Good Eye Shadows for Beginners?

[SierraJ]

I’ve been using SN products for the past few months, but I’ve never posted on the forum before, so, um, hi!

I’m making a big ol’ order soon, since I looove the coconut cleansing conditioner, but all that weight makes shipping so danged expensive…So I like to do one big order to get the free shipping! Also, it gives me an excuse to fill up my cart with all sorts of other fun things…I’m sure you’ll all be shocked to hear this, but I am thoroughly addicted.

So, anyway, as much as I love the lip balms I’ve been getting with my orders…I would like to start looking into the eye shadows. But, I’ve never worn eye shadows before, so I’m a bit lost! I keep trying to whittle down my list, but every time I start researching I just end up adding more to my cart!

What are some good, beginner-friendly eye shadows that I can start off with? I think what I’m looking for are neutral, fairly subtle looks—maybe some one-color washes and some combos that can be worn together. If you have suggestions for more adventurous colors I’ll gladly take them (if nothing else they can be a part of future orders!), but for now I’m mostly looking at putting together a solid basic collection on which to build.

For my coloring, I think I am on the neutral side of warm. My foundation is warm gold with a smidge of olive… I wish I could give you the exact formula, but I forgot to write it down! D’oh! I wear #2 in the concealer, though, just to give you an idea of depth. My eyes are dark brown. Not sure if my hair color matters, but it is dark brown as well.

Also, kinda off topic, but it does sorta have to do with eye shadows, so... I recently hennaed my hair, so it’s got some auburn-y highlights to it... I’m thinking of doing another layer of henna to make it more auburn, since I really loved the color it was before it mellowed out! However, when it was still quite auburn my eyebrows looked ‘off’ since they didn’t match my hair. I would henna them too, but apparently it’s not recommended for eyebrows (I guess henna in one’s eye would be fairly awful and potentially blinding or whatever, soooo that makes sense.), so I’m looking for a way to make them more auburn. Since my hair is dark, would the auburn brow cream/powder be too light? If so, is there an eye shadow or something that would work?

Okay. I think that’s it (for now)! Sorry if that was a bit long-winded... I'm just excited about the prospect of fun new things to play with!

[cclee00]

Hi, welcome to the family! Meet fellow addicts!

I can't really speak to the brows, though I have dark hair and eyes like you with dyed auburn hair. I haven't tried the SN brow products, but I fill my eyebrows in with whatever pencil eyeliner takes my fancy each day - dark brown or reddish brown to coppery if I'm looking 'normal,' or a bright color - I'm partial to purple and green usually. It's a fun way to do funky makeup without the craziness slapping you in the face. Any color powder eyeshadow should work the same way, so you could use a reddish-brown eyeshadow if the auburn is too light.

For neutral eyeshadows, you're unlikely to go wrong with Adorn, as most of us will tell you. It's a light satiny peach with blue/violet duochrome, so it works really well as a one-color wash with dimension to it. Specimen is good too in the same way, cream with blue duochrome, probably as long as your skin isn't too dark (it might look ashy, not sure). If you wear concealer #2 it should be good. Glory is lovely - a beige taupe with multicolor 'interference' (which is like a subtle duochrome). It works best over the Stick Em, but it's always pretty. Phantom is a nice pale golden-pink, and Model is the step deeper than that. Propinquity is kinda similar, but more mauve and the gold is different, somehow. I really like the Sunnyville, Soho, Gotham, and Dealer's Choice Chromatic Cream shadows, and Bluff makes a good highlight along with them. Lastly, purple always looks good on all eye colors! If you're shy, you might want to try something muted like Sari, Jump, or Kismet.

And the lippies are addictive - meet some! Nananabooboo, Icon, Blushberry are all great colors, in order of subtlety.

See? I wrote an equally long post!

[cclee00]

Oh, and all four Nude Palettes (Urban Decay dupes) are great too!

[Xarata]

juiced (pale gold),quartzite (tan),breathe(wearable purple)



highbeam(peach, my fav), charmed (wearable green), slick(warm grey)


days of the week is probably my fav "set", elegant brown quad

[SierraJ]

Thank you both so much for your input! Your recommendations make this much easier

[ShannonHH]

If you're shadow-shy, Cream and Earth are great neutrals and nearly fail-safe. Adjusting your brows may be best done with pencil, as someone suggested earlier.