Theres a phenomenon that I watch myself take part in over and over again. I see colorful, fun, eye makeup on others and I love it but then when I wear something similar I feel like I look like a clown. It’s something I like to call the Ringling Brothers effect and it has kept me in my neutral comfort zone far too many times. It was like I could never figure out how to pull off colored eyeshadow.

Every now and again I would work with color and feel good about it, and I knew there was some sort of difference in what I had done that made it more…I don’t know, within my neutral addicts comfort zone than other looks I had done? But I couldn’t put my finger on it. Oh colorful eyeshadow you elusive bastid.

Finally I sat down and went though all the photos of colorful eyeshadow looks that I’ve felt comfortable in, and tried to analyze what made them “wearable” to my neutral-centric mind. I came up with a few things that seem to be a common thread in these looks, and they all make sense to me now.

First let me show you the colorful looks that I felt most comfortable in.

I’ve drawn a few conclusions on how to pull off colored eyeshadow from this…and I mean “pull off” loosely because I’m pretty sure it’s all in the mind and we were probably “pulling it off” anyway but that’s beside the point.

• GROUND THE EYE LOOK WITH A NEUTRAL // Choosing a select colorful shadow and then grounding down the rest of it with neutrals makes a huge difference. So if you choose a bright lid color, try putting a brown through the crease instead of another color. In my mind that can take almost anything from garish to wearable.
• CHOOSE A JEWEL TONE // Deep, rich, jewel tones just seem to be easier to feel comfortable in. I think it’s just because they’re a little less in your face and easier to wrap your head around if you wear neutrals all the time. Depth and richness pair well with neutrals too.
• START SMALL // In a lot of these looks the color is only on the lash line or one part of the lid. It’s like a baby step to incorporating more color.
• STICK TO A SHAPE YOU KNOW IS FLATTERING // I already know I loved a thick, winged liner so for me incorporating color into that look is easier to handle than trying something completely new. Whatever it is that you normally do, try just adding color into that. Again, baby steps.
• CHOOSE A NEUTRAL LIP // Just like a neutral through the crease can help ground the look, so can a neutral lip. It doesn’t have to be a true nude, just something on the neutral side so you don’t feel like you’re ODing on color.

Truthfully, I still gravitate toward neutrals most of the time. Sometimes you just like what you like. But on the occasion that I feel like I need some color, these little notes have helped me feel like myself in them. Hopefully it help some of you neutral addicts out if you struggle with this as well. Are you a neutral addict? What do you do to break out of your makeup comfort zone?