Stardust Shadow Is Spring’s Prettiest Makeup Trend

Makeup has taken a backseat for the past year, but I couldn’t be more pleased to announce it’s back, baby. And alongside bright blush and heavy eyeliner, stardust shadow has emerged as one of spring’s biggest makeup trends.

Not overly sparkly or metallic, stardust shadow sits somewhere between a shimmer and a glitter. I first noticed the trend pop on up Instagram, and soon enough I wasn’t able to scroll through my feed without seeing a cool girl with a sprinkling of glimmer on her eyes—and not much else on her face.

It’s easy to see why the trend has quickly caught on. It’s shimmering and special like morning dew or a dusting of stars, but is 100% wearable during daylight hours thanks to the diffused application. After a few seasons of matte eye looks—and a year of no makeup—it feels particularly fresh.

Stardust shadow adds an ethereal touch to your makeup but doesn’t look out of place with jeans and a T-shirt. It feels akin to the frosty eye shadow many of us wore in the early aughts, but still manages to come off more sophisticated and flattering. Plus, considering we’ll still be wearing masks for the foreseeable future, it puts all the focus on your eyes in a soft, pretty way. Basically, it’s like fairy dust for grown-ups.

It also happens to be insanely easy to wear. With a light-catching shadow, you basically need no other makeup to complete the look. There’s very minimal technique involved, as the product should do all the work for you. All you need to do is pat on a diffused layer of shimmer with your finger or a stiff brush, add mascara, and go.

However, that puts a little more pressure on selecting the right product, since it makes or breaks the finished result. The trick? Look for shimmers that don’t have a highly pigmented base. You want the flecks to look almost suspended on your eyes. Tightly packed pressed pigments like Pat McGrath’s tend to work well, or “putty” textures in between cream and powders like Roen Beauty’s shadows deliver glimmer without a background shade. It’s also helpful to look for eye shadow “toppers,” since they’ll be more focused on gleam than color.

Luckily there are tons of stunning options out there. Shop our favorites, below, and get your glow on.