Best Makeup For A Silver Dress
Choosing the right makeup look for a night out or a special occasion is crucial to creating a cohesive, flattering overall appearance.
Based on your outfit, you can create a makeup look that complements your choices or becomes the focal point on its own.
For confident outfit choices, it is best to select a makeup look that enhances and complements the colour and fabric, rather than detracting from them.
Metallic fabrics, like silver, are eye-catching materials that stand out on their own, without the need for heavy makeup.
With that in mind, creating a cohesive makeup look that adds enough warmth to the skin to avoid a washed-out complexion—while also avoiding products that make an overly frosted appearance—can be the best choice.
Once the correct colours and products are selected, you can choose the look you want to create with your makeup.
So, what are the best makeup looks for a silver dress?
The makeup looks that complement a silver dress the best are those that use neutral, earth-toned shades or pops of cool-toned reds, as these will enhance and match the silver of the outfit and accessories without washing you out.
When using complementary colours with the same undertone as the outfit, the overall look will be cohesive and balanced.
Many makeup styles pair best with a silver dress, and below we’ll discuss in depth the top looks and colours to wear that will make your silver dress shine!
Silver And Colour Theory
Silver is a cool-toned, metallic shade.
It can work with many different types of makeup looks and colour combinations to create a dynamic effect.
Depending on the type of makeup you are going for and the kind of event you are wearing the silver dress to, you can work with colours in the same family to complement the dress without taking away from it or clashing with it.
When using neutral shades to create your makeup look, the overall effect is subtle, flattering, and cohesive.
Because silver is a cool-toned shade, keeping your makeup colour selections within the neutral family means there are no overt warm or cool undertones.
Still, with a balance of both, the makeup can enhance the dress and your features without washing you out or creating a look that is too frosty.
Incorporating pops of colour can work with a silver dress as well—such as a bold red lip—but it works best when there is a cooler undertone to complement the colour.
Earth-toned shades, such as mauves, bronze, and taupe, will work with silver, as they add some colour and warmth without creating a clashing dynamic.
Colours like plum and berry can work as well, because while the colours are more vibrant, they also have a cool undertone that keeps the look in the same family.
Different Makeup Styles
Whether you are a beginner or a makeup expert, there are many different looks you can try out to see what you prefer with your silver dress.
The best way to find a makeup look that will work for you is to determine which feature you want to be the focus of, and then select the colors and create the look from there.
A silver dress on its own is a statement, so choosing one feature as the focal point of the makeup will prevent the makeup and the dress from competing for attention.
The most common makeup looks generally focus on either a bold eye and a neutral lip, or the opposite—a bold lip with a neutral eye.
Either option is an ideal choice to pair with your silver dress for a night out.
Within both makeup looks, some colours can be played up to create vivid pops or kept neutral and subtle.
Both options will complement the dress, without fighting it for attention, and allow you to shine as bright as the silver you are wearing.
The Best Makeup Colours For A Silver Dress
After determining whether you want to create a makeup look with an eye or lip focus, you can choose which colours to incorporate.
It is also essential to consider the textures of the colours you are selecting, whether frost, shimmer, matte, or somewhere in between.
The finishes of the products are just as important as the colours, because they can either enhance or compete with the silver dress in the overall look.
Both eyeshadows and lipsticks are available in a range of finishes.
Some examples of these are shimmer, matte, gloss, or glitter, all of which are available for both eyes and lips.
When pairing these finishes with a silver dress, it is best to opt for satin, matte, or light shimmer finishes, rather than overly glittery or metallic textures.
As silver is a metallic colour on its own, pairing it with another metallic shade can make the look overly frosted.
To maintain a balanced look, select a subtle shimmer eyeshadow shade to add just enough dimension and light to the eyes without clashing with the dress.
As far as lip products go, using a gloss or a matte texture would both complement the dress.
As far as colours go, the above-mentioned earth-toned shades are a safe bet.
Using eyeshadow colours in the mauve, bronze, or taupe family will suit the silver dress well and won’t wash out your complexion, as too many cool shades can.
Mauves are a particularly great shade for eyeshadows, because they enhance any eye colour. They provide just enough colour with a subtle pink or purple undertone to warm up the face.
Taupe and bronze shades also work well because they encompass many hues that suit any skin tone, while providing a subtle metallic finish that harmonizes with silver.
If you are looking to incorporate pops of colour into your look, whether it’s on the eyes or lips, selecting shades with a cooler undertone—such as pinks, purples, or berries—will be a perfect choice with the silver dress.
These colours are vibrant enough to create the dramatic pop you want, while still having that cool undertone that complements and enhances the silver.
A berry lipstick, for example, is an ideal way to create a statement lip, while offering a subtle switch from the classic red.
However, red lipstick can also work with a silver dress to create a classic, old-Hollywood glam.
