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Rant & Rave: Shimmery White Eyeshadow

This Week’s Topic: Shimmery White Eyeshadow

Share: Tell us what you love, hate, or are otherwise indifferent to about shimmering white eyeshadow. Do you use it? How so?

my answer: I can only use it as a lid color, as it is too stark on my brow bone. I like using shimmering white eyeshadows against blues, teals, and purples.

Thanks to Amy for today’s question!

29 Comments

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Elena Avatar

I like to use it on the lid as well, sometimes in my inner corner because it can be too shiny, I rather put up a beige there same with my browbone, If my intention is to make it dramatic then I would do white shimmery highlighter…It all depends, but I prefer that on my lid to brighten up my eyes.

Stacey Avatar

They look pretty tested swatch. They look terrible on my eye. Never use it on my brow. Look like a porn star on my brow bone. I have UD shadows only…Uzi, zephyr, etc. I wouldnt buy them separately otherwise.

Kelly B. Avatar

100% agree with Mirian.

Another use I’ve found (color is in multiple palettes) is to complete my eyeshadow then tap a very light amount in the center of the lid to bring light and open my eye. I cannot even see the white shadow…just the effects…unless I’m heavy handed.

KaseyCannuck Avatar

My teen daughter likes using white usually with black or bright blue eyeliner. She rarely wears any eyeshadow unless its to a party or a concert, and she’s pale enough to get away with it.

For me, white = reverse raccoon eyes. Its just too stark.

Mariella Avatar

It’s weird how some shimmery whites will work for me and others, that appear much the same in the pan end up looking garish beyond belief. For example, the shimmery white “eyelid” colour in Wet n Wild’s Walking on Eggshells trio (that whole trio is shimmery) looks great on the inner tear duct area for me (and I can use it on the centre of my lids too, to highlight/emphasize that area) but other similar shades just don’t work.

R0saL1n3 Avatar

Inner corner highlight to open up my beady little eyes. Otherwise it is just too much for my little eyes. But holidays is coming up and that means parties so I might try it with a golden color, green, dark purple, or blue. I’m kinda loving green at the moment so I might just use a yellowish cream shadow as base underneath the white and green. Okay, gotta go experiment with the colors 😉

xamyx Avatar

It really depends on the shadow, and the overall look. My HG is Revlon Pure Pearl, which I found at Big Lots a couple of years back, and bought them *all* (5-6). It’s more of a pearly sheen, and when sheered out, it just imparts an amazing glow, which I use a brow/inner-corner highlight. I’m so light that it actually blends well, while more “flesh-tones” just don’t show up well, and can lean too pink or yellow. Also, if I’m using a pale silver, lavender, etc, I like to have an even paler shade as a highlight.

Sparkly whites, on the other hand, can tend to look a bit harsh, especially if they’re difficult to sheer out or have any glitter.

As for looking “dated”, I think it depends on other factors, such as style/aesthetic, skintone/coloring, etc.

Julia B. Avatar

I am super pale so I use shimmery white eyeshadows as browbone highlighters or highlighters in general. It’s one of the relative “positives” to being pale because shimmery eyeshadows are nowhere near as expensive as highlighters which tend to look like blush or shimmery dirt on me.

Miss J Avatar

I really only use white shadow of any kind to highlight the inner corner or the center of the lid. If I use it on the browbone, it is placed just right at the highest point of the arch and blended with a less stark highlight. I like using it with cooler colors, usually. I don’t own two many whites. I have MAC Vellum, which is a white with a violet-blue reflect, and I use this mostly as a transformative shade. I recently bought Wet n Wild Unplugged, which is a soft, satiny, glowy white with a bit of sparkle; it makes a great inner corner highlight/center of lid highlight. There’s also the velvet/matte white in the LORAC palette I have, which I haven’t used, yet.

JGR Avatar

If I were paler I’d like it. Even at my palest I’m still an NC25/NC30 and I find that white is too ashy on me. Gold is much more versatile for all skintones, IMHO.

Jade Avatar

I don’t use them too often, but they can look good tapped on the inner corner. I have a ridiculously pigmented white shadow from Ben BYE which always surprises me when I use it!

Veronica Avatar

I like it, though oddly enough, I don’t own too many of them. I’m quite fair, but I prefer to use very pale, matte beiges on my brow bone rather than anything with shimmer. Very occasionally, I’ll use UD Virgin on the brow bone if I’m doing a very dark look and need more illumination there, but that’s more vanilla/beige than true white. I generally prefer using them on the lid, especially as the shade hugging the inner corner and blending into a more colorful gradient. UD’s Polyester Pride is actually quite lovely on – it’s just the fallout that makes it a pain to use.

Lark Avatar

I look at make up on people on TV- that big screen reveals all! Seen some lovely work done with shimmery white and super pale ES. I’ve got an untouched Solar White, Maybe I’ll try it out.
Lid color only, shimmer on browbones is a distraction. I’ve been thinking more confute textures for browbones and pictures do not lie! Better.

So many colors, so few eyes…..

Jax Avatar

When I was younger I did a Marilyn inspired style eye with shimmery white eye shadow over the whole eye lid, dark eye brows and deep fuchsia lips. I don’t tend to do anything quite that dramatic these days.

I occasionally use it as a highlighter (brow, centre lid or tear ducts) because I’m very pale so it doesn’t look too harsh.

I mostly use it as a modifier on other colours, I’ve always had one in my kit and consider it a staple like a good black.

Elka Moses Avatar

I love shimmery white shadow to use as a highlight on the tear duct, occasionally all over the lid, and even as a cheek highlight – my all time favorite is Maybelline vanilla shimmer, it really is outstanding for being such an inexpensive product and outperforms my more expensive shadows. I love layering it over Nyx Jumbo pencil in milk for the inner corner. For the brown bone, I like using Urban decay virgin since its more muted.

Leslie Avatar

I used to wear UD oyster as a highlighter. I saw a video my husband made when I went to the hospital with false labor. Between the icy white of the oyster and too dark eyebrows…eeegad! I looked about 20 years older. Now I’m much more careful with the brows and have shunned icy white altogether.

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