I'd love some tips for applying my eye makeup (especially eye shadow)! [ Edited ]

[#1]

Hey, gals!

I'd love it if some of you could give me some tips for applying my eye makeup! I've just recently gotten into high end makeup and taking the time to apply it well. I used to just apply blush, eye liner, and mascara. Here recently, I've been spending more time on my eyes (eye shadow, liner, mascara). I've been trying to do my eye makeup well, but I never can make it look the way I want it to. I try applying to my entire lid, then I use a darker shade in my crease and blend. The powder always flakes around the corner and under my eye and it gets so messy. Or, it just looks sloppy. Help!

[#2 · Accepted solution]

A primer will help make the bright colors more vibrant and make the shadows last longer. A good brush set is a must for anything other than the basic 1 shadow look because then you have a better control of what shadow goes where so it doesn't look sloppy.

Other than that it is all about practice and using the right amount. If you use too much primer and apply shadow without waiting for it to dry, you might get oily lids or creased shadows. Sometimes the flakes and fallout are due to shadow quality, but when applying eyeshadow, you should always tap it gently a couple of times so you are not applying too much product and get the dust everywhere. If you want intense color, apply with brush multiple times rather than trying to get a brushful of shadow at once.

[#3]

Hi there!

There are so many ways you can have fun with eye makeup! Firstly, I do recommend you invest in a good quality primer which will intensify the color and make your hard work last! I LOVE Urban Decay's Primer potions. There's different base colors but going with the original one is just fine. So basically you start by priming your lids as well as the skin just below your brows by tapping the primer with your finger. When it comes to looking for eyeshadow colors I find palettes are the best way to go because this gives you a chance to experiment with what you like and what goes well with you! Urban Decay's Naked palettes have some great colors that can be worn everyday, sheer, matte, anything you want!

Hope this helps!

xox

[#4]

Ive noticed it's nice to have decent brushes. It really helps. Plus primer helps

[#5]

I actually just posted this in another eye shadow tip/technique thread, have a read!

Practice is going to be key, even with great product, a set of guidelines, photos, and video, it all translates into experience that you can only gain when you practice, practice, practice.

For starters, use a great eye shadow primer as a base for your shadows. This will lock down your shadow for all day wear, prevent smudging, creasing, or fading or colors, allow for better blending capabilities, help color payoff and pigmentation pop more on lids, and some primers even multitask and neutralize redness/discoloration on lids and can be used under the eye or even as concealers.

The kits shown are great places to start as they already come with colors coordinated so it takes the guess work out of what matches with what.

With application, choose how many colors you want to work with, the general rule of thumb for a basic eye look is working with 3 shades, a light, medium, an dark. (Great examples with the Too Faced kits)

Start with the medium shade, using a medium, wider headed, flat brush pick up some shadow and pat it onto the lid. You pat because the primer helps to grab product, so you're just tapping/pressing color to have it stick rather than sweep, which will instead soften and blend down a color.

After patting a color down onto your lid (or 2/3 of your lid, I like to leave a bit of naked skin on the outer portion of the lid for the dark color to sit as is rather than layer on top of the medium shade), take a chiseled headed brush and gently tap/sweep  the dark color on the outer 1/3 of the eye and sweep it inward rather than out toward your hair line. The chisel brush will contour this area really easy and as the brush isn't a packed or super condensed tool, the softness will allow for a lighter sweep of color rather than using a crease brush alone with is a dome-shaped, densely packed brush.

Dome-shaped crease brushes are great for creating a more defined and dramatic look or the "cut crease" look as the precision of application is intensified because the brush is smaller and won't allow to product to be spread in a larger area. As this brush packs a punch with color application, I like to use a rotating motion to blend rather than a sweeping or patting motion, this tends to circulate the product onto the lid better if you're using it on the outer corner (I would recommend starting with the chisel for outer corners). This brush works well with the chisel head, once you have the color applied with the chisel head and swept inward a bit, you can take the dome crease brush and "drag" that color even further inward, again, tiny circular motions to blend with your move the brush. The crease of the eye will vary from eye type so when you have your eye closed, where you feel the indention of your socket is where your crease is.

