Finding the perfect eye shadow color can be a daunting task. In today's day and age, cosmetic companies are competing against each other to see who can come out with more shades than the other. Add to the mix the subject of hues and contrasts, and eye shadow choices can be downright confusing. The choice of eye shadow that you choose depends entirely on the goal you have in mind. Are you going for some glitz for a night on the town? Do you want your eyes to appear bigger? Do you want your eye color to pop out at everyone? Regardless of your main objective, each shade of eye can be complemented with a perfect eye shadow color. You just need a few tips to start before you start looking at palettes.

If you want your eyes to appear bigger, you want to add natural colors to your eyes. This is where the process of eye shadows all started, and how they even got this name. The term shadow gives the viewer a size illusion, if in fact a shadow has been cast on your eye. Natural colors will create the illusion of a bigger eye without you even applying fancy artistry. The key is knowing what is your natural color, and the best way to determine that is to find the natural color that best matches your eye tone. Black is a dramatic color for the eyes and this works well across skin tone and across eye color. Black is in itself a natural color and creates natural shadows. Browns are also very popular choices to create natural shadows, as they are a neutral tone that also work across skin tones and are independent of eye color. Go for a darker brown if you are looking for a dramatic shadow, and a lighter tone if you want a more subtle affect.

If you want your eyes to stand out, choose shadow tones that contrast your eye color. Again, if your eye shadow contrasts your eye color, then the tone of your skin will be irrelevant as the two will complement each other perfectly. Blue and brown are contrast colors, so if your eyes are blue then choose brown shades to contrast your eyes. The same goes for the opposite direction. If you have brown eyes, choose blue shades to contrast your eye color and make your eyes stand out. Brown and green are also contrast colors and work the same way the brown and blue contrast functions. Whatever your eye color, choose a contrasting shade.

As you can see, brown is a standard neutral that can be used in a variety of ways for a variety of functions when it comes to eye shadow. Brown works across skin tones and both complements and contrasts different eye colors.