Blue eyeshadow is the surprise breakout shade that every celeb is wearing
‘Tis the season to wear blue eyeshadow, apparently. Over the past month no less than six celebrities (that we’ve clocked) have stepped out repping the shade. And if threes a trend, half a dozen must be a whole movement.
While warm golds, browns and cinnamon are also undisputed headliners for winter beauty looks, cooler tones have quietly made a comeback for several seasons. Those frosted ‘90s shadows and cooler silvers, pewters and blues have been building a whole new-gen fan base, and now, blue has stepped forward as the non-neutral we didn’t know we needed.
If makeup fatigue is getting to you, blue offers up a show-stopper shade that's already been signed off as this season's favourite. But, it also gives us all the versatility we could need, too. Across its A-list fans, we've seen primary cobalts, mesmerising shimmery azure, babydoll aqua, ‘70s cornflower, metallic midnight accents and iridescent denim blues. And with millions of views on TikTok, it’s not just Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift and Jodie Turner-Smith who seem to have fallen under its spell.
How to wear blue eyeshadow
In her recent cover shoot with Perfect Magazine, Selena Gomez mixed up her makeup look with a clashing red lip and inky cobalt winged eyeshadow. It's bold and its audacious, but if statement-making makeup is your bag, this hits the spot.
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While attending the New York premiere of her new espionage TV series, The Agency, Jodie Turner-Smith graced the red carpet with a dazzling shimmery admiral blue to match her plunging velvet blue gown. She kept the rest of her makeup fresh and her lips glossy.
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Rita Ora understood the assignment for '60s week on the Masked Singer (which she helps to judge). She gave us beehive hair, flesh-toned nude lips and bright aqua-blue babydoll eyes.
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Lady Gaga has been getting experimental again with her beauty looks to coincide with the release of new music. To celebrate her hit Bruno Mars duet, Die With A Smile, which reached 1 billion streams on Spotify, she posted a '70s look that paid tribute to the aesthetic in the music video. In it, she drenched her lids in a cornflower blue eyeshadow, paired with a chunky elongated black liner.
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Dua Lipa has been touring her Radical Optimism album around the world, and serving up some belting beauty looks alongside her songs. While in Tokyo she opted for a negative space midnight blue eye look, with shimmering dark navy framing her eyes on the inner corner and diffused out in a wing at her outer corner. It's a mesmerising, subtly sultry way of incorporating blue into your makeup look.
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Kylie Minogue teamed up with Charlotte Tilbury for a stand-out party season look that's part magical, part disco. She modelled the mega-glitz Hypnotising Pop Shots eyeshadow in the molten denim shade Cosmic Rocks on her eyes which she teamed with lashings of mascara.
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Kendall Jenner's makeup artist, Mary Phillips, gave us one of the dreamiest takes on blue eyeshadow. In her Instagram post she revealed a smoked out and diffused blue eye, pairing it only with fresh skin, glossy lips and mascara.
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Taylor Swift has also been known to favour blue. She previously tapped up the shade for her Midnights album cover. Created using Pat McGrath Mothership X: Moonlit Seduction Eyeshadow Palette, it's less perfect, with a smudgy slept-in feel and a wet-look sheen reminiscent of an oil slick. In other words, it's the perfect shade if you want to switch up your eyeshadow for something more sultry and unexpected than a grey smoky on a night out.
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In a TikTok video that has already garnered nearly 150 thousand views, Victoria Lyn shared how she makes a paler washed denim blue eyeshadow work. According to the makeup artist, its appeal lies in how it conjures up “early 2000s glam nostalgia” and the fact that “it's not a bright blue, it's a faded blue – that's what makes it a wearable blue.”
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Victoria favours a clean, frosted iteration worn simply with mascara and name-checks MAC Small Eyeshadow in Tilt, BareMinerals Mineralise Eyeshadow Palette in Stonewashed and Dior 5 Couleurs Couture Eyeshadow Palette in Denim as favourites in her kit.
