Not just for little dresses, this also applies to makeup. When I'm in a hurry or just plain feeling un-inspired, I reach for my black shadow. It's an old reliable and I wouldn't be without the 45 of them I own.
You don't have to just choose plain matte black - though that can look really good too. MAC do great black eye shadows - try their Carbon or Black Tied shadows on your eyelid and then add a slick of Benefit's High Beam across the browbone. Put a tiny dab of gold shadow in the inner eye to finish - this can be a simple but dramatic look.
For a black with sparkle, look no further than Urban Decay's Oil Slick shadow. It's got loads of silver glitter throughout. Delish.
Coloured blacks look fantastic too - NARS do some great coloured blacks like Night Clubbing (a brown/black with flecks of gold) and Night Flight (a fab slightly metallicised navy) which look great on their own and also amazing when layered over an iridescent white shadow like Shu Uemura's Pressed Eye Shadow in Iridescent White (Nue Blue Eriu). That gives you basically 2 looks out of one shadow - and NARS is expensive so that helps.
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Cheap options? With black you want it to be black. Not dark grey. So cheaper brands might not have the level of pigmentation required. Try Rimmel's new Colour Rush Mono Eyeshadow in Jet Black, it's nice and black and fits all requirements!
