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Love those warm khakis and greens. Great selection.
Thanks, Lily!
I love pastel tones, but I can’t pull them off at all – though I make do with wearing them on my nails. The two Makeup Geek ones listed here look pretty and would probably work on me though!
At least you can wear ’em on your nails! 🙂 Have you ever tried applying a pastel shade on the center of the eye and flanking with more contrasting shades?
No, thanks for the rec! I’m still pretty tame when it comes to eyeshadow, but part of the fun is experimenting and stepping out of my comfort zone, so I may have to try it.
OMG! You can read my mind. ‘Course many of your readers were trying to mock up a light/pastel set, once the Sephora $^cked out loud. Too funny, bec. I had cruised both MUFE & MUG, and wdyk, it’s the same 8. Should have predicted that you’d do the work for me, you always do. I wish I could read your mind, bec. it would save me considerable time. Thanks so much for these, and can’t wait for the cools. You really are the Awesome-most!
lol! Thanks, KJH! Make Up For Ever seems to be the best if you’re in the mood for pastels – they consistently HAD them in the permanent range AND they were better than not.
The vast majority of these are superfantastic examples of my makeup don’ts 😀
What about MAC beautiful iris. I think it’s cool tho…. argh.
Tomorrow? 😀
I’m really liking Fantasy, In the Spotlight, Meadow Green and Electric Stardust. I find pastel greens easier to wear, along with peaches especially if they’re warm-toned.
I agree! Pastel greens are easier to wear than some other shades, probably like pastel yellow.
Aaaah so many lovely choices here!!! MUFE Sour looks oh so pretty! I have a thing for greens.
Lots of pastel-y greens here!
That Linden Green shadow from MUFE looks really nice. I don’t know how I’ve missed it but I can bet 100% it’s because of the numbering system used in-store…I can’t find anything at all and so many of the MUFE shadows end up looking the same in the store lighting. If I had to choose a “warmer toned” pastel (I still struggle with warm and cool and would have thought Linden Green was a cooler green!), I’d go with MAC All That Glitters, Naked Lunch and Dazzlelight.
The numbering system is tough, because it is a large range, and then just made harder because the names are rarely attached to them in stores, from what I have heard!
I’ve never seen the names in-store (Sephora’s the only store here that carries MUFE). The sales people aren’t at all aware of the names or that there even are names (though I believe it was Sephora that came up with the naming idea). If they’d have a chart in store (even something you need to consult the SA’s about, rather than a ratty old chart taped up for the public), it really would make things so much easier.
Don’t beat yourself up! Sephora only carries like two dozen in-store, and they’re mostly neutrals and a few pops of color. The only way to see the full range in person is to visit a MUFE boutique. 🙂
I really like your picks here, Christine! I have and love MUFE I318 Linen Khaki and I330 Linden Green. I would add I414, Yellow Ivory, and ME202 Iceberg Blue. I need to get I332 Meadow Green; I got D334 Apple Green, a brighter green (which I love), instead, but I really want both. I also got ME338 Acidic Green (which I also love) instead of S336 Lime.I should try S314 Nile Green; I was actually afraid it might be too blue of a green for me, but maybe not, if you’re calling it a warm green. They do have a lot of gorgeous greens! I think I’d like to add Makeup Geek Fantasy to my collection, too. I’m glad you didn’t pick a whole bunch of pinks — it’s hard for me to wear a lot of pink- or red-tinged colors right around my eyes. I do like MUFE I918 Lavender, though.
MUFE seems to have the most variety in pastels and ones that perform better, I think!
**Oh, I love light/pastel greens, so spring-like! City Colors Shimmer Shadow in Hint of Mint is my fave for spring, but I also like Acid Rain in Vice Reloaded.
**Christine, were you able to check to see if NARS Tarvos is similar to combining the 2 shades in Tom Ford Raw Jade? If so , I’m going to skip Tarvos because I already have Raw Jade. Thanks!
I don’t think it would, since both shades in Tom Ford are yellow/olive based and Tarvos is cooler in tone, more aqua.
Ok, great thanks for checking! It’s just as I feared, I will need to add Tavros to my wishlist, and I’ve been looking everywhere for a Kari dupe, but no luck yet. Sigh, where’s Colour Pop when you need them??? So it looks like my wallet is going to take a big hit, but at least I’ll look good LOL
I LOVE the MUFE shadows(own 26 of them) and have recently been wanting to add some lighter colors to my collection. I’m NW43/NC45…have to mix them, and tend to use autumnal shades the most. Have been considering the exact greens and yellow that you’ve showcased. Thanks, Christine!
My pleasure, Mary!
I really love your picks above, especially those gorgeous greens and a yellow by MUFE! Pastels aren’t exactly easy for me to pull off, unless I balance them out with deeper and or contrasting shades. But right now, I am enjoying my MAC Silver Sun as a complex, warmer minty shade! Also love using MAC Arena with Texture for a pretty peachy eye look, UD Fireball is another one I love for that purpose.
I like pastels with brights or darker, more contrasting shades as you mentioned!
I have some pastel shades from ColourPop I got at the beginning of the summer (who knows why, they’re fairly strictly spring shades). Snap Dragon, In A Pickle, Eye Candy, Cowboy, although In A Pickle is the only truly warm-toned one out of the bunch. I also have and love MUG Spotlight.
