Who doesn't love to get bold every once in a while? I'm a fan of the "no makeup" look as much as anyone, but sometimes it's fun to switch things up and go beyond the norm. This is probably why the red eyeshadow look is such a trend. Nudes and rose golds might typically be the safe favorite, but red eyeshadow is perfect when you're looking for a shake-up.
And you don't have to be afraid of it. When venturing out to rock red eyeshadow, choosing the best shade for your skin tone is key. For brown-skinned girls, a burgundy or eggplant is often a great choice. For lighter-toned ladies, a rusty red is a win, while primary reds look great on those rocking the middle. Applying concealer before red eyeshadow (or any shade) evens out your skin for a cleaner look. When wearing red eyeshadow, think about using plum or red eyeliner instead of the classic black to help balance out and complete your look. Lastly, keep the rest of your makeup look simple. Going bold is fun but this is definitely a case where less is more.
Now, where do you start? Check out a few ideas!
Make Up For Ever Aqua XL Color Paint Cream Shadow in Matte Red
Make Up For Ever
OK, so it was absolutely necessary to add this color paint to the list. It's known for not budging AND will stay on for at least 24 hours. Did I mention it's waterproof? The Matte Red shade is a daring one but oh so worth it.
Milani Cosmetics Gilded Rouge Eyeshadow Palette
Milani Cosmetics
Milani Cosmetics is a drugstore favorite and their Gilded Rouge Eyeshadow Palette is no exception. There's one red option in the collection, which goes perfectly with the other metallic and matte finishes this palette provides.
Afflano Red Orange Sunset Eyeshadow Palette
Amazon
This palette features multiple red shades, and few oranges to throw in with it. It's easy to apply and has a smooth finish, which is never a bad thing. It has both matte and shimmer options for a natural look or a more glamorous one -- it's your prerogative. Ultimately, setting spray is what really sets off this look for long-lasting success. Another plus is that it's cruelty-free.
Pat McGrath Labs EYEdols Eye Shadow in Crimson Fire
Pat McGrath Labs
This list wouldn't be complete without our good sis Pat McGrath's EYEdols shade. There's a reason celebrities flock to this one as a favorite. Crimson Fire's shimmer certainly shouldn't be underestimated and can spruce up any everyday look.
Huda Beauty Obsessions Precious Stones Eyeshadow Palette -- Ruby
Huda Beauty
This collection is not playing fair! It has nine colors with four in a metallic finish, which is perfect for a night out, and five that provide a matte look. With this palette, you have options! Even if you don't want to go all out with a metallic appearance, you can just brush it over an everyday color to get the best of both worlds.
NYX Phoenix Ultimate Shadow Palette
NYX
You really can't go wrong with this option. Its variety works well with several skin tones, so you don't have to worry about splurging on the wrong shade. Its staying power is impressive and can hold its place for hours at a time. The NYX Phoenix Ultimate Shadow Palette features six different shades that make it easy for your at-work look or after-hours appearance.
Kylie Cosmetics' The Burgundy Kyshadow Palette
Kylie Cosmetics
Kylie Jenner has a hit on her hands with this one. The Burgundy Kyshadow Palette has nine different colors, including a bright red, peach, and nudes that are perfect for those with warm skin tones. It's a pressed-powder palette so there is minimal fallout and an even better blend.
Stargazer Eye Shadow in Deep Red
Stargazer
This red eyeshadow goes deep! It complements so well with peaches and browns. Thanks to its small and petite size, it's easy to travel with so you can bring it with you on the go. Its high pigment also makes the bold color stand out, helping you achieve the ultimate look you want to accomplish.
ColourPop Main Squeeze Watermelon Red Eyeshadow Palette
ColourPop
This entire palette is bae. ColourPop's Main Squeeze Watermelon Red Eyeshadow Palette features a variety of red shades for those searching for a strawberry red look, a burnt coral, or even gold that can bring your red eyeshadow look together.
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Featured image by Shutterstock
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RELATED
So, we handpicked one hundred It Girls who embody that palpable It Factor moving through us as young Black women, the kind of motion lighting up the world both IRL and across the internet.
It Girl 100 became xoNecole’s most successful program, with the hashtag organically reaching more than forty million impressions on Instagram in just twenty-four hours. Yes, it caught on like wildfire because we celebrated some of the most brilliant and influential GenZennial women of color setting trends and shaping culture. But more than that, it resonated because the women we celebrated felt seen.
