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Rant & Rave: Gold Eyeshadow

Tell us what you love and hate about...

Gold Eyeshadow

I think gold can be really brightening, both on the innter tear duct as well as on the center of the lid, flanked by darker shades. I wish there were more pewter-y/antique golds that were permanent available, as the typical yellow gold doesn’t always work for everyone.

— Christine

22 Comments

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Kate Avatar

I like that it can be really intense when wet, or really quite a subtle hint of gold. I like that the intensity can be changed up, depending on what color you use.
I agree with what you said, Christine. I wish there were more antique golds as well as more rose golds, as it would make blue eyes pop more. I feel antique and rose golds are usually a LE color, or often in palettes.

Kimberly Avatar

Rave: really brings out the brown in my eyes when used in the middle of the lid or like a liner, contrasting with a darker colour.
Rant: most gold shadows need either a packing brush or fingers to really bring out the metallic sheen. Also hard to pull off on a lazy shadow day.

Rachel R. Avatar

Rave: I like that I can get gold in anything from a light white gold to bright yellow gold to deep antique gold. I can find a version to fit any look. It can be used subtly to brighten the eyes, or dramatically to coat the lids in glamour. I like how it looks with my hazel/green eyes, especially green golds.

Rant: The more intense, metallic shades seem to only come out in fall in winter, and often they’re LE colors. I agree that it’s harder to find antique and rose golds, particularly as singles.

Ray Avatar

I agree that golds aren’t always versatile or as universally flattering as brands seem to think. I find that peach and champagne shimmers/sparkles are more forgiving on neutral and cool skin tones than you might expect; the instinct is to go for silver or white highlight shades but that’s a whole different effect.

Momo Avatar

Gold eyeshadows…love ’em! They compliment my skin tone really well. I’m a sucker for antique golds, true golds, aged golds (the one with a green undertone), rose golds, and golds that lean towards orange. Yellow and pale golds are fine, but it’s not my favorite. I usually use yellow/pale golds as tear duct or cheekbone highlights. I think the only time I ever like sparkle eyeshadow — which I normally avoid like the plague — is when they’re gold.

Favorite golds:
• MAC Woodwinked
• IMAN Nutmeg
• Lancôme Kitten Heel
• Stilazzi PS43
• MAC Girl Meets Boy
• MAC Pleasurepurr (tear duct)

Claire L Avatar

I love gold eyeshadows but can’t pull off a yellow gold one. If it’s paler or has pink or copper in it then I can. Gold nail polish however is a different story :-).

Katherine T. Avatar

Mostly raves, gold goes with everything (unless I’m wearing a silver of gray outfit), brightens up the eye, looks festive, can be subtle or dramatic, there’a gold color that looks good on everyone, can wear year round. Rant is sometimes there’s fall out and you end up looking like a disco ball

IRockFaces Avatar

I love gold shadows. It’s hard to find more antique golds so I usually mix mine with a bronze shade or something a little more muted like a pewter and blend them together. There are only two shades that I can wear as is any day of the week. Half baked from urban decay and amber lights by mac.

Nancy T Avatar

Personally, I love white-golds as in MAC LE Solar White (wish that was a permanent shade!), rose-golds like UD Trick and shades in Lorac Unzipped palette of that shade bring out the green in my eyes. And oh my, pewter-golds are stunning! A favorite of mine is the pewter-gold shade in Nars Kauai!
However, very yellow-golds can just fade into my yellowish skintone, though, unless they are super shimmery like L’Oreal Gold Imperial.

kellly Avatar

I’ve loved golds since I first started using makeup. They go well with my skin tone and I like the shine, too. I can’t think of any rant I have to say about golds. i love them.

Genevieve Avatar

Rave: Just love golds and those ones from Colour Pop are right up my alley. I actually prefer very pale golds than to using white on my eyes because it has a softer effect. My favourite gold is Half Baked from Naked 1. It will be the first colour in the palette that I will run out of.
Rants – none.

Kat Avatar

I love gold! It comes in so many different varieties, most people will be able to find something they like. I’m a total sucker for rose-golds especially, and shades somewhere in between copper and gold. I agree with you that there aren’t a ton of good antiqued or pewter gold shades.

Terra Avatar

I’m in the same boat where yellow golds don’t like my skin tone.
To date, my favorite gold in the world was the one from Urban Decay’s Glinda pallet, and the other half of the pan is silver.
I use it very sparingly.

Anne Avatar

Rant: I definitely agree about more antique/pewter gold types as those are my preferred versions (if I want a warm-toned metal shade I’ll go for bronze or copper).

Rave: Gold pigments on the eyes are some of the most classic looks we see (even through ancient history). From Old Hollywood glam to ancient dynasties we’ve seen the glint of gold. From a aesthetic perspective, I love how it warms up the face when used as a light wash of color on the lids and if amp-ed up is fantastic for special occasions.

Renè Avatar

I cannot live without gold eyeshadow. It is a part of my signature look and I use it with every style I possibly can. I love all types from the pure yellow gold, rose golds, white and champagne golds and even other colors with gold flecks. I love gold eye shadow, gold jewelry, all things gold! I have tan skin and yellow undertones so it’s also very flattering on me. There is nothing to rant negatively about gold!

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