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Have you noticed? These days, eye makeup is more like doing fractions and less like, well, makeup. “Add the darkest shade on 1/3 of the eye and use the medium shade for 2/3 of the eyelid. Grab your eyeliner and hold it at a 45-degree angle parallel to your deepest regret”. Wearing eye makeup or applying eye shadow should not be this complicated in your 30s. Mostly because we don’t have the time or the energy to use such brainpower on the color of our eyelids. The best eyeshadows for your 30s should be easy to apply. And they shouldn’t require any math!
We haven’t even made peace with our body’s ever-growing whining. And it’s difficult for us to accept that our face, including our eye area, is changing. And eyeshadow palettes with 36 different shades are not helping!
If you’ve been wearing makeup regularly, you must’ve noticed that it doesn’t look as sleek in your 30s. We get wrinkles and fine lines around the eyes.
Our eyelids look veiny for some reason. And slathering on a thousand colors topped with black winged eyeliner just makes things worse.
It’s always fun to experiment with makeup in your 30s and try different looks with different colors. But realistically speaking, they’re not the most natural looks you can wear every day.
As you navigate your 30s, you tend to wean yourself off heavy base makeup. And you focus more on your eyes and lips. That’s a great way to enhance your natural beauty.
And finding a soft, natural eyeshadow can help you with creating effortless looks you can wear every day. Your eye shadow should be uncomplicated and ideally not require a dozen brushes.
For that, below are the best eyeshadows for your 30s to create natural and elegant looks.
Nars Single Eyeshadow in Sophia
One-and-done eyeshadows are so practical and easy to use. You only use one shade over the eyelids to wake up the eyes and that’s it. They’re great for creating natural looks without wearing too many colors on your face.
They’re not about re-shaping the eyes with makeup but about a simple wash of color to jazz up your look. You can always get more single shadows and mix and match between them. But a single color is always elegant, flattering, and practical.
And this is a great eyeshadow single with tens of different colors. This matte shade is brown and is the ultimate shade to use with a bronzer. You can go ahead and skip base makeup and just use this shade and a warm bronzer to complete your look.
Charlotte Tilbury Eyes To Mesmerize Cream Eyeshadow in Rose Gold
Cream eye shadows are easy to blend and always look more natural than powder ones. You don’t even need a brush. You just dab the cream over the eyelids and swipe it a couple of times and you’re done.
This pretty eyeshadow is incredibly flattering for 30-somethings. It almost feels like whipped cream. This particular shade is a shimmery pink that makes the eye area look more youthful instantly.
The shimmer is soft and elegant as opposed to sparkly and glittery. It’s the perfect vibrant finish to create dewy makeup looks.
Urban Decay Naked Heat Eyeshadow Palette
Crow’s feet are not the only wrinkles we deal with in our 30s. Our eyelids also look more wrinkled. Applying shades that are too bold and in contrast with each other makes those wrinkles more visible. Using warm colors wakes up the eyes without drawing too much attention to the area.
If you’re into palettes, you might as well go for this one. It has both shimmery and matte colors all of which are super flattering for any eye color. You can mix and match and create detailed looks as well.
But you can also use lighter shades as eyeshadows and darker shades as eyeliners to define the shape of your eyes. Either way, the palette is a great multi-use eye palette you can use in your 30s.
Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Shadow in Khaki
This is a multi-tasking pencil and it’s going to be your new staple. The eyeshadow pencil doubles as an eyeliner to define the eyes, use on your waterline, or smudge out your eyeshadow. There is a variety of colors in both shimmery and matte shades.
This shimmery shade is a greyish-brown that looks super flattering on green-blue eyes. It can be built up to create more dramatic looks and can also be toned down by blending in to create softer looks.
Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Cream Shadow Stick in Nude Beach
Speaking of pencils, this is a cream eyeshadow stick with an amazing velvety feel. Every single shade in the line is a natural-looking color that can be your base color or complementing shade.
Just apply the stick directly onto the eyelids and you don’t even need to blend or play with it. It just neutralizes any discolorations on the eyelids. Plus, they last super long, stay put all day, and are suitable for sensitive eyes well.
Makeup By Mario Master Mattes Eyeshadow Palette
When in doubt, go matte. Because shimmer can be tricky. Even though the right dewy, wet shimmer looks more youthful and lively, the wrong shimmer can magnify wrinkles and won’t help with hooded eyes or droopy eyelids.
If gravity has caught up, go for a matte finish to blur out wrinkles around the eyes. This palette is all matte and neutral to enhance your natural beauty in the most sophisticated way.
You can mix and match for full-glam looks. Because it’s amazing for classy smokey eyes and the best matte eyeshadow palette for your 30s. But you can always use brown shades for lining your eyes.
As an eyeliner color, brown looks much softer than black. In fact, too much black is a common makeup mistake that makes you look older. So just grab an angled brush and dip it into one of the brown colors and apply it as you’d apply eyeliner.
Morphe Earth To Babe 7-Piece Bamboo Eye Brush Set
You don’t have to get an eyeshadow brush to use your eyeshadow. It’s never essential. Because you can always use your fingers and blend however you like.
But one advantage of eye makeup brushes is the ability to create more detailed looks by smudging, smoking out, or lining.
So if you prefer using brushes instead of your fingers, this set has all the essentials. You can create any look and define your eyes in the most precise way possible. The quality set will make your eye makeup a breeze.
Read Next: The Best Moisturizers For Your 30s
