Eyemaxxing Makeup Trend: How to Use Colour Theory Wheel Hacks to Make Eye Colours Pop

'Eyemaxxing' is the term being given when using makeup to enhance, maximise, the natural appearance of eyes through the colour wheel, using colour theory. This isn't a new trend; it just has a different name. It used to be called 'making your eyes pop.' Using this trend helps to create creative eye looks that have become less popular with one-and-done eyeshadow sticks.

Does Using The Colour Wheel and Colour Theory Work to Maximise Your Eyes?

Professional makeup artist Ellen Malone, @AskEllenBeauty, confirms this technique is not just a trend but a makeup artist's technique.

'As with many trends on social media, eyemaxxing is a repackaging and a relabelling of something the pro artist community has been doing for an awfully long time,' Malone responds in a TikTok video on TikTok.

The technique is to enhance the natural eye colour by using shades on the opposite side of the colour wheel to make your eyes 'pop'. Malone believes '[The trend] is a great opportunity for people to really lean in and learn a little bit more about their eyes, and to embrace and enjoy them.'

This beauty trend has people appreciate their eye colour even if they don't like the colour on their own. This enhancing technique can help people accept their own features.

How to 'Maxx' the Eyes

The simplest way to figure out 'maxxing' shades is to use a colour wheel, either a physical copy or online. To find your 'maxxing' shades, find your eye colour on the wheel and then look straight across the wheel at the colours opposite. These are your complementary colours; these shades are the ones you want to use to enhance your eye colour. Beauty experts believe that 'In some cases, it's about having a colour with that undertone.'

Just because you have blue eyes doesn't mean that bright orange eyeshadow will enhance your eyes. Ellen Malone says in a TikTok video, 'I have blue eyes ... that doesn't mean I necessarily need to wear bright orange eyeshadow, but I might want a brown [with] an orange tone so the blue of my eyes comes forward.'

Brown Eyemaxxing

Brown eyes have the most shades to work with when enhancing the eyes with makeup. Brown is able to wear most colours; however, purple is the top pick for brown eyes. Malone explains, 'Brown is never just brown ... depending on what eyeshadow you choose, it will bring out the equal opposite tone in the brown of your eyes.'

Some brown shades hold a purple tone, which would make gold eyeshadow look amazing. Brown eyes with a gold tone suit purple makeup to make the eyes stand out.

Blue Eyemaxxing

Blue eyes will want to use shades of orange to enhance their vibrancy. A combination of yellow and red is the best suited colours. A yellow gold or a red-purple burgundy shade would brighten the eye colour and enhance the features.

'But if you can carry off a true orange tone, even if it's just a touch in the crease, your blue eyes will be so piercing you'll look like a husky,' Malone believes.

Other Eyemaxxing Hues

Green eyes have a mix of yellow and blue, allowing you to choose what shades you want to use to maximise your eye makeup. The first shade that will enhance green eyes is purple. A red shade can also enhance the green colour with otherwise neutral makeup.

Hazel eyes suit burgundy makeup but it;s not the only option. Hazel eyes have a broad spectrum of colours that play well with other shades on the colour wheel to make the eyes come forward.

'If your eyes have flecks of gold, you could choose a purpley tone [to] bring out the gold ... if you want to bring out the green, go closer to the red end of the spectrum,' Ellen Malone tells her audience on TikTok.

Malone suggests colours that could be sunset shades of muted orange and muted purple. The eye makeup 'bounces off beautifully against the grey,' she says.

What Tools Do You Need?

To achieve an eyemaxxing look, you don't need lots of products. Some eyeshadow palettes already incorporate the colour theory, providing the customer with four or more eyeshadow shades that will work for their eye colour.

Coloured eyeliners are another great way to add a pop of complementary colour in the waterline (inner rim of the eyelid). 'Eyemaxxing' doesn't have to be intimidating or a dramatic makeup look. Subtle hints of complementary colours in your eye makeup allow you to enhance your eyes without being a bold makeup look.

'Your eyes already are gorgeous. You only need a tiny little lick here and there just to draw attention and show off what you have naturally,' Malone says.