This is a guest piece for EWOMAN WEEK by Veronica (@our_daily_pain)
In the essay “On Women,” Arthur Schopenhauer explains that in women “reasoning faculty is weak, things clearly visible and real, and belonging to the present, exercise a power over them which is rarely counteracted by abstract thoughts, fixed maxims, or firm resolutions, in general, by regard for the past and future or by consideration for what is absent and remote.” This lack of historical knowledge or principle is likely why women often operate via decentralized mimesis, guided by the internet, tiktok and trends the same way they’re subject to the pull of the moon or hormonal rushes.
The internet is the perfect place for feminine repetition, anything online becomes (by necessity) stripped of all association, rendered into a state of endless malleability, re-discovered and re-dissected forever. Tiktok trends are like this, the stupidly named “clean girl,” for example, is a recapitulation of Glossier’s 2015 redux of 2000s paired-down makeup, in turn lifted from 1990s minimalist looks.
A perpetual internet-favorite is red eyeshadow, a look treated with the same breathless “do I dare?” sentiment since at least 2013, with titles like “This Unusual Eyeshadow Color Popped Up AGAIN,” “11 Ways to Make Red Eyeshadow Look Totally Wearable,” “This Is the Trickiest Eyeshadow Shade in the World,” “Red eyeshadow is a fashion girl favourite for spring. And guess what? It's surprisingly flattering,” and other similar permutations over the last decade. Red, while a staple for the cheeks and lips, feels out of place on the eyes despite following the same general rule of red on face = a livelier complexion, a direct connection to arousal and sex.
The constant “do I don’t I” faux-trepidation around red runs counter to its availability. Reds, fuchsias, and auburns populate drugstore makeup aisles, and finding a non-warm toned palette at Sephora, Ulta, or the like is oddly difficult. This wasn’t always the case, for years the only red eyeshadows beyond the occasional offshoot curiosity like Urban Decay’s emo-staple “Gash” came from stage makeup brands like Kryolan, Gaftobian, Ben Nye, and MAC’s then-hard to find “PRO” line.
Red’s previous scarcity doesn’t mean it was an oddity. Makeup in Asian countries long incorporated the technique of applying blush under the eyes to counteract dark circles, trends maybe rooted in the historical presence of red makeup in Asia with the Chinese Tang Dynasty’s love of rouged faces or a Geisha's red rimmed eyes. In the west, the 1960’s and 70’s saw pink and red lids courtesy of brands like Barbara Hulanicki’s Art-deco inspired store and makeup line Biba, which popularized the blush from temple to eye look, ala fashion illustrations from Pater Sato or Antonio Lopez.
Despite (or because) of its cyclical prevalence, for recent years wearing red eyeshadow usually meant applying blushes like NARS’ cherry red “Exhibit A” as eyeshadow or staining the lids with Benefit’s liquid “Bene-tint.” In 2010 things became somewhat easier, with internet brand Sugarpill launching its first collection, which included “Love +,” a cardinal red. A year after, in 2011, makeup artist Lisa Eldridge released what might be one of the first red eyeshadow tutorials on youtube, marking red eyeshadow’s transition from the online editorial-obsessive makeup aficionados into the wider world of average consumers.
Even though brands like NARS, MAC, Urban Decay, and the then-named Kat Von D Beauty released single red shadows over the years since 2010, red’s current ubiquity began in 2016 with a number of red-based developments: Millennial-favorite blog Into the Gloss published the red eyeshadow how-to, “Five Reasons not to be Afraid of Red Eyeshadow;” Chanel put out its now-permanent red-toned Candeur et expérience eyeshadow quad as part of its “Le Rouge No.1” collection; and most importantly, Anastasia Beverly Hills released the “Modern Renaissance Palette.”
Debuting to what was then a sea of true neutral tones like those in Urban Decay’s “Naked” palette series (of which “Naked 3” is the sole survivor of the original trio), Anastasia Beverly Hills’ “Modern Renaissance” distinguished itself with a warm-toned range of browns alongside pops of red and sienna, packaged in then-ubiquitous millennial pink. Allowing users to stay within the safer range of warm browns or go full reds-only, the palette was an immediate hit, shifting women’s eyeshadow towards the warm territory where it still resides. Current Chanel releases, for example, revolve around jewel reds for their “Byzantine” collection, most palettes from Pat McGrath are decidedly red-centric, and Dior’s popular “Backstage Eye Palettes” all contain red hues.
Despite conceptions of rouged eyes looking sickly, hungover, or exhausted, the current popularity of red hues indicates it’s not strictly the case. It’s probably one of the more universally flattering shadow colors, complimenting browns, greens, hazels and blues alike, and easily melds with any skin tone since, after all, we’re full of blood. The reticence towards red, however, is part of its allure — it’s conceived as a “difficult” color to pull off, thus any woman who manages to wear (the universally flattering) color is some kind of beauty renegade for wearing red, the most utilized makeup color.
The perceived “hard” level of red is the perfect breeding ground for endless feminine self-obsession. Searching “red eyeshadow tutorial” on YouTube pulls up thousands of hits, same with TikTok or Instagram, an ouroboros of women producing “flattering” looks out of a “difficult” color for an audience of fickle and cursory attention. Nothing easier than rising above a bar on the floor, gaining thousands of views for overcoming the trials of achieving conventional beauty though conventional means.
As Charles Beaudeliare wrote in the essay “In Praise of Cosmetics” from The Painter of Modern Life, “red and black represent life, a supernatural and excessive life.” Red on the eyes might appear “unconventional” but it’s the most traditional color of all — the sensuality of the lips applied to the gaze, an eye dripping with lust.
Red eyeshadow is “plausible deniability” makeup, for a woman who wants to play at looking dangerous and empowered, totally contra the male gaze while actually coming off as attractive since they’re just in the color most associated with sexual arousal and availability. As Baudelaire also realized, “it matters but little that the artifice and trickery are known to all, so long as their success is assured and their effect always irresistible.” Evading the point is the point itself, whether or not a woman realizes it.
After all, as Schopenhauer figured out, women’s means “consist of coquetry and pretense.” It’s the perfect makeup choice for every woman, those who want to wear makeup to look good, and those who want to pretend they’re doing the opposite while, really, doing the former. That’s probably why it’s so popular.
What is the best red eyeshadow?