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Orange eyeshadow: Make-up experts on how to wear LFW’s biggest beauty trend

London Fashion Week
Orange eye make-up was a big factor at numerous LFW shows – including J. JS Lee [Photo PA]

It’s not just about the clothes at London Fashion Week, beautiful make-up looks were all over the catwalks. Over five days of reporting backstage and attending fashion shows, one beauty trend stood out in particular: Vibrant orange eyes were everywhere, ranging from a subtle burnt wash over the eye to ladylike coral lids or a bold neon stripe.

We never thought orange eye make-up would be one to lust over but these designer beauty looks have us desperate to try the trend and recreate the catwalk makeup at home.

But how do you make orange eye make-up look good? After to speaking to beauty experts, we discovered orange eyes can be surprisingly wearable, even for those of you who don’t normally wear colour on your eyelids. Just follow these simple tips and you’ll be rocking the coloured eyeshadow in no time.

Avoid taking too much shadow under the eye

Solo orange under the eye can risk looking like conjunctivitis, so unless you’re going to layer on lashings of mascara on your lower lashes, it’s best to avoid. At Fyodor Golan, Andrew Gallimore used Kiko High Pigment Wet & Dry Eyeshadows £6.90 to create a bold, fade effect statement towards the outer and inner parts of the eye.

These eyeshadows have a dual intensity, just use a damp eyeshadow brush for more vibrant pigment and a dry brush for a more subtle effect

Kiko High Pigment Wet & Dry Eyeshadow in #35
Kiko High Pigment Wet & Dry Eyeshadow in #35

Choose a colour that flatters your skin tone

If you have pale skin, opt for apricot shades. Olive skin can carry off coral shades with a splash of pink and dark skin should try bright tangerine shades. Neon orange is actually very wearable on all skintones.

We loved the bright neon flashes seen at the Marta Jakubowski presentation, where models sported bold orange in the outer corners, teamed with graphic liner. Add in other neon colours too for the ultimate pop art look.

For a range of neon colours to play with, try Sleek Makeup i-Divine palette in Ultra Matte Brights £8.99

Maintain the natural definition of your eyes

Block colour over the eye can have the tendency to remove definition and make eyes look washed out. The trick is to keep the rest of your eye looking defined by using eyeliner and mascara. Models at House of Holland sported a wash of orange using The Body Shop Eye Colour stick £8 in a new shade (Bali Sunstone – coming in-store in July)

To add definition, Ciara O’Shea, Global Makeup Artist for The Body Shop, used the Striking Eye Definer £8.99 in Green, Pink & Purple all over the top lid and added an eye-opening splash of pearl pink glitter in the inner corners.


Show off your shade using other colours.

Backstage at Mark Fast, Lisa Potter-Dixon, Head Makeup Artist at Benefit Cosmetics, used the new GALifornia blush £24.50 with a damp brush to create a bold top lashline. She then clashed the coral lids with blue They’re Real! Lengthening mascara £19.50.

But why blue? Lisa told us that blue mascara does more than just complement the coral tones, it actually makes our eyes look brighter. Ideal if your face is in need of a pick me up in the morning!

The key Benefit products used at Mark Fast (Photo: Yahoo!Style)
The key Benefit products used at Mark Fast (Photo: Yahoo!Style)

We’re new to coloured mascara so, using another tip from Lisa, we layered on normal black mascara first and then applied blue mascara just at the ends. Applying blue mascara like this made them immediately more wearable, with a subtle flash of colour every time we blinked. Coral lids and blue mascara, sounds like a recipe for disaster but we loved it – who’d have thought?

We tried the Mark Fast look at home and it’s surprisingly wearable – what do you think?
We tried the Mark Fast look at home and it’s surprisingly wearable – what do you think?

Is orange eyeshadow a trend you’d like to try? Do you normally wear coloured eyeshadow? Tweet us your thoughts @YahooStyleUK.

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