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5 Gorgeous Matte Brown Eyeshadows
5 Gorgeous Matte Brown Eyeshadows
There are SO many brown eyeshadows on the market! I know that sometimes it can be a “boring” category, but browns can be incredibly versatile and even though I love wickedly bright hues, I have a major soft spot for browns and beiges and the like.
- Inglot #360 — just slightly gray-tinted medium-dark brown
- Make Up For Ever #162 — rich burgundy-toned brown
- MAC Swiss Chocolate — warm, chocolaty brown
- Bare Escentuals Foreshadow — dark brown with red-burgundy undertones
- Inglot #329 — dark, barely warmed over, chocolate brown
I’m with you Christine. As much as I love my colors, about half my stash is made up of beige and brown neutrals. You can do a strong smokey eye, a soft, barely there eye, and match it up with any other make up you wear on the rest of your face. This summer, I’m liking a medium brown just in the crease and then a bright liquid liner (like UD Retrograde or Siren).
Drool! I’m a sucker for dark brown eyeshadow and I own a lot of them too! And now I want a few of the these too! Strangely, most of my brown shades have a hint of shimmer or satin finish. However, on the matte side, there is a more red than brown shade by MAC which I adore and still reach for frequently despite my MAC bashing: Sketch. I usually do a dramatic eye with it, but keep it super simple and just do a gradation wash from lash line up paired with a neutral base and a brighter highlight. Brown shadows form the basis of many of my looks and I also frequently pair brown with virtually everything bright. It’s a wonderful way of making a subtle statement with a bright colour. I always get compliments when I wear a basic brown eye with a punch of bright colour on the lower lid. I have heavy lower lids..meaning they are thick and pronounced, so I can wear a fairly thick application and slightly smoke it out and still have it look fresh and not overdone. Oh, and Stila has a great matte dark dark brown with oodles of pigment and I can’t remember the name!
I love UD Buck and BB Sable. Sable probably has to be my FAVORITE because it’s my brow powder, and I get really natural-looking crease with it.
I love just about every matte brown that I’ve ever tried; I can’t think of one that has ever “failed” me. Like a good matte black, a matte brown is definitely a staple, and I have far too many to even count. At the moment, NARS Bali is my “go to”, because it’s still fairly new (an amazing dupe, by the way, is Flirt! Coconutty). I’ve been a fan of matte brown shadows ever since I started wearing makeup, regardless of the “evolutions” of style. Sometimes I use it as a contour, other times I’ll use it as a quick lid color with a coat of mascara. It’s also good to tone down a brighter color or to add depth. Lately, I’ve been using NARS Bali in the crease with Ondine on the lid & Abyssinia as a highlight as a quick, neutral eye look.
UD Naked- I’m so glad they sell it individually now, because I hit pan on it veryy quickly in the palette. It’s the perfect natural crease color, blending color, and eyebrow color.
@Kristabelle I love UD Naked too. It’s my favorite blending color to blend out the edges of the darkest shade of shadow. I am an NC 25-30 and it works so well with my skin tone.
@Lauren13 Love Naked!. I also love Buck for my brows.
I have Pebble by ELF, which is a good one for contouring (on pale, pale skin tones), be it the eyes or cheekbones. As an all-over colour on the lid, it’s definitely lacking. Too bad pigmentation.
There’s a good matte brown in one of the Sleek palettes, Original or Storm.
In the Nude on Nude palette (NOT kit) by NYX there’s lots of gorgeous, greatly pigmented browns for SO cheap.
UD also have some nice permanent matte brown shades.
Too Faced Sexpresso (a very dark brown) TF Up in Smoke (a matte cool brown from the newer Smokey Eye palette); Mac Centre Stage (okay, maybe not entirely and totally matte but it has a sheen and is “almost” matte) and I guess I should throw in MAC Charcoal Brown, which I happen to be wearing today. I don’t seem able to resist any new brown/taupe/neutral shade or collection I stumble across, as much as I really do try….
I stopped wearing browns & neutrals when I stopped practicing (yay for colour freedom!) but all my stand-bys or HG colours were from Shu Uemura. I can’t speak highly enough about the Shu eyeshadows (don’t know the numbers, as they’ve faded off the bottoms). At the time, I used a few matte browns from Bobby Browns (hehheh) but they were never as silky, soft and long-lasting as the S/U ones. The few times I turn to a matte brown now, it’s always the S/U ones. If I were to be tempted again, it might be by that MUFE one you’ve listed above as the 2nd colour. What a rich-looking colour!
I stopped wearing browns & neutrals when I stopped practicing (yay for colour freedom!) but all my stand-bys or HG colours were from Shu Uemura. I can’t speak highly enough about the Shu eyeshadows (don’t know the numbers, as they’ve faded off the bottoms). At the time, I used a few matte browns from Bobby Brown (hehheh) but they were never as silky, soft and long-lasting as the S/U ones. The few times I turn to a matte brown now, it’s always the S/U ones. If I were to be tempted again, it might be by that MUFE one you’ve listed above as the 2nd colour. What a rich-looking colour!
Wet n Wild “Vanity” & ” Heart Matte” palettes also have some great matte brown shadows. I think for a drugstore brand, the quality is amazing, & I find myself reaching for them, more than my high-end brands
I love Wet n’ Wild Vanity too 🙂 !
I love MAC Charcoal Brown and Soft Brown!
I usually pair Charcoal Brown with Girlie or Arena and Shroom; Soft Brown with Satin Taupe and Shroom, a look I learned from one of your video tutorials some time ago! I had it marked as a Favorite but it´s not there anymore 🙁 …..anyway, I watched it so may times I learned the look and I still love to wear it!
@Leticia Christine, please post the video that Leticia is referring to. I want to see!!!
Hi! The video of this look is not in YouTube anymore, but you will find Christine’s detailed instructions and lovely photos here at the website, under Looks/Neutral: Back to School Makeup: Quick & Easy Natural Eye!
One brown-ish shadow that is often slept on is MAC’s Embark. I think this color is great for the outer crease and it is very deep, yet also very neutral with a matte/satin finish.
My favorite matte brown is long since gone, but I loved Loved LOVED Almay “Vicuna” matte eyeshadow! It was the exact match for my skin, since my lids are quite darker than the rest of my face. It’s a gorgeous light milk chocolate brown, smooth, soft, applied like a dream as a wash over the lid, just in the crease, or practically all the way up to the brow for a classic contoured eye and it worked great with a red lip.
Oh, matte browns, my one true love! 😛
Seriously, though – I love neutral looks, but I’ve yet to find the perfect matte brown for my skintone. Most of them more orange/sable than I’d like, so I’m still on the hunt for a shade that has just enough burgundy or grey in it. Sort of a brown-but-better, you know? :o)
MoleSkin by MAC Cosmetics
i like MAC’s Showstopper. though its not perm, every palette it has been in i’ve always tried to save that one. Works like a charm! i like the 5th brown i will have to look for that one.
bare escentuals
UD buck, Mac embark, Mac soft brown 🙂
Urban Decay Shakedown!
Although not available and technically maybe a taupe, i still love it!
Stila Cocoa, Mac Saddle & Swiss Chocolate
mac brun
MAC wedge is very nice on fair skin.
MAC Mystery and Wedge
MAC Espresso and Brown Down. Make Up Geek Cocoa Bear.
Coco bear make up geek ,brown script,the second lightest matte shade in the vanity palette, saddle, texture by mac
not great for latina skin tones that are dark, shimmers are best for darker tones and I like retrospeck by MAC
reeeally gorgeous! this is my favourite product! wow