If you want to pair your dress with red lipstick, it is best to choose a shade with a blue undertone rather than an orange one.
Keeping the red lipstick’s texture matte will also help you achieve that classic glamour you want.
Best Makeup Looks for Silver Dress
Out of the many makeup looks that you can create to complement your silver dress, there are a few classics that will always work.
In keeping with the bold eye and neutral lip trend, a classic smoky eye with a nude or neutral lip is an excellent pairing.
With smoky eyes, it is about creating a gradient of colour from light to dark that makes the “smoky” effect, and any colours can be used to achieve this look.
If you want a classic smoky eye look, neutral shades like bronze, neutral brown, and black are ideal.
This neutral colour family works on any skin tone and for any eye colour, and can be made as dramatic or as subtle as you desire.
However, if you are looking to create a smoky eye but want to add a pop of colour, incorporating rich purple and plum shades will be vibrant and flattering.
Smokey eyes create a sultry, alluring focus on the eye, regardless of the colours used.
When pairing a smoky eye with a lip, it is helpful to keep the lipstick shades within a neutral or nude colour family to avoid drawing attention away from the eye.
Using a subtle pink, mauve, or mocha shade similar to your natural lip colour but more enhanced will work well with the eye-focused look.
Looking for shadows in a matte or soft shimmer texture will create the best smoky eye, while a satin or gloss texture can make a plump, well-hydrated appearance with a natural lip.
Conversely, if you like to focus on the lip and want to create a look with that feature in mind, you can start by choosing what bold lip colour you want to experiment with.
For example, a deep berry-colored lip will be flattering and dramatic, while offering a twist on the classic red.
Either a gloss or matte finish can work with a statement lip.
A matte texture will have more staying power throughout your event and will require fewer touch-ups, which is essential when using a bold shade.
If a bold, berry lip is the look you’re going for, using a neutral, soft eye look in mauve or earth-toned shades will complement the lipstick perfectly.
The mauve shades will complement any eye colour and have a cooler undertone, providing a subtle hint of colour that will warm up your skin tone.
Using a mix of soft shimmer and matte eye shadows will give a light-reflecting effect on the eyes, which will pair well with the matte texture of the lip.
Finally, creating a classic, glamorous makeup look with a clean winged eyeliner and a bold red lip never goes out of style and works for any event.
A winged eyeliner, or cat eye, paired with a red lip strikes an even balance between the eye and lip, working together without competing for attention.
Keep the eyeliner clean and sharp when creating the cat eye, using a subtle neutral shade to define the crease, one to two shades darker than your skin tone.
To finish the look with a red lip, look for a colour with a blue undertone to pair perfectly with the silver dress.
If you want a classic, old-Hollywood look, a matte red lip is best, as it offers longer staying power.
However, if you want a modern twist, you can go for a high-shine lip gloss to add colour.
While focusing on the lips and eyes is essential—and often what we tend to think about the most—it is also crucial to keep your complexion’s appearance in mind.
Since silver is a cool-toned shade, the skin can appear washed out compared to the metallic.
Whether you are creating an eye- or lip-focused look, it is also essential to add a wash of bronzer or blush to the skin to warm the complexion and give a sun-kissed appearance that will pop against the silver.
Makeup To Avoid With A Silver Dress
While we have discussed in depth which colours and textures work for a silver dress, it is also essential to keep in mind which colours may clash with it.
Although most tones and colours will work well with silver, colours that are too warm in undertone can clash.
Avoid colours like metallics that are yellow-gold to create a complementary makeup look.
As far as lip colours go, red lipsticks with an orange undertone can work better with gold or champagne-colored dresses, rather than silver.
In terms of textures, intense metallics or glitters can compete with the metallic of the silver dress, rather than complement it.
Those textures can also give a more frosted appearance, further creating a washed-out complexion.
Conclusion
A silver dress is an eye-catching ensemble that can stand out on its own.
Because the metallic shade creates its own statement, how you accessorise and complete the look can be a fine line between being too much and being just enough.
While some occasions may call for an over-the-top look, sometimes it is also best to let the dress speak for itself.
Whether you are an expert or a beginner with makeup, a fun part of a special evening out is not only choosing what dress to wear but also how you want to do your makeup.
If silver is the colour of the evening, it may be tempting to pair the metallic dress with the same silver-tones on the eyes or in a frosted lip.
However, to create a modern, complementary, and cohesive makeup look, the best shades to choose are neutral earth-tones, with mauve, bronze, or taupe undertones.
Classic shades, like red lipstick, will also work beautifully with a silver dress, but it is best to keep those shades—and any other berry or mauve lip colours—with a cool, blue undertone to complement the dress’s silver metallic.
Wearing a silver dress on a night out is fun and exciting, and creating a complementary makeup look with the right shades will enhance your overall appearance.
