Best Mac Eyeshadow For Dark Skin

Eyeshadow Looks For Dark Skin
Best Mac Eyeshadow For Dark Skin Gray
Best Mac Eyeshadow For Dark Skin Tone Skin
Eyeshadow For Brown Skin

Read ALL about my review process including how I take swatches, photos, and more here.

Heyyyy, party people!

Today we’re getting into the best neutral eyeshadow palettes for dark skin. I’m contemplating making a makeup basics video on how to nail your eye makeup every time—if you’d be interested in seeing that, leave me a comment—make sure you’re subscribed to my Youtube channel!

Now let’s get into this post!

Vanilla: a MAC best seller. Vanilla is an ivory shade with very fine gold glitter, so fine it barely shows on the skin. It’s a MAC Velvet, so it has a sheer finish. This eyeshadow is perfect placed under the tail of the brow to brighten the eyes, but also in the inner corner to make your eyes look more awake. A simple staple for ladies with a light brown complexion is MAC’s, Kid eyeshadow. You can use it by itself to create a natural look, or in combination with a dark smoky eye to smooth out the creases and blend it into your natural skin tone. 17 Ground Brown Ground Brown is the ideal brown eyeshadow!

The BEST Neutral Eyeshadow Palettes for Dark Skin

Pre-arranged eyeshadow palettes can be awesome because they can save you time, space, and in some cases money. Neutral eyeshadow palettes can be even more attractive since many of them can go with a multitude of makeup looks. BUT when you have a gorgeous, deliciously rich chocolate complexion an eyeshadow palette that doesn’t contain a majority of shades that show up well and can be used in a variety of your makeup looks, it’s useless and a waste of money. And what we NOT gone do is waste money.

Over the years I’ve tested a gazillion makeup products and the shadow palettes in this post are among the BEST neutral eyeshadow palettes for dark skin.

Keep reading to find the best shadows for dark skin tones! Levy says almost all shades in the neutral category will flatter dark complexions as long as the finish is a soft shimmer or demi-matte. “I recommend steering clear of any light shades in a matte finish, such as a bone or cream-colored shadow, as they can appear mismatched and stark.
The deep bronze shimmer in this shadow gives the perfect amount of depth and warmth to darker skin tones, he says. Apply it with a damp eye shadow brush for a more pigmented, dramatic effect.
I just wanted to share with you my top 20 MAC eyeshadows for every skin tone and the brand that made me fall in love with makeup!

NOTE: Should you come across neutral eyeshadow palettes that have very similar colors to the palettes shown in this post, there’s a chance those are amazing for dark skin, too.

Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette

I have a love-hate relationship with the brand due to their lack of deeper complexion products for deeper skin tones. They can also do a much better job of showcasing deeper skin tones in their social media posts and campaigns. But I’d be lying if I told you I haven’t been using the Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette HEAVILY over the last maybe 2-3 years since the brand sent the palette to me in a press mailing…lol. I LOVE this eyeshadow palette and use it VERY often when I do my makeup.

What makes it great is there are a good amount of medium-toned and deeper-toned matte neutrals mixed in with beautiful golds, bronzes, and plums. There isn’t a single color in here that wouldn’t work well on darker skin plus you can create a myriad of both day and night looks from this palette. I also especially love this palette because I don’t have to reach for any other eyeshadows when I use it (except I dropped mine and the matte beige shade broke so I *do* use MAC Tete-a-Tint eyeshadow to replace it). The shadows also have great pigmentation and yes, it really does smell like chocolate—ok, more like hot cocoa powder…lol.

See swatches of this palette here

NYX Cosmetics Warm Neutrals

This is another amazing palette that I can get many great eyeshadow looks from without reaching for any other shadows or palettes. It has a great amount of medium-toned and darker-toned neutrals that are on the warmer side. I could basically copy and paste all the reasons why I love the Too Faced Chocolate Palette and put them here…lol. Of course the NYX palette has warmer neutrals and if you’re conscious about space either for vanity or travel reasons, this one is smaller and more portable.

Eyeshadow Looks For Dark Skin

See swatches of this palette here

Urban Decay Naked

Naked 1, 2, AND 3 are all great neutral eyeshadow palettes for dark skin. Out of the three I personally love Naked 3 the most. Naked 3 contains rosy neutrals and while some of the shades are lighter in this palette than in the previous two from this list, they’re pigmented enough to work on dark skin (and plus I’m hoping you would use colors like that in an eyeshadow combo—please don’t wear for example, a shade like Strange from Naked 3 as a single wash of color—I mean, nobody’s stopping you from doing that, but please know a color like that looks more amazing when paired with another deeper color).

See swatches of Naked 1, 2, and 3 here

MAC Burgundy Times Nine

This palette offers nine gorgeous shades that lean more on the pinkier side. Quickly eyeing it, you might think it looks like the NYX Warm Neutrals palette since it has similar colors, but the MAC palette swings closer to the cooler side. It’s like a second cousin of the Naked 3 but with deeper shades.

Like the other palettes I mentioned here, this one also has pigmented shadows, and you can also use this ONE palette without having to reach for any other shadows.

Honorable Mention: Sleek MakeUP Au Naturel Palette

So I LOVED this palette and it met all the criteria I described above to make it great for dark skin. I hit pan on a few shades and bought a new palette to replace it/have a back up when I visited London back in 2014. The new palette didn’t seem to be the same—not sure if Sleek MakeUp sells a different version on the US site as what’s stocked in London stores or if they changed the formula or what happened. You can see more about this palette including pics and swatches here and here.

So these were my picks for the BEST neutral eyeshadow palettes for dark skin! I included pre-arranged palettes here, but don’t forget you can create your own custom eyeshadow palettes from brands like MAC, NYX Cosmetics, Make Up For Ever, etc.