This Anti-Neutral Eye Shadow Is Set to Dominate Spring 2025—Sabrina Carpenter Says So

As a beauty editor with a fashion degree, I’ve always studied how runway trends inspire makeup—especially when it comes to celebrities. So when Sabrina Carpenter, Selena Gomez, and Benson Boone all recently made fashion statements in the same pastel shade, I knew we had a soon-to-be makeup trend on our hands.

But don’t get me wrong, this color isn’t new. In fact, it was a hallmark of ’80s pop stars and ’60s editorials (read: Twiggy), but it seems to reinvent itself every time it re-emerges in eye makeup form. From bold colorblocks to muted, powdery swathes, this icy hue has been painting the lids of It girls for decades—and recently, it’s snaked its way back into some of our favorite brands’ eye shadow palettes and liner collections.

If you haven’t guessed by now, this ever-evolving shade that’s trendier and more wearable than ever is baby blue: cornflower, periwinkle, azure, you name it.

Harvard Engineering alum and fashion’s unofficial data analyst, Madé Lapuerta, recently claimed that light blue may just be the new color of spring—because according to her research, the search for “baby blue” surged by 188% after the 2025 Grammys, where stars like Victoria Monét bedecked their eyes in light blue shadow and Sabrina Carpenter wore two powder-blue getups on both the red carpet and the stage. (Double points for the “Espresso” songstress after covering Vogue in an icy Dolce & Gabbana dress.)

“I feel like it’s futuristic, but at the same time it’s a little bit retro,” says MAC Cosmetics Global Director of Makeup Artistry, Romero Jennings, as he teases a secret, blue-hued product that was quietly tested on the New York Fashion Week runways. “I think people are just tired of warm [tones] and bronze, so it’s about getting more modern and icy. It’s like the ’90s are back, but better.”