Archived Post
5 Cool Brown Eyeshadows to Try
It’s actually hard to find a cool-toned brown that’s permanent AND not only available in a palette. No wonder so many readers are waiting desperately for a brand to release a truly cool-toned set of neutrals! What are your favorites?
- MAC Mystery — a medium-dark, neutral-to-cool brown with a matte finish
- NARS Bali — a dark brown with subtle, cool undertones
- Inglot #363 — a plummy brown with cool undertones and a matte finish
- Inglot #326 — a burgundy brown with cool undertones and a matte finish
- Ulta Mink — a cool-toned brown with a satin finish
A colour dear to my heart. My faves: Mac Brun and Charcoal Brown; Bobbi Brown Saddle and Mahogany (the name suggest red but it’s not red at all); Too Faced Erotica and Sexpresso and I have to include the bottom, darkest shade in Guerlain’s Les Fumes quad (Christine, do you have this quad? the colours in it seem like dupes for so many of the shadows you review but I never see it mentioned in the dupes)
I don’t think I have Les Fumes… Chances are not if I don’t have a review for it, lol!
Would you consider getting it, do you think? I think it’s one that is really worth reviewing and it’s also permanent.
Not at the moment – I’m trying to avoid buying any more palettes that are permanent until I actually get through some of my backlog. Spring was all blush. Summer/fall feels like all palettes! I’m trying to prioritize limited edition palettes followed by some of the more requested permanent palettes. I will definitely keep it in mind! 🙂
That second Inglot brown is absolutely gorgeous <3
Agreed!
Does Bobbi Brown Slate count? I use that one all the time!
Sure does!
The NARS and Inglot shades look perfect!
Seems like the Inglot shades are popular picks!
Liking both the inglot browns! I really like browns with red in them..wish more of the neutral palettes contained shades with red tones versus orange.
I was honestly surprised at just how FEW cool-toned browns there were that are *permanent* and available as singles. Not sure why more brands don’t do them.
I’ve had a sales assistant / makeup artist recommend I use grey shades rather than brown because I’m cool toned, perhaps that has something to do with it?
Could be!
This is my favorite neutral set you’ve done! Cool browns are the best crease shade on me – and they work really well to offset any warmer shade on the eye.
The favorite of my collection is NYX Haywire, which is a matte brown. Hopefully, it was red discontinued when they reformulated the range. The NYX Butt Naked palette also had a few cool browns in it. And, uh, that’s it in my collection. You’re right about them being really hard to find!
I was really surprised to see how rare they were 🙁
LOL, ain’t nobody no the struggle like the cool toned. :p
I have to get my hands on those two Inglot eyeshadows!
They’re awesome!
I really like the ingot ones!
And they’re so budget-friendly!
Ooh, I’ve been waiting for this post! I haven’t been able to find a cool-toned brown. The closest is maybe Inglot #344 (but then some might categorize it as plum).
Inglot #363, MAC Mystery, and NARS Bali look nice! The NARS Bali tester in my nearby Sephora seemed lighter though (more like brownish taupe).
They are way harder to find than I thought!
L’Oréal has a couple of singles that are truly amazing, and less than $5 each! Deep Mocha & Antique Brown are both richly pigmented, buttery matte singles from the Wear Infinite line. Deep Mocha has an almost “pinky/rosy” tone, where Antique Brown leans more “purply/grey”. Both are definitely worth checking out, especially because they are sooo inexpensive!
L’Oréal Infallible in Continuous Cocoa is nice, too, although not high in pigmentation, but there are times I want a softer look.
The dark brown in the Black Radiance Downtown Browns is a deep black-brown, with an almost iridescent micr-shimmer, and is gorgeous.
As someone mentioned above, the NYX Butt Naked palette has some nice shades, but the “original” one runs even cooler, and is definitely worth trying to track down!
I’ll have to try to check out those L’Oreal shadows!
The quads, and to a lesser extent, the duos, can be quite hit-and-miss, but I’ve had excellent experiences over the years with the singles. Whether shimmery or matte, they’re always smooth & pigmented, especially for a DS brand.
Love the Nars eyeshadow!
Yay!
MAC Mystery is a fave of mine, especially for brows. Brun’s another good one, along with Urban Decay Backdoor (from the Smoked Palette; wish it was permanent!).
Mystery is nice 😀
yep those inglot shades are stunning . You are so righf truely cool browns are under represented in the market. I love my naked3 but its not really “cool” like it was labeled by many
It’s not truly cool-toned!
Nice, especially those last two. So rich.
So true 🙂
Bobbi Brown Cocoa… an “ashy, plum brown.” (This one was a sleeper!)
Nice!
((((Christine)))) 😀 I love these little collections of different colour/undertone eyeshadows and blushes that you do! I feel like it’s harder to compare those products (for me) than it is with lipsticks, and of course I don’t have access to half the brands in real life to compare (website swatches being notoriously rubbish).
I love how those two Inglot ones are almost a bit purple! My favourite one in my own stash is probab ly Lancome Tres Chocolat, a matte shadw that’s most similar to NARS Bali in your lineup here. I use it in my brows too, as I find it really hard to get a brow powder that doesn’t lean warm, and isn’t too light or too dark for me.
I like MAC Brun for a slightly cooler-toned brown for brows!
I think I love the Ulta Mink colour – very rich.
Me too!
Gorgeous!! Inglot #363 is beautiful! I would love to see a list of cool brown liners, warm browns look red in my waterline for some reason.
Inglot has a lot of amazing shades of neutrals!
wet n’ wild nutty. 🙂
I still need to try that shade!
Sorry but cool browns? Most of those are not cool…. If it’s described as plummy or burgundy, and looks reddish, it’s *not* cool
Absolutely you can have something be red-toned and cool-toned – check out blue-based reds!