There are scarier things than blue eyeshadow. (Yellow eyeshadow comes to mind—also, wooden roller coasters). Still, there's something about that hue of eye makeup that screams “I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING HERE,” which can be hard to fake if you don't actually feel that way.
The easy way in, if you were looking for one, is navy. “Take something darker and really saturated and swap that in for your blacks and browns,” said makeup artist Adam Breuchaud. He demonstrated with something like Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Radium—' It's got a nice, satin finish, and with a deeper tone, you can play with blending upward, keeping the most saturated tone near the lash line,” he said. “All you need is a round, firm brush,” Alternatively, there's Bobbi Brown Eyeshadow in 36 Rich Navy, matte and pigmented enough to work as an eyeliner. “I used an eyeliner brush and smoked it along the top and bottom lash and pulled it away from the eye at the end,” Breuchaud said. The NARS Velvet Shadow Stick in Glénan takes it even more literally—no brush needed for a liner-like effect.
Once you've got your sea legs, the fun really begins. One of the latest/greatest discoveries in the office has been the entire ColourPop line, including their mousse-like eyeshadow (the light blue shade has the absolutely wonderful name of Taco). “It's easier to do a graphic shape with it because you can really paint it on. The texture would also work well if you wanted to layer it with other colors,” Breuchaud said. Same goes for the Maybelline Color Tattoo Eyeshadow in 40 Tenacious Teal.
Any chalkier, traditional shadow lends itself (particularly in a royal-blue family) to a smoky-eye look. And when all else fails, turn to Burberry Wet & Dry Silk Shadow in No. 307 Stone Blue, proving the one point denim has been trying to make for years: Blue really can be a neutral.
_Alyssa Reeder photographed by Tom Newton. Makeup by Adam Breuchaud (Tomlinson Management Group).
Pictured: Wet 'n' Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow in 307 Suede; Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Radium; Maybelline Color Tattoo Eyeshadow in 40 Tenacious Teal; Shiseido Shimmering Cream Eye Color in BL722- Nightfall; Shiseido Shimmering Cream Eye Color in Ice; NYX Prismatic Shadows in_ Blue Jeans; NARS Velvet Shadow Stick in_ Glénan; NARS Shimmer Eyeshadow in Tropic ;NARS Matte Eyeshadow in Outremer; MAC Satin Eyeshadow in Electric Eel; Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Colour in Sapphire; ColourPop Super Shock Shadow in Taco; _ABurberry Wet & Dry Silk Shadow in No. 307 Stone Blue; and Bobbi Brown Eyeshadow in 36 Rich Navy.
