From the Spring 2011 catwalks of Chanel to Marc Jacobs to Dior, mossy green eyes are making a strong statement for spring. But we're not talking your garden-variety shades of green. We're talking full spectrum vert, from brooding-black greens to sunny limes to watery mints.

The great thing about green? It's gorgeous on everyone. "I actually find that green is the most universally flattering shade to all colors of skin and eyes," renown makeup artist Pat McGrath has said. "It makes the whites of the eyes look whiter and contrasts (or harmonizes) with all colors of irises beautifully."

Good thing, because come spring, there will be no avoiding it.

At the Chanel Ready to Wear show in Paris yesterday, a sultry smoked-up version of green dramatized the feel of the collection -- which lead makeup artist and Chanel Beaute creative director Peter Philips said was inspired by hues straight out of nature.

"Karl Lagerfeld showed me a sketch he had drawn of a girl with smoky eyes, so it was clear that we would put the focus on the eyes," said Philips. "The inspiration for the color came from the black-white-green French garden that was recreated in the Grand Palais," added Philips, referring to the sweepingly statuesque museum located in Champs-Élysées."I created deep, dark smoky eyes on a luminous fresh face...from the glow that we can find in black, gray and white pearls."

The green-tinged thundercloud was created using Les 4 Ombres Quadra Eye Shadow in Regard Perlé, a compact of smoky shades that will be available on counter in January 2011, and stretched from bottom lashline all the way to brow bone for trés interessant eyes. Black khol liner was smudged into the top and bottom lash lines, and eyelashes layered in coats of Mascara Inimitable Waterproof for the darkest look.

At the Marc Jacobs show, the nearly same smoky rendition of green was applied by François Nars -- who acknowledged that the look tested the limits of everyday wear. "We're the first ones to get bored with anything. It's always nice to keep pushing boundaries and surprising -- you never want to get bored," Nars told StyleList.



Nars achieved the slightly '90's gothic downtown look with his Eye Shadow Single in Night Porter and Soft Touch Shadow Pencil in Celebrate -- available in Spring 2011. The waterline was sketched with Eyeliner Pencil in Black Moon and Larger Than Life Mascara was stroked on in buildable layers for a mysterious deep green eye slipped in sparkling black.
Meanwhile, green turned a chartreuse-bright shade of limeade at the Dior show, where models flaunted the pop of color with a thick line of black liquid liner on lids. Accompanying bright red lipstick seemed to fly in the face of beauty's golden rule: "Thou shalt not emphasize eyes and lips at the same time," though coquettish models didn't seem to care in the least.

CLICK THROUGH THE GALLERY TO LEARN HOW TO CREATE A SMOKY EYE - JUST SUB GREEN FOR BLACK EYE SHADOW.