7 Colorful Eyeshadow Looks You Can Nail With Your Eyes Closed

The simplest colorful eyeshadow style can be achieved, unsurprisingly, by using just one bright color on your eyelid. For this, I personally love to use reds or a highly pigmented pink because both colors will pop without you needing to do any more work. Just grab a makeup brush, powder it up, and you’ve got an eye-catching look.

When it comes to lighter shades and pastels, they can more easily fade into your skin and not pack the punch you want. To combat that, all you have to do is smoke out your under-eye with a darker shade. It doesn’t have to be cleanly done to look super cute.

If you just want to dip your toes into the world of colorful eyeshadows, you can lightly apply the pigment of your choice to your under-eyes as well as the outer corner of your eye. This look works better with a soft touch, so be prepared to gently apply and possibly wipe some excess away from your lids.

OK, you don’t have to go down the Christmas route in order to achieve this look, but you can start playing with the rainbow by painting each eye a different color. (And, if you’re headed to a holiday party, then Christmas-themed eyes might actually work.) For this, you should probably check out the color wheel and stick to contrasting or complementary colors. Think purples and greens or, if you’re feeling daring, shades of blues and oranges.

If you’re feeling like you’ve got a good handle on using one color for each eye, then it’s time to get a little bit more complicated with your look and break out your little makeup brushes. Once again, there’s no need to be precise for this makeup to look good. In fact, the best part is that each of the colors should shine on its own, so you don’t even need to blend this colorful eyeshadow look.

To go down a glam route, you can try out halo style eyeshadow. All you need to do to accomplish this is to use your colorful shadow on the inner and outer corners of your eyes. Then, pat a shimmering shade into the middle and blend it out toward your eyebrow. Accentuate the look with mascara to really draw out the drama.

Create your own little gradient by choosing a color you have in a few shades. Start with the lightest pigment you have on the inner corner of your eye work your way outward so that you’re using the darkest on your outer corner. Once you’ve used all the colors, blend them together. If this isn’t dramatic enough for you, you can very lightly add some black to the darkest eyeshadow to make it darker.