Best Eyeshadow Colors for Olive Skin
There are a zillion articles on what eyeshadow shades will make your blue, green, or brown eyes stand out... Have you ever tried any of those colors only to find that they made you look tired, sallow, or beaten? Us olive-skinned gals need to be careful with the colors we put on our face, otherwise we run the risk of looking jaundiced. A lot of colors can wash out or clash with our much-coveted skin tone, so read on to get the goods on what's good.
Colors to Avoid
Sky and "Dodger" Blues: With all that yellow in olive skin, the blue hues will lend a green and ghastly glow.
Yellow: With our yellow undertones, this will definitely make you look washed out.
Plum / Deep Purple: Choose the wrong shade of purple and you'll look like Ike Turner got ahold of you. Choose the lighter shades instead.
Silver, White, Iridescent Pink: If you want your eyes to pop, go with a sheer champagne or peach color. These colors will just makes you look surprised, scary, or like a stripper, especially when the light hits ya.
Colors to Rock Out
GOLD / CHAMPAGNE / PEACHY CORALS
Put it on your brow bone to highlight, in your inner eye corner to make you look more awake, open, and refreshed, or underneath the eye area to reflect light.
- Lancome Eye Colour in Honeymoon, Vue
- Urban Decay Eyeshadow in X, Midnight Cowgirl Rides Again
- Sugar Colorstick in Apple Cider
- Too Faced Eye Shadow in Blonde Ambitions
- Benefit Lust Dusters in Nugget
- MAC Cosmetics Eyeshadow in Paradisco, Gleam
EMERALD / TEAL / FOREST GREENS
On brown, hazel, or gray eyes, the effect is showstopping. Spice up your smoky eye by opting for green instead of black, or go for a green eyeliner for subtle sexy during the day.
- Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Vert
- Lancome Color Design Eyeshadow in Strut
- MAC Eyeshadow in Tilt
- Smashbox Eyeshadow in Safari, Lagoon
LAVENDER
Perfect for day or night, lavender is the shade to add a little romance or old school glamour to your look. This perfect shade of purple is a must have for the olive skinned gal.
- Too Faced Eye Shadow in Sitcom Siren
- Estee Lauder PureColor Eyeshadow in Amethyst
- Nars Cream Eyeshadow in Maracaibo
- Shiseido Accentuating Color in Violet Splendor
- MAC Eyeshadow in Creme de Violet
BROWN/BRONZE
A fallback favorite, earthy tones of brown instantly warm up your skin and complement your features (see Eva above). The shimmer included in most bronze shades ups the glam factor to take this shade from day to night.
- Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Smog
- MAC Eyeshadow in Trax, Honesty
- Too Faced Galaxy Glam Eyeshadow in Mocha Meteor
- Lancome Color Design Eyeshadow in Sun Touched, Burnt Sand
DEEP BLUES
Using deep blues complements and incorporates the yellow in your skin, instead of pitting it against you (like lighter shades of blue). Rock it out for an unexpected pop.
- Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Goddess
- Lancome Color Design Eyeshadow in Garment
- MAC Eyeshadow in Plumage
- Smashbox Eyeshadow Single in Ink
DEEP GREY
Great as a complementary or main shade, using grey instead of black is chic and modern: it adds the sultriness of a smoky eye without being too messy or overbearing on olive skin (scope Kim's inner eyes in above pic).
- Estee Lauder PureColor Eyeshadow in Mink
- Nars Cream Eyeshadow in Lil Marlene
- Nars Eyeshadow Single in Thunderball
- Lancome Color Design Eyeshadow in Volcano
- Stila Eyeshadow in Storm
nice eyeshadow selections for olive skin. please do not forget the lispstick selection for olive skin too:) well done! Tks
OMG! I totally agree!! I went to a MAC counter today...and I looked AMAZING...before the eyeshadow! And I thought it was only me...
what lipstick selection for olive skin??! I have very yellowy-olive skin and i have a very hard time finding colors that look good on me besides brwon, brown, brown = / and i have an even harder time trying to find a site that will give me tips for lipcolors as well. help please??
This is a great article, it's really good since it's hard to find many pages dedicated to olive skin tones. Please could you do an article for lipsticks/best lip colours for olive skin? That would be amazing! It's so hard to find the perfect shade for lips. : )