5 Eye Shadows Best Suited for South Asian Skin

The eyes can be described as the window to the soul. Eyes are often seen as the most striking feature, eye shadow is used to highlight and accentuate the eyes.

However, it is not always the easiest of tasks, to find a product that makes your eyes pop! With much to consider from; pigment quality, to fallout, to colour matching.

Are you a warm tone? Or a cool tone? Do you prefer shimmer or matte?

Having South Asian skin tones can make this experience all the more frustrating, as the precedent of the makeup industry has been to cater for caucasian skin tones.

We covered the best eye shadows for your makeup bag previously. Now we are honing in on South Asian skin specific eyeshadows. Thanks to makeup brands such as Rhianna’s ‘Fenty Beauty,‘ there is more diversity and colour range now available.

So, which is the best for South Asian skin tones? DESIblitz takes a closer look and highlights the 5 best eye shadows suited for South Asian skin.

Pat McGrath X The Met Mothership V Eye Palette – £100

Runway favourite beauty brand, Pat McGrath has been mastering eye shadow trends since the early 1990s. Having been a successful makeup artist who worked with models of varying ethnicities.

McGrath’s line is full of rich and bold colours built to suit all skin tones, including South Asian.

McGrath spoke to Allure in 2017 about her model muses:

“They are their own women, representing a mix of ethnicities, sizes, and backgrounds, they allow me to experiment and create the looks I dream of in my head.”

The reason, ‘The Met Mothership V Eye Palette’ has been selected over the other ample palette’s produced by McGrath, is due to the colour selection.

The pigment quality is supreme with McGrath’s products, there is minimal fallout, however, the colour selection should always be evaluated.

South Asian skin tones vary from neutral (between cool and warm) to warm.

So the shades in, ‘The Met Mothership V Eye Palette’ are the perfect selection.

The matte browns to deep okra shades would blend together to produce a wonderful smoke. Or used singularly as a good fall daytime eye.

The shimmers could be used in the corners and centres of the eyes to add a little splash of fun to your makeup look. ‘VR Fire Opal’ in the corner of an ‘Xtreme aubergine’ would create an enigmatic look.

This palette is a must-have for bold and dramatic eye shadow looks on South Asian skin.

Morphe X Jaclyn Hill Ring The Alarm Eyeshadow Palette – £15

Youtube Beauty blog sensation Jaclyn Hill teamed up with renown makeup brand  Morphe to produce a series of eye shadow palettes.

This warmer tone palette is particularly strong for Asian skin makeup users. The range of colours from berries to terracotta oranges means you can play around with this palette.

The mix of transitional mattes to the statement shimmers mean you can use this palette for daytime more simpler makeup looks. Or you could go full smoke, perfect for dramatic events such as a Desi wedding.

This palette has very little shadow fallout or kickback, which means there is minimal product waste. The pigment is extremely strong and it is recommended to blend a little at a time to build the coverage that is desired.

Pinks have been a trend within eye shadow and fashion of late, the pop of pink is very in. For this palette using ‘lolli’, ‘bomb a*s’ and ‘siren’ could blend together to make a pretty in pink eye look.

The colours, ‘mugshot’, ‘framed’ and ‘secret’ could also be blended to create a very intense and sultry matte eye shadow look.

Due to the warm tones within this palette, the selection of shimmers and mattes as well as the strong pigment, this eye shadow palette would work well with South Asian skin tones.

With the price being set at £15 it truly is a steal!

Huda Beauty Desert Dusk Palette – £56

Made by a woman of colour, Huda Kattan is a self-made makeup mogul. She understood the need for good quality products that ranged across skin tones early on.

The ‘Desert Dusk‘ palette is inspired by colours of the Arabian. Lots of jewel-toned shimmers, metallics and sandy mattes. This palette is a must-have for most makeup lovers.

The range of options for eye shadow looks is endless with this palette. Huda Beauty is known for producing high, quality and high pigmented product.

The ‘Desert Dusk‘ palette offers no less, the glitter shades are truly glittery products, that reflect beautifully in light and make for a striking look.

This palette again encompasses warm browns, oranges, reds as well as light to dark purples which would all set beautifully on South Asian skin. The range of dry to shimmery shadows makes this a comprehensive buy.

This palette would be great for crafting event looks, such as birthdays, weddings or even office parties.

This would be a great palette to purchase if you are new to the beauty world.

Due to its range of colours, eye shadow types and quality, it gives you the room to experiment and learn what works best for you.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance Palette – £43

Anastasia Beverly Hills is in the makeup bag for any beauty lover. This makeup line is known for their amazing eye shadow palettes and contour kits.

The envy of many, Anastasia Beverly Hills has been producing rich, high-quality makeup products for clients that consist of celebrities, makeup artists and the general product.

Truly the product for all, their Modern Renaissance Palette, however, seemed the best for South Asian skin tones.

This palette notably contains more product than previous Anastasia Beverly Hills palettes with more eye shadows made available.

With a good balance between mattes and shimmers, this eye shadow palette contains extremely satiny, silky, smooth and easy to apply shadows.

‘Raw Sienna‘, ‘Burnt Orange’ and ‘Buon Fresco‘ are particularly impactful colours which could work as singles or transitional shades.

This eye shadow palette includes more taupes, golds, oranges and pinks. These colours while all in a romantic colour selection, can be used in a very bold way by pairing and smoking out, however, they can also be played down.

So if you prefer to use a more muted eye shadow look this palette has that ability as well as the versatility to be dramatic.

Urban Decay Born To Run Palette £39.50

Last but certainly not least, the Urban Decay ‘Born To Run‘ palette is a serious find. 

The ‘Born To Run’ palette pairs some truly awe-inspiring jewel tones in its shimmers. Whilst also providing pigmented nudes and transitional shades.

Some of the most reflective and enchanting shimmers are, ‘wanderlust’, ‘guilt trip’, ‘double life’ and ‘wildheart’.

There is a healthy variance of brown eye shadows to allow for a natural looking smoke upon South Asian skin. Whilst the shimmers and transition shades also settle smoothly on South Asian skin tones.

‘Baja’ is a wonderfully burnt orange eye shadow which would play up the warm tone of South Asian skin perfectly.

This can be used singularly or smoked out with a brown shade such as, ‘riff’ or ‘good as gone’. Depending on your preference for the intensity of the smoke either shade would work wonderfully.

The palette has minimal kickback whilst the products are highly pigmented and long lasting. Urban Decay known for creating master eye shadow palettes have done so once again.

This palette is for those who enjoy playing around with makeup, opting for bold and bright makeup looks.

Once you have figured out which colours suit your skin-tone best eyeshadows can be such fun to play with. You can be quirky and adventurous or sultry and captivating.

With the right eyeshadows at your disposal, you can unleash your creativity and create your own individual eye shadow look.