If you would’ve asked me five years ago to talk about red eyes, I would’ve told you about that one time I sat in an exit row seat on a frighteningly turbulent red-eye flight to Maui (Side note: It was terrible.), or about the creepy dude I used to work with who got “pink eye” every five minutes…then proceeded to give all of the other people in our office pink eye every time he got pink eye. *shaking my head*
Yes, it was gross.
But I digress…
In case you hadn’t noticed, red eyes, as in red eyeshadow, are totally a thing now, and I never would have predicted the rise o’ red in a million years. I mean, even Chanel did a collection with red eyeshadow (back in 2016)! If that isn’t a tell-tale sign of how mainstream red eyes have become, I don’t know what is.
And it isn’t only about straight-up crimson. Warm reddish browns and reddish oranges are also having (and have been having) their moment.
I resisted red (and reddish) eyeshadow for very long time, but then Instagram started inundating my feed with all of these artists doing looks with red. I was seeing red in the crease as a transition shade, and red on the upper lash line as winged liner, and somewhere along the way, it started to rub off on me.
Now when I wear red, I don’t automatically feel like I look like death warmed over. Now I think it looks kinda artsy-fartsy, and I don’t mind it anymore.
Not to say that red has become my first color choice (NEUTRALS FOR LIFE), but I think it can look super cool if you handle it a certain way… Like for me, on the rare occasions when I wear red eyeshadow, I always do some sort of black or near-black liner and shadow on the water line or the lash line, which was a trick I learned from this Pixiwoo video.
Long story short, the black liner works as a boundary, so there’s something visually separating the red from the whites of your eyes, which in theory reduces the chances of you looking sickly, and for me, it works.
Even though I don’t wear red often, I think it’s cool that makeup lovers have more options now, because when I was growing up, if you wanted to be the girl who wore red eyeshadow, you had to find a way to make it work, because you just couldn’t roll up to Thrifty’s after school to buy an ice cream cone and a palette with a red eyeshadow. But now you totally can!
On that note, what do you think about wearing red cheek or lip products on your eyes? I see makeup artists do it all the time, like using lipstick as a cream eyeshadow, a red liquid lipstick as an eyeliner or a blush as an eyeshadow.
I’ve done blush as shadow before (in the crease as a transition shade), but that’s about it as far as my red cross-product experimentation so far.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
I think the reds look great on you. I don’t think I could pull it off though.
Aww, thanks Lisa. I never thought I could pull it off, either! But then I tried it and tweaked it a little, and learned that red can be fun. You should try it sometime just to say you gave it a go.
I love wearing red shadow. My favorite is a color called Viscera from Rituel de Fille. It’s one of their Eye Soots.
It comes in a little pot and can be applied with your finger or a synthetic brush. It’s more like a pressed pigment than a cream. It can be sheer or full on color. My eyes are medium brown with a golden tinge so I like to wear red with a taupey bronze. Plus, wearing dark brown/black liner or tight lining prevents that pink eyed rabbit look. I think you look fabulous with red shadow.
Hi Jan!
Funny you should mention it, but I have that shade too! That line makes some cool stuff. 🙂
I think using blush or lip color saves money if you don’t want to buy a red eyeshadow. All of these suit you very well! I’m inspired!!
Hi Jennifer,
Oh, totally. Some people are sticklers for only wearing stuff that’s technically deemed eye safe on the eyes, but I see makeup artists improvising with products not originally intended for eyes (blush, lipstick, lip liner) all the time. So creative!
If you try one of the looks I posted here I’d love to see it.
I TOTALLY LOVE red eye shadow and have for years. There is one major problem for me in that I’m allergic to carmine, which is what most companies use to give their shadows that beautiful red color. I was all excited when that UD Cherry palette came out only to find (wah-wah) carmine as one of the ingredients. I have repaired my prized Nouba red and black shadow a couple times after I dropped it, and Kat VonD has one (forgot the color name). People always freak out and ask me what’s wrong with my eyes when I wear red shadow but I love it and wear it on occasion just to please myself.
That’s super cool, Kellly. I love that you just do your own thing! BTW I’ve never heard of Nouba before and just looked them up.
