When you have black hair and dark brown eyes, there's not too much that you can't pull off makeup-wise. You can do the smokiest of smoky eyes since your eyes are so dark and your hair acts as a frame to tie it all together. Your eye and hair color will similarly add balance to a defined, bright or bold lip. In contrast, it's almost effortless to take your bare-faced look to stunning with a few tips that will play up your natural beauty. The choices are endless!
Complement Your Skin Color
Glowing, gorgeous skin is the best canvas for any hair and eye color combination, so you'll want to enhance your skin color whether you're going for a natural or dramatic makeup look.
- Go to a makeup counter for help getting the perfect match for your skin. The goal is to even out your skin tone, hide blemishes, and make sure there's no obvious line where the makeup ends. Depending on your skin, you could achieve this with a BB cream, CC cream, or a sheer to medium coverage foundation.
- Follow up by applying a highlighting product with a subtle golden sheen, like Benefit's High Beam, to the tops of your cheekbones, bridge of your nose, and Cupid's bow to accentuate your beautiful complexion.
Enhance Your Eye Color
The key to making your eyes appear more intense is black eyeliner and mascara.
- Use a pencil, kohl, gel, or even eyeshadow to line your eyes. Always line the upper lid and the outer one-third to one-half of your lower lash line.
- Follow up with the blackest mascara you can find in a formula that volumizes and lengthens the lashes. Depending on how dramatic you want your look to be, you can define the waterline too.
Embrace Your Natural Beauty
There are several ways you can play up your gorgeous dark hair and eyes regardless of your skin tone. Your features can carry bolder shades very well, so don't be afraid to experiment.
Create Eyes That Sparkle
Using just liner and mascara on your eyes will give your dark eyes a subtle definition and barely-there drama. This combination will also make your eyes stand out and the whites of your eyes look even whiter:
- Smudge a little blackish-brown (if your skin is light-medium) or black (for medium to darker skin tones) eyeliner along your top lash line and the outer one-third of your lower lash line.
- Apply a pencil or kohl liner and then run over it with a cotton swab for a diffused, shadowy effect of naturally thick lashes.
- If your lids are oily, set the liner with a similar colored shadow.
- Put on a black lash-defining mascara to accent your eyes without looking overly made up.
Complete the Look
Your distinctive eyes can be toned down through the rest of your makeup for a natural, minimalistic look.
- For blush, try a peachy-pink that dazzles on almost everyone, like MAC's Springsheen or Ambering Rose.
- For your mouth, a neutral colored gloss that mimics the natural color of your lips would work the best. This allows the eyes to remain the focal point of your face and doesn't add any shocking color that would take this from natural to bold. Try L'Oreal's Extraordinaire by Colour Riche® in Rose Melody or Nude Ballet.
Accentuate Strong Eyes
Brown eyes look especially smoldering when paired with a smoky eye. The deeper your skin tone, the easier you can make the deepest of colors work for you.
Create Smoky Eyes
Smoky eyes are fun and straightforward to produce.
- If your skin is dark, you can sweep a black shadow from your lash line almost all the way up to the crease from the inner corner to the outer. Then fade it out with a lighter brown, pink, or other color you want to incorporate into your look.
- If your skin tone is lighter, try gray or taupe instead of black, then shade the lash line and outer corner with black for extra drama. Other lid color options could be brown, navy blue, plum, or hunter green.
Complete a Bold Look
If you're looking to up the ante for a night out and have a bold personality, choose a burgundy gloss or lipstick and a browned-down pink or rose blush that will liven up your cheeks without looking too obvious. If your eye shadows are mostly matte, you can go for a hint of sheen here; if your shadows reflect light with a shimmer, choose a matte blush.
Complete a More Subtle Look
The vibrant combination of bold eyes and bold lips all at once isn't for everyone. If you want something more understated, or suitable for a wider range of occasions, look for a creamy nude lip shade to counteract the intensity of the eye shadow and a subtle pinkish blush. Stay away from lip shades with too much shimmer or gloss since you want the focal point of your face to be your eyes.
Rock a Strong Lip
Regardless of your skin tone, your dark eyes and hair will balance out a bold lipstick shade and you won't require a lot of additional makeup. You'll look polished, professional, or sexy with minimal effort.
Feature a Bold Mouth
Choose a lipstick shade from deep berries, burgundy, or deep plums. Opaque true reds will also be flattering and might just be what you need for the workplace. Simply blot it down to a stain if it feels like too much color for the office.
Complete the Look
When going for this look in addition to your bold lipstick shade, just apply a matte or semi-matte foundation, light blush, a bit of bronzer for contouring, and your favorite mascara.
Colors to Wear and Colors to Avoid
Due to your hair and eye color, there aren't any specific colors that you should avoid. Since both are very dark, nothing will clash with them. Focus on your undertones instead.
- If you have cool undertones, stay away from the yellow-based or golden shadow shades and look for royal purple, deep turquoise, cobalt blue, burgundy, and cool chocolate browns.
- If you have warm undertones, you may do best to avoid cool grays, blue-toned pinks, and purples, and instead look to shades like gold, deep rust-browns, and olive greens.
- If your skin is dark, avoid matte pastels, which can look too chalky on deeper skin tones.
Put It All Together
Having black hair and dark eyes means you have the perfect canvas to explore deep colors, bold shades, and neutrals. You can pull off any look from natural to dramatic. Eye shadow palettes are usually a fantastic bargain when you're able to wear almost any color. Have a neutral lip shade and your favorite bold lipstick on hand at all times, and you'll always be set for any occasion.
