While black mascara is tried and true, and brown mascara has made a comeback, brown-eyed girlies are realizing that purple might actually be the way to go because of how well it compliments their eyes.
In response to the renewed popularity of brown mascara among women with varying eye colors, a beloved ’90s beauty staple that has since become synonymous with the viral clean girl aesthetic on TikTok, beauty creator Madison Quinn (@madisonquinnblog) gave purple mascara a try after playing with the color as a makeup artist in college.
“The brown mascara trend is just not quite as popping on us brown-eyed ladies, and we want our own version to make our eyes stand out,” she says in a video posted on Oct. 24. “I worked at MAC (Cosmetics) in college, and anytime I had a brown-eyed girl in my chair, I would always add subtle touches of purple because I feel like that is so complementary to brown eyes.”
Curious to see how purple mascara would work with her eye color, Quinn applies a few coats of L’Oreal’s Voluminous Original Volume Building mascara in the shade deep violet on the lashes of her left eye.
“Right off the bat, this eye looks three shades lighter of brown than this eye,” she says before applying black mascara to the lashes of her right eye. “I gotta say, with the brown mascara, I definitely saw a very, very subtle difference. With this one, the difference is massive.”
Quinn says that the purple softens, brightens and makes her eyes appear noticeably lighter. And while she’s still a fan of black mascara, it “just looks a lot harsher” compared to purple mascara.
“[It] doesn’t look like you’re wearing purple mascara on your face,” she adds. “It’s just a dark mascara that’s giving your eyes a little more than they had before.”
In a separate video posted that same day, Quinn further urges fellow TikTokers to consider the purple hue before opting for a chocolatey shade.
“Purple mascara is gonna look so much better on you than brown,” she asserts. “On this eye, I have purple mascara, and on this eye, I have black. And I feel like it’s a pretty obvious difference that this eye just looks lighter and brighter and softer, while this eye looks a bit more harsh, a bit more heavy.”
Both of Quinn’s videos have garnered a strong reaction from fellow TikTok users. The majority of the responses have articulated awe at how big a difference purple mascara makes.
TikTokers @_a_rae_of_sunshine and @wellhellodiana declared that they’re immediately adding purple mascaras to her carts, while @zzzzully asked that she try purple eyeliner next.
“You can totally see the difference!! I think purple mascara makes sense for the brown eyed beauties!” @victoriafoxco also added.
So what’s the secret?
“Purple mascara is the perfect tool to make your natural brown eyes pop. It not only brightens the whites of your eyes but makes your eyes look bigger and more vibrant,” Jamie Greenberg, a celebrity makeup artist and founder of JamieMakeup told In The Know by Yahoo via email. “Purple mascara also gives a nice contrast to your brown eyes, making them stand out.”
Because purple and brown are complementary to one another — that is, they are opposite each other on the color wheel, they create a contrasting effect, which “helps to make the eyes pop” and “create the illusion of brighter whites of your eyes,” according to L’Oreal Paris USA.
“The way the color wheel works, colors near each other are ‘monochrome,’ meaning they are in the same family, and colors opposite are ‘complementary,’ meaning when placed side by side, they create contrast, and when layered, neutralize each other,” celebrity makeup artist Alex Byrne told Byrdie.
The color wheel, then, can influence makeup choices because of its ability to help us create “stealth contrast” and “balanced harmony” when applying makeup.
As for a coveted purple mascara she recommends?
“I love the Lime Crime Astronomical Volumizing Vegan Mascara in shade Nebula. This vegan mascara brings a pop of color into your makeup routine while simultaneously leaving your lashes looking volumized without clumping,” she added.
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