Those are fun shades (from ColourPop)! I wish more of them were permanent!
Me too! Especially because they’re so unique, and of better quality than most pastels. They’d really be filling a big gap in the general eyeshadow market.
There are so many great picks here! That Lime by Makeup Forever really caught my eye.
It is a pretty one 🙂
Pastels aren’t my favorites, but these are all lovely. The MUFE greens are gorgeous. The only one I have out of these is Sour, but I love it.
Some of my favorite warm pastels: ColourPop Sour, Fizz (neon pastel is a thing, right?), and Animal. Nyx Prismatics in Mermaid and Golden Peach. ABH Isla, Orange You Fancy, Blushing, and China Rose. Too Faced Macaron, Blue Raspberry, and Nice Stems. MAC Lucky Green. UD Fireball, Freak
Sour is fun! I’m with you on neon pastels. At this point, I don’t think we can narrow down to “strictly pastel” and come up with a good list, LOL!
I love that Fantasy green colour from MUG. I tend not to go into pastel coloured shades, but I do own a few mint ones. They are probably cooler toned.
Thank you for the list, it is helpful.
Happy to share, Genevieve!
Don’t care for a single one.
I’m sorry to hear that! Would you mind sharing some favorites that you’ve tried if these are all poor in your experience?
The L’Oreal is nice! I might have to look for it.
I hope you can find it!
Oooh! I may have to pick up MUFE Linen Khaki and Linden Green.
They’re really lovely!
If you count these pastels they are staples for me. Whites/Creams, Pale milky beige, Mustard, Peach. Cool shades are tomorrow I guess?
I think always pearly pink, Nile green, Electric Stardust and Fantasy cool toned but all the above are great ones I enjoy minus the last two. I don’t have them. Fun picks! I’m still enjoying last fall and winter tbh. Newer Tom Ford Cream colors are exceptions. ?
Yes, cool-toned tomorrow.
I’ve seen so many beautiful looks created with colors like these… I go to re-create them and they just… don’t. LOL I do like Fantasy. I use it as a center highlight color for a contrast but that’s about it.
Maybe try pairing it with slightly more contrasting shades than what you’ve seen? That is the only tip I have, unfortunately!
Dear Christine. thanks for,your blog. Love it. I wonder if you could help me with my never ending search ever since I tried a wet and wild holiday trio years ago. A similar shade was in their 8 pan Comfort Zone, it is the top right color… but W&W make me itch! The shade is a light sandy, peuter gold, very hard tompin down and search for except in person. I am trying to match that colors intensity, smoothness and awesomeness ever since. Do you have a comparison post like this for that type of color? Benefits birthday suit is a pretty good match, and a LE Mac called Jaunty had a similar color but was less smooth, less intense a bit lighter too. Thanks for any help!
Hi Dana,
You could try Inglot #350. It is a pewter-shade, so you could also search for swatches in the Swatch Gallery for Eyeshadow > Pewter > Permanent. In the future, please submit off-topic questions via the “Contact Us” form as I really try to keep the comments on each post relevant to the post’s topic 🙂 Thank you so much!
I have a great deal of difficulty with pastels. I continue to experiment to try to come up with looks that don’t seem washed-out or chalky, but my solidly yellow/gold skin seems to push every pastel in a bad direction. I’ve been most successful with khakis, yellows, and golds (since they can blend back into my skin or work as skintone highlighters). I also do well with pale, lightly grayed, sky-like blue since it’s very close to my eye color, but I just use it as a thin line (blended out) near my lashline on “no makeup” days as it gives me a more awake and rested look. I’m working diligently at trying to get the warm greens to work for me. I don’t think I’d call either of the yellows you listed “pastel” (which you mentioned), but I really like the looks of “Straw Yellow.”
It is interesting that warmer greens don’t seem to work on your skin tone, Alecto. Which ones have been the hardest to use that you have?
The only two warm pastel greens that I have are indie — Everest from Blackbird Cosmetics and Bringers of the First from Notoriously Morbid. They both make me look … bloodless? I thought about it for a long time and decided that khaki-like warm green is basically an ashen version of my skin — so probably what my skin would look like if I were … dead? Sorry if that sounds terribly morbid.
On a significantly less creepy note, warm *dark* greens seem to work very well for me, though I only have them in eyeliner form. I did use “Bitterness Is A Paralytic” (light shimmery warm green) eyeshadow from Aromaleigh yesterday and it turned out okay, but it was layered over a darker color which gave it more depth.
I just realized that it looks like I said I had only two pastel greens, then listed a third. I don’t consider “Bitterness” a true pastel, though it would fit nicely into your list. And the greens I appear to have a problem with are the tan-ish or khaki-ish greens. I haven’t given up.
I have many greens, none of thers, though. I would love to have Sour, I suppose it’s some subconcious thing, as I can’t but colour Pop here 🙂
Here’s hoping 2016 is the year ColourPop opens up distribution!
I have a Lancome mousse formula shadow that’s about the same shade as the L’Oreal pink there. It’s DC now, but it’s one of those I reach for when I just want a quick, perk-me-up look.
Awesome 🙂
Oh! And MUFE Aqua Eyes shadow stick in Diamond Peach (forget the number, lol). Sparkly goodness.
Sounds pretty!!