Pairing up eyeshadows

[zeebs]

I mess around a lot just playing with colors... I remember ladycattat saying at one point that she likes warm and cool shades together, and so I tried that for awhile, and frankly, I'm kind of stuck on it. I keep going back. I've started to like complementary colors too.

Blue + gold
green + peachy orange
gold + silver

[extemter]

My response to your question is on the most abstract level (and probably the least immediately helpful): I would recommend learning about the color wheel, color theory, and color scheme. Wikipedia has great entries on these topics. colorschemedesigner.com is a fun online tool.

My favorite eyeshadow combination is gold and brown. When I play with other colors, I prefer to wear a gradation of eyeshadows -- either analogous colors (colors adjacent to each other on the color wheel) or a series of one color that's tinted (lightened with white) or shaded (darkened with black)* -- because I think they look more natural and help create flattering eye contours. I rarely wear complementary colors (opposite on the color wheel) on my eyes because I'm usually not trying to achieve the dramatic effect of contrasting colors.

*I prefer darkening an eyeshadow by adding the color's complement (opposite on the color wheel) because it's too easy for me to overdarken with pure black. Also, I'm not fond of the matte texture of black oxide.

[zeebs]

My response to your question is on the most abstract level (and probably the least immediately helpful): I would recommend learning about the color wheel, color theory, and color scheme. Wikipedia has great entries on these topics. colorschemedesigner.com is a fun online tool.

My favorite eyeshadow combination is gold and brown. When I play with other colors, I prefer to wear a gradation of eyeshadows -- either analogous colors (colors adjacent to each other on the color wheel) or a series of one color that's tinted (lightened with white) or shaded (darkened with black)* -- because I think they look more natural and help create flattering eye contours. I rarely wear complementary colors (opposite on the color wheel) on my eyes because I'm usually not trying to achieve the dramatic effect of contrasting colors.

*I prefer darkening an eyeshadow by adding the color's complement (opposite on the color wheel) because it's too easy for me to overdarken with pure black. Also, I'm not fond of the matte texture of black oxide.

Good advice. Color theory is important to nearly all visual art.

Shadow placement: put dark colors on areas you want to recede and light colors on areas you want to highlight. Depends on your individual eyeshape. YouTube tutorials sometimes have advice on this.

[Colleen]

What I do a lot of times since I am lazy is put a light beige color on my lid and than any medium shade in my crease and a darker shade in the same family as the crease like green with green as a liner. I also will do a 3 shade family eye like light purple on the lid medium purple in the crease and dark purple to line. These are things I do when I don't feel like taking a risk. I know these will look good. Have fun with your eye shadow.

[emmy2410]

Thank you everyone for you kind tots and advices. I guess it takes alittle bit of practice, trial and error and likings...I will keep all your advices in mind.

[Phyrra]

I do a lot of odd colors together, as well as traditional colors.

Pink or peachypink + orange (Madison + Safety Orange)
Red + orange (Flame + Safety Orange)
Pink+ purple (Cherry Blossom + Romp)
Blue + purple (Royal + Vivid)
Blue + green (Poly + Lime)
Yellow + green (Canary + Swamp)
Light Green + Dark Green (Lime + Swamp, Charmed + Grassroots, Charmed + Linger)
Peach + purple (Cabana + Aubergine)
Blue + Copper (Scandal or Butterfly Blue or Planetary + Legend or Orbit)
Blue + Gold (Solar + Royal)
Gold + Purple (Solar or Meteor + Scandal)