Many were already known in their industries for keeping this generation fly and lit, but rarely received recognition or flowers. It Girl 100 became a safe space to be uplifted, and for us as Black women to bask in what felt like an era of our brilliance, beauty, and boundless influence on full display.
And then, almost overnight, it was as if the rug was pulled from under us as Black women, as the It Girls of the world.
Our much-needed, much-deserved season of ease and soft living quickly metamorphosed into a time of self-preservation and survival. Our motion and economic progression seemed strategically slowed, our light under siege.
The air feels heavier now. The headlines colder. Our Black girl magic is being picked apart and politicized for simply existing.
With that climate shift, as we prepare to launch our second annual It Girl 100 honoree list, our team has had to dig deep on the purpose and intention behind this year’s list. Knowing the spirit of It Girl 100 is about motion, sauce, strides, and progression, how do we celebrate amid uncertainty and collective grief when the juice feels like it is being squeezed out of us?
As we wrestled with that question, we were reminded that this tension isn’t new. Black women have always had to find joy in the midst of struggle, to create light even in the darkest corners. We have carried the weight of scrutiny for generations, expected to be strong, to serve, to smile through the sting. But this moment feels different. It feels deeply personal.
We are living at the intersection of liberation and backlash. We are learning to take off our capes, to say no when we are tired, to embrace softness without apology.
And somehow, the world has found new ways to punish us for it.
In lifestyle, women like Kayla Nicole and Ayesha Curry have been ridiculed for daring to choose themselves. Tracee Ellis Ross was labeled bitter for speaking her truth about love. Meghan Markle, still, cannot breathe without critique.
In politics, Kamala Harris, Letitia James, and Jasmine Crockett are dragged through the mud for standing tall in rooms not built for them.
In sports, Angel Reese, Coco Gauff, and Taylor Townsend have been reminded that even excellence will not shield you from racism or judgment.
In business, visionaries like Diarrha N’Diaye-Mbaye and Melissa Butler are fighting to keep their dreams alive in an economy that too often forgets us first.
Even our icons, Beyoncé, Serena, and SZA, have faced criticism simply for evolving beyond the boxes society tried to keep them in.
From everyday women to cultural phenoms, the pattern is the same. Our light is being tested.
And yet, somehow, through it all, we are still showing up as that girl, and that deserves to be celebrated.
Because while the world debates our worth, we keep raising our value. And that proof is all around us.
This year alone, Naomi Osaka returned from motherhood and mental health challenges to reach the semifinals of the US Open. A’ja Wilson claimed another MVP, reminding us that beauty and dominance can coexist. Brandy and Monica are snatching our edges on tour. Kahlana Barfield Brown sold out her new line in the face of a retailer that had been canceled. And Melissa Butler’s company, The Lip Bar, is projecting a forty percent surge in sales.
We are no longer defining strength by how much pain we can endure. We are defining it by the unbreakable light we continue to radiate.
We are the women walking our daily steps and also continuing to run solid businesses. We are growing in love, taking solo trips, laughing until it hurts, raising babies and ideas, drinking our green juice, and praying our peace back into existence.
We are rediscovering the joy of rest and realizing that softness is not weakness, it is strategy.
And through it all, we continue to lift one another. Emma Grede is creating seats at the table. Valeisha Butterfield has started a fund for jobless Black women. Arian Simone is leading in media with fearless conviction. We are pouring into each other in ways the world rarely sees but always feels.
So yes, we are in the midst of societal warfare. Yes, we are being tested. Yes, we are facing economic strain, political targeting, and public scrutiny. But even war cannot dim a light that is divinely ours.
And we are still shining.
And we are still softening.
And we are still creating.
And we are still It.
That is the quiet magic of Black womanhood, our ability to hold both truth and triumph in the same breath, to say yes, and to life’s contradictions.
It is no coincidence that this year, as SheaMoisture embraces the message “Yes, And,” they stand beside us as partners in celebrating this class of It Girls. Because that phrase, those two simple words, capture the very essence of this moment.
Yes, we are tired. And we are still rising.
Yes, we are questioned. And we are the answer.
Yes, we are bruised. And we are still beautiful.
