The Work-Ready Smoky Eye (and Why Women of Color Look Great in Blue Eyeshadow)

If you're at all brown (or even if you're working an expert tan that gives you a nice glow for winter that's not too over-the-top)blue eyeshadow can be your friend. Why, you ask? Because most women of color have warm undertones. That is, nude lipstick usually looks great on you, you have a LRD (Little Red Dress) instead of an LBD (Little Black Dress), and you've never met a shade of peach blush that you didn't like.

Also, if you've colored your hair to coordinate with all your skin tones (as I've demonstrated in the picture below) a shiny lip and a well-arched brow will make your look just edgy enough to show off your personality while maintaining a professional look. I also opted to go with all black today since my hair and eyes are pretty colorful.

So, here's the rules on finding the perfect blue eyeshadow for your skin tone:

Light brown skin (e.g. medium-complexion Latin women , fair-skinned Indian women, etc.,)Your best bet is a blue eyeshadow with purple or lavender undertones. Chances are you probably have a few flecks of cool undertones in your skin, and the blue and purple will blend well with this and make your eyes noticeable without being too showy.

Medium brown skin (e.g. mocha-colored Black women, dark-skinned Latina women, etc.) Choose a blue eyeshadow that looks slightly yellowish in the light. It will make your eyes pop, and keep you from looking like you got punched in the face. Come on, you know you guys were wondering about that lol. A grayish blue eyeshadow works well on these skin tones as well; it's best to use a yellow/white eyeshadow for underneath the brows to take away the harshness of the gray, though:)

Medium dark and dark brown skin (e.g. cinnamon or chocolate-colored Black women; carob-colored Indian or Latina women, etc.,) If your skin is a pronounced shade of brown (which, I think, is sooooo beautiful. whenever i tan, i just look creepy with dark skin, but I wish i had the facial features for it. It's so majestic-looking. But I digress. Sigh...) wear a blue eyeshadow that is essentially a really dark silver with flecks of blue. A medium or navy eyeshadow will blend in with your eyelids and just make you look like you put foundation on your eyelids. No bueno. The metallic nature of the eyeshadow gives freshness to your look; you can add an electric blue eyeliner if you want to update your look for the evening.


Here's an example of what the finished product looks like on me. I gotta say, blue eyeshadow may be my thing for a while. Until next time, stay cool--and, for the time being, blue:)