Eye shadow was everywhere in the mid-2010s, especially on YouTube, where makeup artists and beauty influencers taught eager viewers how to craft a cut crease and layer warm-toned shadows into a full-on smoky eye for 8 a.m. algebra class. But as the 2010s faded into the 2020s, eye shadow faded too, replaced by the reigning “clean girl” aesthetic. However, it appears that we’re on the horizon of an eye shadow comeback, and Zendaya is one celeb bringing it back to the forefront.
Though she wears very minimal makeup as the goddess Athena in her new movie The Odyssey, Zendaya and her makeup artist Ernesto Casillas have been having fun with light, ethereal shadows while on the press trail. For the Paris stop, they went for a frosty, icy baby blue shade, which Casillas brushed across most of Zendaya’s lids and into the inner corners. Casillas then swept a champagne color under her brows and a shimmery, pearlescent hue underneath her lower lashline, and paired the blue eye shadow with fluttery lashes and majorly dewy pink blush. (The exact shadow Casillas used is from Prada Beauty’s Dimensions Multi-Effect Eyeshadow Palette in 5 Pure, which also includes a gold and auburn color.)
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It was their first major look, however, that has gone the most viral: bright white shadow concentrated in the inner corners of her eyes, giving her a goddess-like glimmer in the camera lens. Since she wore it for the London premiere, it’s been endlessly reposted and replicated on TikTok, leading us to believe that not only is eye shadow due for a comeback, but inner-accent eye shadow in particular! There’s also been some spirited discussion about inner-corner shadow, with Gen Z and Gen Alpha makeup fans encountering the look for the first time and Gen X and millennials being like, “What? I never stopped doing this!” (Another star who has really embraced the eye shadow life: Zara Larsson, whose tropical-hued glam also has makeup fans reaching for their blending brushes.)