Another makeup pro, Muriëlle van Schaik, recommends grounding a blue eyeshadow in a more classic base when creating a smoky eye. She starts by creating the wing shape with a more traditional black shade, which she then blends across her lid and halfway under her eye before applying the shimmery blue shade on top, in the centre of her lid and over the black shadow under her eye.
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To give her eyes a sparkly glow up, she dots shimmery highlighter on the inner corner of her eyes, then, for extra definition, she runs a navy blue liner (LH Cosmetics Flash Crayon in Atria) along her top and bottom waterline, winging it out at the outer edge.
As with everything, the best blue for you will depend on how bold you want to go, but this edit of blue eyeshadow shades is a good jumping off point.
We've also rounded up some more of our favourite blue eyeshadow looks, complete with difficulty rating, so you know what you're up against whether you want to dip your toe in or dive straight into the deep end.
8 more ways to wear blue eyeshadow...
ShutterstockDRENCHED
Nicola Coughlan brought the blue eyeshadow trend to the TV BAFTA red carpet, adding a smokey eye to the blue blend for extra glam and we're obsessed. We can always rely on the Bridgerton star to serve looks!
Difficulty rating: 3/5
@whitneymadueke / InstagramLOADED ON THE LID
This looks like the easiest look to pull off, but without the help of a liner or darker shade to frame lashes it can take a bit of getting used to. Best for the minimalists who aren't wedded to their liner, it looks best with ultra fresh, dewy skin.
Difficulty rating: 3.5/5
@diipakhosla / InstagramSMOKED OUT IN THE CENTRE
A perfect example of toe-dipping. A bold shade applied sparingly just to the centre of the lids. The classic structure of black liner is still there to help frame eyes, but the pop of blue in the centre makes sure attention is drawn to the eyes.
Difficulty rating: 2/5
@camilacoelho / InstagramALONG THE LASH LINE
Make sure you start with a darker colour like black or brown, winged out to add a feline shape and some definition, then add a dash of blue over the top, just along the lash line.
Difficulty rating: 2/5
@isabellrrose / InstagramWATERLINE
If you're a dab hand at a winged liner, you've got the hardest part done. Next take an icy shade along the bottom lash line to bring out the colour of paler eyes (this works beautifully on grey and green eyes). To keep it looking more casual, take a lighter shade, like a cream in the inner corner and blend it out toward the blue and if you're worried about loosing definition, you can take a dark grey shade and dust it super lightly along the water line.
Difficulty rating: 2.5/5
@brittsully / InstagramTWO TONE
Look closely and you'll see the entire eye is lined with cobalt (even the bottom water line). The cobalt is continued further back along the top lash line and a lighter turquoise shade helps to brighten under the eye. Combined, these shades make dark eyes stand out beautifully. The trick to getting this right is finding impressive pigments that pack a punch (try Urban Decay), then offsetting lashes with plenty of black mascara.
Difficulty rating: 3/5
@patrickta / InstagramFULL SMOKY
Harder to pull off than it looks, a full on smoky eye requires a lot of blending, a subtle graduation of shades and plenty of framing action around lashes (try a navy blue shadow closer to the lash line and lots of mascara) to help ground it. Do it right though and it looks incredible.
Difficulty rating: 3/5
@sophiehannah / InstagramOCEAN WAVE
It's not subtle, but it's a look. It's a 60s siren-meets-Cleopatra situation which is gorgeously suited to this shade of retro blue. Start by creating a base with a light brown or taupe just under the brow bone. Sketch out the outline with a black liner, fill in the shadow after, taking it all the way to the tear duct. Define the lash line with a winged liner that joins the outline, then go ham with the mascara.
Difficulty rating: 4/5
@hungvanngo / InstagramWINGED ALL THE WAY OUT
Not for your average afternoon (unless you enjoy experimenting, in which case, keep doing you). This is a dramatic way to commit to the shade and is pro-level to pull off. Start by lining eyes with the cobalt shade to get the basic shape. Take it halfway up the lid and along the waterline then wing out up toward your brow bone at the edges. Use a lighter shade to fill in the other half of the lid and take it below the waterline. Blend, blend, blend (blend, blend, blend, blend) and finish with mascara.
Difficulty rating: 4.5/5