This year’s It Girl 100 is more than a list. It is a love letter to every Black woman who dares to live out loud in a world that would rather she whisper. This year’s class is living proof of “Yes, And,” women who are finding ways to thrive and to heal, to build and to rest, to lead and to love, all at once.
It is proof that our joy is not naive, our success not accidental. It is the reminder that our light has never needed permission.
So without further ado, we celebrate the It Girl 100 Class of 2025–2026.
We celebrate the millions of us who keep doing it with grace, grit, and glory.
Because despite it all, we still shine.
Because we are still her.
Because we are still IT, girl.
Meet all 100 women shaping culture in the It Girl 100 Class of 2025. View the complete list of honorees here.
Featured image by xoStaff
Kayla Nicole says she wore a dress that was once worn by Braxton herself for the Halloween costume. “It’s not a secret Toni is more on the petite side. I’m obsessed with all 5’2” of her,” she tells xoNecole via email. “But I’m 5’10'' and not missing any meals, honey, so to my surprise, when I got the dress and it actually fit, I knew it was destiny.”
The episode was the perfect way for the multihyphenate to take control of her own narrative. By addressing the viral moment on her own platform, she was able to stir the conversation and keep the focus on her adoration for Braxton, an artist she says she grew up listening to and who still makes her most-played playlist every year. Elsewhere, she likely would’ve received questions about whether or not the costume was a subliminal aimed at her ex-boyfriend and his pop star fiancée. “I think that people will try to project their own narratives, right?” she said, hinting at this in the episode. “But, for me personally – I think it’s very important to say this in this moment – I’m not in the business of tearing other women down. I’m in the business of celebrating them.”
Kayla Nicole is among xoNecole’s It Girl 100 Class of 2025, powered by SheaMoisture, recognized in the Viral Voices category for her work in media and the trends she sets on our timelines, all while prioritizing her own mental and physical health. As she puts it: “Yes, I’m curating conversations on my podcast The Pre-Game, and cultivating community with my wellness brand Tribe Therepē.”
Despite being the frequent topic of conversation online, Kayla Nicole says she’s learning to take advantage of her growing social media platform without becoming consumed by it. “I refuse to let the internet consume me. It’s supposed to be a resource and tool for connection, so if it becomes anything beyond that I will log out,” she says.
On The Pre-Game, which launched earlier this year, she has positioned herself as listeners “homegirl.” “There’s definitely a delicate dance between being genuine and oversharing, and I’ve had to learn that the hard way. Now I share from a place of reflection, not reaction,” she says. “If it can help someone feel seen or less alone, I’ll talk about it within reason. But I’ve certainly learned to protect parts of my life that I cherish most. I share what serves connection but doesn’t cost me peace.
"I refuse to let the internet consume me. It’s supposed to be a resource and tool for connection, so if it becomes anything beyond that I will log out."
Credit: Malcolm Roberson
Throughout each episode, she sips a cocktail and addresses trending topics (even when they involve herself). It’s a platform the Pepperdine University alumnus has been preparing to have since she graduated with a degree in broadcast journalism, with a concentration in political science.
“I just knew I was going to end up on a local news network at the head anchor table, breaking high speed chases, and tossing it to the weather girl,” she says. Instead, she ended up working as an assistant at TMZ before covering sports as a freelance reporter. (She’s said she didn’t work for ESPN, despite previous reports saying otherwise.) The Pre-Game combines her love for pop culture and sports in a way that once felt inaccessible to her in traditional media.
She’s not just a podcaster, though. When she’s not behind the mic, taking acting classes or making her New York Fashion Week debut, Kayla Nicole is also busy elevating her wellness brand Tribe Therepē, where she shares her workouts and the workout equipment that helps her look chic while staying fit. She says the brand will add apparel to its line up in early 2026.
“Tribe Therepē has evolved into exactly what I have always envisioned. A community of women who care about being fit not just for the aesthetic, but for their mental and emotional well-being too. It’s grounded. It’s feminine. It’s strong,” she says. “And honestly, it's a reflection of where I am in my life right now. I feel so damn good - mentally, emotionally, and physically. And I am grateful to be in a space where I can pour that love and light back into the community that continues to pour into me.”
Tap into the full It Girl 100 Class of 2025 and meet all the women changing game this year and beyond. See the full list here.
Featured image by Malcolm Roberson