Grey eyes are the most changeable eye colour. They pick up whatever is around them — clothing, light, eyeshadow — which is a genuine advantage once you use it on purpose.

Decide what you want them to look like

To pull out blue: warm tones. Copper, bronze, peach, warm brown. The same principle that works for blue eyes.

To pull out green: purple and plum, or warm terracotta.

To keep them grey and make them striking: deep charcoal, slate, cool taupe, navy. Grey shadow on grey eyes works here in a way that matching rarely does elsewhere, because it emphasises depth rather than colour.

To soften them: rose, mauve, soft pink — flattering, especially for daytime, though pink needs care not to look like irritation. Keep it off the lower lash line.

The everyday palette

Cool taupe, soft grey and charcoal cover almost everything. They suit grey eyes at any depth and pair with any clothing, which matters more than usual here — grey eyes visibly change with what you wear.

Liner and mascara

Charcoal or navy liner instead of black for daytime. Black is not wrong, but grey eyes are often light, and full black can overpower them.

Navy is the most useful single liner for grey eyes: it lifts any blue in them without looking like a colour choice.

Brown or soft black mascara for daytime, black for evening.

Two combinations worth trying

Everyday: champagne on the lid, cool taupe in the crease, charcoal smudged along the upper lash line. Three minutes.

Evening: slate grey across the lid, charcoal in the outer corner, navy tight against the lashes, a light shade in the inner corner. Cool, defined, and it keeps the eyes grey rather than pushing them blue.

What to be careful with

Very cool silver over the whole lid can wash out fair skin, which often accompanies grey eyes. Keep silver to the inner corner as a highlight rather than a base.

The general rule

Grey eyes reward experimentation more than any other colour, because the same shade genuinely produces different results on different people. Try the warm and cool routes and see which you prefer.

For placement by eye shape, see the eyeshadow guide in the makeup section.