I was just thinking about blue eyeshadow and how it has sort of has a bad reputation. I think it is time to give blue a boost and to appreciate how beautiful and wearable it can really be, to banish our fear of it once and for all!

So my idea here is to talk about blue, any blue. From dark to light, from muted to bright, greenish, grayish, purplish, or nearly white!

To start:

As with any color that intimidates me, I always try it first as a liner. The darker blues make stunning liners. Try Peacoat PH, Spaceoddity , Destinationunknown, Moonagedaydream, or Tide from the Carolina Summer collection.

I also like to pair blues with different color groups, especially muted and neutrals. blue+brown, blue+gold or silver, blue+yellow, blue+taupe.

Please share your favorite blue combinations with us!

I like:
Heaven PH and Coco bean PH
Tanaquil and Lorelei Lustres
Peacoat PH and Pewter PH
Maiden Midsummer and Ocean Pure Eyes Frost
Maiden and Purplerain
Seaglass and Tide Pure Eyes Matte
Destinationunknown and Ballet PH.

P.S. I can't wait for Swank!!!

yes indeedy!

A horizontal swipe of Cosmos over the lower half of the eyelid
A horizontal swipe of Campanula above it

= rapture!

It's very timely, in my little world, that you bring up this thread now...I'm on a blues quest! Ever since I got that gorjamous Tidal Wave gel liner...I've been looking for the matching shade of blue! I've tried several samples, and while they are all beautiful, and I will certainly wear them...I am thinking that Swank will be the one! I cannot wait to get that one!

Anyway...I haven't worn many of my blue samples out in the real world as of yet (still playing)...I received copen and midnight mattes the other day (samples) and the next time I wear my navy henley with blue jeans, those are gonna be on my eyes for sure!! I'm sure I'll don that sometime this holiday week.

I'd love more suggestions from the other ladies!

I don't have many blue AL products yet, but I do have another brand of navy blue pencil liner that I like! Normally blue shadows don't look good with my coloring -- bright blues just make my blue eyes look grey in comparison since the shadow is brighter than my eyes, while muted blues usually don't work well with my warm skintone. However here are a few uses of blues that I do like:

• Navy liner with nude / beige shadows ... this looks surprisingly good on me, maybe because my light blue eyes have a navy rim around the outside? I've also heard that navy liner can make the whites of your eyes look whiter! For AL products, any navy liner or dark blue eyeshadow wetlined would work.
  
• Once I came up with an awesome combo but never took a picture ... Vapor in the inner corner of my lid, Moon on top of Vapor to make it shimmery, Desire (or substitute any dark purple of your choice) in crease, and Diamanda in middle of lid to blend Vapor into Desire. It created a fun gradient effect from blue to purple! I think I wore a dark purple liner with it... Using Dolphin instead of Vapor makes this look a bit more muted (but still very colorful)!
  
• Heaven in crease / outer lid, Wizard Gold in inner corner blended into Heaven. A simple look that's great for warmer skintones! Still trying to find the best liner to go with Heaven though ... DQ Blue was too purple-y, next time I might try DQ Teal or a neutral like DQ Topaz.
  
• Similarly, a cooler light blue like Cosmos or Tanaquil looks good paired with Moon for a cool, light blue look. A navy liner can make these colors pop!
  
• A bright blue or turquoise liner like Cobalt looks good with white or pastel eyeshadows -- try pinks, yellows, light blues, etc. I recently did an FOTD with pink eyeshadow and Cobalt liner, titled "Blue Watermelon". I also have a turquoise pencil liner from another brand that I've paired with pastels in the past.
  

However, with the exception of a blue liner with brown eyeshadows, I've never figured out how to pair blues with browns without making it look "muddy" -- most blues and browns just don't go well together in my mind! (Maybe I am weird! lol) Since I prefer lighter colors anyway, I like mixing blues with light neutral colors like Moon or Wizard Gold, or with fun colors like pinks and purples, as you can see above....

I have never met a blue I don't like

Favorites include:
Destination Unknown
Heaven
Space Oddity
Peacoat
Blue Spark
Mystery
Cobalt
Isadora (part green, but who cares)
Moonage Daydream (part green, but so what )

Ok, so that rounds out all the blues I have, but I love each and every one.

I consider blue to be a neutral, so depending on the shade of blue, they can go with ANYTHING. I did a blue and orange look once and loved it! Blue and orange are opposites on the color wheel, and they look great together.

So, my feeling is, try it with any color...even black

I used indigo pure frost as a liner with ambrette pure hue as a shadow today... I can't get the wetlining thing down to save my life, so it didn't turn out so well, but I still like the color combo.

quote:

Originally posted by desert sage:
I was just thinking about blue eyeshadow and how it has sort of has a bad reputation.

It kinda does have a mixed reputation! Lots of ladies here love blue shadow, and the pics they post always look great.

I've never been a blue shadow fan, but then again, I wear very few colors. I'm slowly starting to play with color, so maybe when my Swank gets here I'll be a convert....

I have a shirt from Victoria's Secret that I always get compliment on how blue my eyes are when I wear it. It is the exact color of Bluebird. I wear it all sorts of ways, love it as a liner, or with Pewter. I hope to get every blue, lol. My eye shade changes with each blue shade of shadow I wear. I love this thread because it gives me more ideads of how to wear my blues!!!! Thanks!!!

quote:

It kinda does have a mixed reputation! Lots of ladies here love blue shadow, and the pics they post always look great.

I've never been a blue shadow fan, but then again, I wear very few colors. I'm slowly starting to play with color, so maybe when my Swank gets here I'll be a convert....

Yes, we have lots of ladies here that definitlely aren't afraid of color and wear it so well!

Cindy, I think you would look great in blues, Swank should be a good place to start, and I think you would like Spaceoddity.

quote:

However, with the exception of a blue liner with brown eyeshadows, I've never figured out how to pair blues with browns without making it look "muddy" -- most blues and browns just don't go well together in my mind!

For me this all started with Momof2angels "Little Bit of Heaven Look"
I have loved this combo ever since she posted it! Thanks Melissa!

I agree it is tricky because there is a fine line between keeping the colors separate while at the same time blending well. Plus the blues and browns need to have some compatibility, I agree.

When I get some more Circe and Tanaquil I want to try those two together as well.

No...thank YOU Melissa

I have NEVER liked blue eye shadow - ever! Then I got a sample of Tide Matte and thought it was really nice. Then one day I was looking for a brightening neutral all over eye color and tried a sample of the blue coquille and thought that was nice, too. So I tried them together and it's one of my very favorite looks ever!

I played a little with blues and Taupes this week so here is a couple of more combos

Tanaquil on inner corners of eyes and Arielle in crease and vee.
Fox with Spaceoddity as a liner