Beauty Thought Leader: Elise Marquam-Jahns
To the purple lovers out there; we may owe a huge debt of gratitude to the ancient Phoenicians.
Because it was about 2,000 years ago, they discovered how to make rich, purple dye that became more brilliant over time.
Since it was difficult to produce—and also expensive to produce—purple was worn exclusively by the upper class. This exclusivity made purple a rare color among commoners until the age of Enlightenment.
Although blue is the most popular color worldwide, I know many of you—like me—absolutely love the color purple. And purple has certainly had a moment in the beauty and fashion industries the past several years. For many years, warm earthy tones dominated the eyeshadow sphere. But in 2023 and into 2024, purple definitely had a major moment. It was certainly a Red Carpet choice at the Grammy’s as well as other award shows in the past several years. Helping us purple lovers out tremendously.
“Purple was worn exclusively by the upper class.”
Different Eyeshadow Palettes:
In a video I created in late November of last year—which I titled “This Makeup Color is Having a Moment. And Can Be Beautiful On Our Mature Skin”. I focused on which shades of purple makeup were best for each of us based on the undertone of our skin. I shared seven different ways to incorporate the color purple into your makeup routine.
In the November video, I did show a number of different eyeshadow palettes that included beautiful shades of purple. But the palette I’ll be focusing on today hadn’t yet been released. This new eyeshadow palette is something I’d never seen before. It’s an eyeshadow palette that’s completely composed of various shades of purple. I wanted to let you know about it, share the amazing variety of shades and tones in it, and create several different eyeshadow looks with it in today’s video.
Purple Lovers Shade:
Purple is an especially interesting color because it’s classed as a secondary color. This means it’s made up of two primary shades of red and blue. By mixing various amounts of red or blue, purple can actually be a warm color.
It can also be a cool color which is why it works so well with most skin tones and eye colors. The key is finding a purple shade that will make your eye color pop. If there’s more red in the purple, this will make the purple richer which especially complements green and brown eyes. If there’s more blue in the mix—such as in shades of lilac and violet—the purple will be “cool” which will look especially gorgeous on blue or grey eyes.
And what’s especially wonderful about the palette I’ll be showing you today is that it includes not only light, medium, and dark colors, but it also includes a variety of warm and cool shades of purple. This palette has fifteen shades of purple. Seven are matte and the other eight are duochromes. In the video below, I’ll show you all the colors in this gorgeous palette.
“The key is finding a purple shade that will make your eye color pop.”
Monochromatic Purple Palettes:
This eyeshadow palette is from Bella Beaute Bar which is an independent beauty brand and is called “Ultraviolet”. It was created in collaboration with influencer Deandra Nicolee. These are Deandra’s thoughts on why she created this palette.
She said: “I wanted so badly to create the purple palette of my dreams. So often with monochromatic purple palettes, they err on the side of too warm pink or lack the depth that I—as a person of color—really crave. So my main goal here was to make something with a good variety of purple tones without leaving out us cool toned baddies and also providing the depth and richness I’d been searching for.”
It was very hard not to dive into this palette when I first received it, but I wanted to swatch it first with all of you. So In the video, we’ll take a look at each of these gorgeous colors. Next, I’ll create some looks with these eyeshadow to see how they perform.
First I’ll create an eyeshadow look for spring with two of the colors using the light pink called “Serenity” across my lid and then “Peace”– which is slightly deeper—as my crease color. These two matte shades perform beautifully. This is really an easy, simple soft-looking two shade eyeshadow look.
Deeper Cool Toned Purple Lovers Palette:
Next I’ll create a look combining several different colors. First I’ll apply the lightest shade “Serenity” across my lid. Then I’ll put “Exotic” in the crease—which is a deeper pink toned purple and the deeper cool toned purple called “Nobility” will go on the outer part of the crease and eyelid. And of course it’s always possible to tone any color down a bit by sheering it out. There’s nothing wrong with mixing cool and warm shades—which is what I’m doing in this look. In fact, I really love doing that. These colors blend so easily. I’ll finish the eyeshadow look by doing a little more blending along the edges.
“There’s nothing wrong with mixing cool and warm shades..”
Next I’ll create a more “glam” look with some of the duochrome shades. I’ll use the lighter duochromes on my right eye and the deeper duochromes on my left eye. “Magical”—which is the light pink duochrome–will go across the entire lid on my right eye. Then I’ll add a bit more of the color “Peace” in the crease. I’ll use the slightly deeper shade “Rarity” along the outer crease and lid.
On the other eye I’ll go a bit deeper, starting with the shade “Mystery” in the middle of the crease and lid and then “Imagination” on the outer part of the crease and lid. The very deepest duochrome—“Extravangant”–will go on the very outer part of the corner. Then to lighten up the inner corner of the lid, I’ll apply a little bit of the shade “Magical.” I’ll finish by blending in all the edges.
Palette Color Combinations:
These are two very different looks. To complete the looks, I’ll add eyeliner and mascara. On the right eye I’ll use the shade “Nobility” as my eyeliner and on the left eye I’ll use the deeper shade called “Balance.”
I loved both of these looks, but with my coloring I think the left eye with the deeper pink looks a little better on me, but I’d love to hear your thoughts.
I’m definitely looking forward to trying many more color combinations with this palette. I loved the variety and quality of the mattes and the duochromes are also amazing. However, I’m sad to say that I just saw that this palette is sold out. But the good news is that I just corresponded with the founder of the brand and she said that it will be restocked this coming fall. So if you’ve fallen in love with this palette—as I have—be sure to put a note on your calendar to check out the Bella BeauteBar.com website this coming fall.
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About the Author:
Elise Marquam-Jahns is a professional, working makeup-artist who is passionate about helping women 45+ get their glow back. In addition to her work as a makeup artist for a major cosmetics line, she founded Boomer and Beyond Beauty. Be sure to check out Elise’s YouTube channel which specifically focuses on makeup tips, techniques, and product reviews for those of us 45+.
Don’t forget to subscribe! Elise is also an author and speaker and hosts Normandale Community College’s monthly Learning Well Edge Talk Radio show where she interviews experts in the field of health and wellness. And, if you’d like to receive more inspiration each week, check out my weekly newsletter. To get your copy, just drop me an email at boomerandbeyondbeauty@gmail.com to let me know you’d like to receive it.