Nouba is an Italian brand, I think. I got the red shadow several years ago and loved it. I wish there was some other way to make reds so companies could drop the carmine. My allergy is pretty bad. I can’t even use a blush with carmine in it or it messes with my eyes. 🙁
Oh no, that sounds terrible. Have you always been allergic? I’ve found that my eyes get more sensitive as I get older. When I was young I could practically pour glitter on lids and be fine, but now certain purples make my left eye tear up like crazy!
Yeah, always have been allergic to carmine. It makes my lashes/eyelids stick together the night after I’ve worn it, which is an awful enough reaction that I don’t use anything other than lipstick if it has carmine in it. I only found out a few years ago what it was that I was allergic to, b/c some purples use carmine, too. And of course, I love purples, reds and mauves but my choices sans carmine are pretty limited.
You’d think these days with all the gluten-free and lactose-free stuff there’d be more focus on allergen-free cosmetics but apparently there’s not a good, easy and cheap way to create reds without using carmine.
Hmm, maybe that’s why my left eye goes nuts when I use certain purples. I’ll have to look into that!
And oh, if I ever run into a red shadow without carmine I’ll be sure to let you know. 🙂
How I found out was after I ordered UD’s Rose Gold palette and found out I was completely allergic to it. Someone told me it was likely carmine, since that’s an allergen for a lot of people. I was so disappointed because I love those colors but at least now I know what to look for (in those microscopic-sized letters in the ingredients list) and avoid.
I didn’t mean I use lipstick on my eyes to get red shadow! I meant I can wear carmine on my lips without my eyes going nuts, but can’t wear blush with carmine because my eyes react. I guess my lips are far enough away that my eyes don’t know what my lips are doing so they’re ok with it.
Yeah, I would assume that bits of the blush get kicked up into your eyes. Have you ever considered cream blush? I would think that would be easier to control.
Nope, that’s not why. It’s just having the carmine on my skin close (sort of) to my eyes is enough to make my eyes react to it. I found that out the hard way, too. 😛
I love red eyeshadow. I’m so happy it’s having a moment, and it’s easier to get now. I remember when MAC’s Red, Red, Red shades came out. It was the first time I ever called around stores to find a shade in stock, because the reddest shade sold out so fast. Nordstrom shipped it to me from another state, bless them.
I think you look great in the red looks you did! I totally agree with you about using a black liner with red shadow.
I’ve used powdered blushes, bronzers, and highlighter around my eyes with no ill effects. I test them on a day I’m at home, in case one bothers my sensitive eyes, but so far so good.
I don’t know about a red lipstick or cream blush. I would worry about the increased pigments staining or being irritating. I also can’t wear cream anything on my eyes, so I’ve never tried. Creams just crease on my oily lids, even with primer underneath.
Yeah, Nordstrom has awesome customer service like that! Glad you were able to grab color from the collection; it was ahead of it’s time.
I think red eyeshadows are inline with the whole warm eyeshadow obsession currently in vogue in eye makeup, and new technologies have made them better with pigments and color payoff. I like the trick about having another color between your eyes and the red, so you don’t look like you have a disease, I’ll have to try that sometime.
I think a lot of the things makeup artists do, especially in editorial shoots where the models only have to wear the look for a few hours, don’t translate that well to real life. I would expect MUA who mostly do weddings and those types of real life makeup looks don’t use as much lipstick etc as eyeshadow, but since I’m not a MUA I won’t swear by it. But it seems more like a photography trick than something that would look good to wear to work, say. (This of course depends on the product and texture of whatever you’re reupurposing, and where you’re repurposing it)
Hi Tracy,
The trick using a black liner or some other boundary also works great with pink eyeshadow, too. And with any warm reddish browns!
Well shoot I think I’m going to have to give it a try now! It looks really spectacular on you! I have a similar skin tone so hoping I can replicate that magic.
OMG but you look SO good in red! It is practically your color! Gorgeous!
I like wearing red, but as a pale white girl, I have to be careful LOL. I can’t put it under my eyes (same with pink) and I definitely can’t be tired when wearing it haha.
Hi Miki,
I have to be careful with the lower lash line too. I usually mix it in with a purple or a darker brown. Hope you’re having a nice Friday so far!
Wow I love this look!