA).
A cruelty-free mark means the brand is certified by PETA, Leaping Bunny, or both at the time of writing. A missing mark doesn’t mean a brand tests on animals; it just means the brand isn’t certified by these programs.
What Our BEEs Are Buzzing About
Here’s the beauty community putting these colors to work:
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