Rihanna Just Confirmed the Soft Purple Eye Shadow Trend

The first makeup product that set my heart aflutter was a pot of lilac eye shadow. I don’t remember the specific shade or even the name of the brand (it probably came from the drugstore), but I can remember exactly how I felt when I applied it to my eyelids: elegantly dewy, ethereal, and just that. Beautiful. I wore it every day in middle school — of course, pairing it with a raccoon-like ring of black eyeliner — and to this day, the soft purple eyeshadow remains a particular staple.

As you can probably guess, I’m extremely obsessed with the fact that lavender eye makeup is seeing a fascinating resurgence. I first saw it on Quinta Brunson, who wore purple shadow to this year’s Critics’ Choice Awards, then on Amelia Gray Hamlin, who wore purple eyes with a custom Swarovski dress at the Golden Globes. Laufey immediately followed, fitting Lavender with mermaid-esque makeup for the Grammy winner, then Barbie Ferreira arrived at Coachella moving lilac eyelashes. And finally, we have Rihanna, who has officially established soft purple eyeshadow as the hottest spring makeup trend. The middle schooler inside me is screaming!

Yesterday, Rihanna—and her 7-month-old daughter Rocky with A$AP Rocky—starred on the cover. w magazine pop points. She looks absolutely regal in head-to-toe Dior (including a custom Dior diaper for baby Rocky!), but my beauty-editor’s eyes immediately focused on the halo of purple and orange eyeshadow on her upper and lower lids. created by Daniel Sellstrom, The glam certainly matches up with the makeup artist’s high-fashion, experimental work and matches perfectly with the star’s purple statement hat.

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This is not the first time Rihanna has adopted a soft purple eye look. Remember when she attended an event 2023 fenty x puma event Are you wearing a purple fuzzy jacket and matching shadows? And who can forget her purple glamor in this “What’s My Name” music video? While lavender eyes are taking the red carpet by storm — as predicted months ago in our inaugural Who What red carpet beauty report-Rihanna has been rocking them for years. Consider her the blueprint for this beautiful spring beauty trend.

Although we’re not 100% sure what eye shadow Sellstrom used on the cover, we do know that Rihanna wore a lot of Fenty Beauty products for the shoot, so I have to assume she included her new eyeshadow Shadowsticks Eyeshadow Stick in Miss Pre$$y (In a bright lilac) look. Feel free to shop the hero product below, along with more celeb-approved soft purple eye makeup looks to wear for the rest of spring.