K-Beauty Eyeshadow Palette Guide: CLIO Pro Eye Palette Air Shades 1-5 by Personal Color

CLIO Pro Eye Palette Air is a 12-pan Korean eyeshadow palette that gives the original Pro Eye Palette a lighter case and formula. Here is a K-beauty look at Shades 1 to 5, the first ones released with personal color in mind: each shade's colors and the tones it suits. Keep your own eyes and skin tone in mind as you read, and see which shade feels closest to you.

What to know first

• Layout: It grew from 10 pans to 12. Matte, shimmer, and glitter are all included, so you can pick everything from a base color to shading to an accent color within one palette.
• Case: A clear, rounded-square case that lets the colors show through, in a clean silver tone. It is lighter than before.
• Formula: Fallout is on the low side. The shadows feel soft to the touch, and less powder drops when you apply with a brush, whether matte or glitter.
• Color payoff: Reviews say the colors you see in the palette are not very different from the colors you wear. Fewer shades go on too intensely or barely show up.

Start with your personal color

CLIO sorts these shades by personal color (퍼스널 컬러), the Korean way of matching makeup to your skin's warm or cool undertone: Spring Warm (봄웜), Summer Cool (여름쿨), Autumn Warm (가을웜), and Winter Cool (겨울쿨). The list below follows the manufacturer's suggested guide.

• Shade 1 Coral Studio: Spring Warm through Autumn Warm, especially good for Autumn Warm
• Shade 2 Rose Connect: The manufacturer's classification is Spring Warm and Summer Cool. In practice it works well for Spring Warm and Autumn Warm, and cool tones that look good in lukewarm pinks can wear it too
• Shade 3 Mute Library: Summer Cool muted, Autumn Warm muted (muted, or 뮤트, means a soft, grayed-down tone)
• Shade 4 Pink Pairing: Summer Cool, especially the light tones
• Shade 5 Orchid Cloud: Winter Cool

If you are a warm tone, look at Shade 1 or 2 first. For Summer Cool, Shade 4. For muted tones, Shade 3. For Winter Cool, Shade 5.

Shade 1 Coral Studio: Coral-beige shading with no grayness

It runs in steps from a bright coral beige to a calm warm brown. The value steps are split into base, mid shade, accent, and liner blending, so the eyes look deeper as you layer. Because it is a coral beige that is neither too yellow nor too red, it is easy for warm tones to wear overall. Using mainly the lighter colors, Spring Warm can wear it too, but it suits Autumn Warm better. There is no dull grayness, and even the brown shades carry a subtle coral glow, so your complexion looks lively. The matte formula does not feel dry even when you layer it several times, and it layers well.

There are three glitters. The moist-formula glitter among the three can smear if you press hard, so dab just a little onto the brush and tap it on. Mix the nudie beige and peach base and apply it across the whole eyelid, then put the warm brown only along your crease line (쌍꺼풀 라인, the double-eyelid fold) to add shading.

Shade 2 Rose Connect: Lively mature rose

It is a mid-tone rosy shade, neither too dry-looking nor too vivid. The lineup leans slightly warm, so it suits Spring Warm and Autumn Warm when they want to add lively pink shading. Cool pinks are mixed in too, so a cool tone that looks good in lukewarm pinks can wear it. Reviews say the lineup is good with no overlapping colors and almost no grayness, so the shading does not turn muddy even when built up deeply.

There are four glitters: a soft pink beam, rose gold, a rosy red shimmer, and a pink brown, so the shimmer selection is rich. The shimmers are subtle. However, the overall color comes through fairly vividly, so if you worry about your eyelids looking puffy, apply it thinly and control the amount. Mix the colors and apply them across the whole eyelid, and if any spot goes on too strongly, press over it with a light base color to neutralize it. Dabbing the bright cool pink from the palette lightly on your cheeks gives a radiant pink cheek color and makes the whole look feel cooler.

Shade 3 Mute Library: All 12 colors are matte

It is a tone-on-tone everyday mauve palette, and all 12 colors are matte. The top row is muted brown and the bottom row is muted mauve. Colors with a lot of grayness can look dull and bruised, but reviews say this palette's formula is soft and clings thinly, so it does not feel heavy on the eyelid. It has some dullness, but less than the palettes famous for being dull, and the mauve is not as strong as you might expect.

It is recommended for Summer Cool muted, and it also goes well with the lips of Autumn Warm muted. Try mixing the brown and mauve to make a neat shading of medium temperature. Finish with matte shades only, without a highlighter. It gives a calm, grown-up mood. If you like muted matte shading whatever your tone, keep an eye on this one.

Shade 4 Pink Pairing: Light pink that spreads clear

It is a Summer Cool palette with a light pink base plus a mauve mid shade. Even though it is a bright pink, it spreads thin and clear without making the eyelid look washed-out white. Reviews say the pink is not excessive, so it works as an everyday palette from Summer Cool light through Spring light tones. The shading colors are also deep enough to tidy up the outer corner and the lash line.

There are three glitters: a cool pink shimmer, a round accent glitter, and a soft pink shimmer. The particles of the round glitter are not very big, so it is nice to tap on on days you want some sparkle. Putting the first shimmer color on your aegyo-sal (애교살, the small puff under the eye) makes the makeup look more dimensional, and even used as a highlighter, it gives off a pink glow where the light hits. If you are Summer Cool and Shade 2 felt like too warm a pink, try Shade 4.

Shade 5 Orchid Cloud: Violet-tinged deep shading for Winter Cool

A vivid orchid purple is at the center, and the shading colors are deep shades with a violet tint. Reviews say the lineup should satisfy both Winter Cool bright and Winter Cool deep. There are four glitters: a white pearl shimmer, a mauve pink shimmer, a wine shimmer, and a gray-brown shimmer. These shimmers run warmer than you might expect, so the wine shimmer looks purple in the pan but turns brownish once applied. Mixing it with the gray-brown shimmer makes it less warm and more deep.

The manufacturer suggests two ways to apply it.

• Accent glitter look: Lay the base color past the crease and into the hollow, and apply the second shade above the crease line so it gradates. Extend the accent color long toward the outer corner and down to the triangle zone under the eye, and put the white pearl on the inner corner.
• Wearable matte look: Layer the base, the second shade, and the accent color in order using the matte colors, and finish crisply by smudging the darkest color over the eyeliner.

If you find it hard to find a blush for Winter Cool, try mixing the palette's matte colors and using them on your cheeks. The color flows naturally into your eye makeup. Even if you are another tone, it is worth a try if you like this kind of mood.