Don’t you hate it when you open a brand new eyeshadow palette and stick your thumbnail straight into the powder? I’ll admit that it makes for a more interesting still life photograph, but it’s annoying nonetheless! This quad is a nice little number from KIKO cosmetics; the “Color Fever” palette in Coral Burgundy. Warm, rich tones that look sultry and spicy but aren’t so red that they make you look weepy. (There’s a very fine line one must tread when it comes to wearing reddish-toned shadows, isn’t there? It’s so easy to look as if you’ve just emerged from the local eye trauma outpatient department.)

I know that I always say this, but I do think that these warmed-up shades look great with blue eyes. That said, I think that if you have brown eyes then pretty much everything works with them. Brown or hazel-coloured eyes are kind of neutral and nothing really clashes with them. Do you agree? Let me know, people with brown eyes. Makeup artist Aly Hazlewood wrote a good, brief guide to eye colour and shadow choices here – it’s well worth a look if you need some pointers.

But back to the KIKO palette and the Coral Burgundy shades; I used the lightest (destroyed) shadow over the inner half of my lids and then the very autumnal, reddish tone (top right) to smoke the outer edges. The darkest colour was used along the lash line, top and bottom, and smudged about with another helping of the reddish one. The burgundy. (I can’t look at the word “burgundy” and take it seriously these days; I don’t even properly know who Ron Burgundy is but he has ruined a whole colour name for me. It will never be chic again. If, indeed, it was ever chic.)

The KIKO shadows are quite well pigmented and blend together nicely – the very palest shade isn’t as peachy as you’d hope, but it gives a great sheen to the lids after you’ve worked it in a bit. The middle, pinkish tone offers a little more depth if you want it, but still contrasts nicely against the darker shades. A handy shadow foursome if you fancy creating a warm smokey eye – I’ve finished off the look with a touch of lipgloss, which was so boring in shade I can’t even remember what it was or who it was by! I’ll let you know if I remember, because it does look quite juicy and lush here.. My foundation is Charlotte Tilbury’s Light Wonder Foundation (see here) with cheeks warmed up with Burberry’s Copper Glow (here).

You can find the KIKO palette here – shade 101. It costs £13.90.