There are also blending brushes, these work great for softening and are generally categorized by being a longer hair brush, it looks similar to the dome shaped crease brush just extended. You can always go back and using a windshield wiper motion blend back and fourth on the crease to tone down color or help is blend more seamlessly into the lid color. This brush is also great if you ever want an all over sheer wash of color, or even taking a matte nuetral shade and dusting down over a completed eye look to tone it down.

For the light color which goes under the brow, choose a soft brush as this color is generally not as dramatic, a gentle sweep of color is really all that's needed without over doing it.

Experimenting with tools and technique is definitely a big part of it, finding out what brushes and styles you like and best suite your eye looks that you wish to create will be the fun.

Just remember the rules of thumb to follow, the larger the brush and longer the bristles are, the soft the application will be, the firmer, and more dense a brush is, the more heavy and full appliction will be.

Also, patting on colors will give a solid, full color, bold effect (ot's also a great technique for loose shadows), sweeping/wind shield wiping back and fourth motions will blend down and soften, and circular/buffing motions with help with appliction and blending for more condensed areas.

Feel free to message me if you have any questions!

[#6]

I actually just posted this in another eye shadow tip/technique thread, have a read!

Practice is going to be key, even with great product, a set of guidelines, photos, and video, it all translates into experience that you can only gain when you practice, practice, practice.

For starters, use a great eye shadow primer as a base for your shadows. This will lock down your shadow for all day wear, prevent smudging, creasing, or fading or colors, allow for better blending capabilities, help color payoff and pigmentation pop more on lids, and some primers even multitask and neutralize redness/discoloration on lids and can be used under the eye or even as concealers.

The kits shown are great places to start as they already come with colors coordinated so it takes the guess work out of what matches with what.

With application, choose how many colors you want to work with, the general rule of thumb for a basic eye look is working with 3 shades, a light, medium, an dark. (Great examples with the Too Faced kits)

Start with the medium shade, using a medium, wider headed, flat brush pick up some shadow and pat it onto the lid. You pat because the primer helps to grab product, so you're just tapping/pressing color to have it stick rather than sweep, which will instead soften and blend down a color.

After patting a color down onto your lid (or 2/3 of your lid, I like to leave a bit of naked skin on the outer portion of the lid for the dark color to sit as is rather than layer on top of the medium shade), take a chiseled headed brush and gently tap/sweep  the dark color on the outer 1/3 of the eye and sweep it inward rather than out toward your hair line. The chisel brush will contour this area really easy and as the brush isn't a packed or super condensed tool, the softness will allow for a lighter sweep of color rather than using a crease brush alone with is a dome-shaped, densely packed brush.

Dome-shaped crease brushes are great for creating a more defined and dramatic look or the "cut crease" look as the precision of application is intensified because the brush is smaller and won't allow to product to be spread in a larger area. As this brush packs a punch with color application, I like to use a rotating motion to blend rather than a sweeping or patting motion, this tends to circulate the product onto the lid better if you're using it on the outer corner (I would recommend starting with the chisel for outer corners). This brush works well with the chisel head, once you have the color applied with the chisel head and swept inward a bit, you can take the dome crease brush and "drag" that color even further inward, again, tiny circular motions to blend with your move the brush. The crease of the eye will vary from eye type so when you have your eye closed, where you feel the indention of your socket is where your crease is.

There are also blending brushes, these work great for softening and are generally categorized by being a longer hair brush, it looks similar to the dome shaped crease brush just extended. You can always go back and using a windshield wiper motion blend back and fourth on the crease to tone down color or help is blend more seamlessly into the lid color. This brush is also great if you ever want an all over sheer wash of color, or even taking a matte nuetral shade and dusting down over a completed eye look to tone it down.

For the light color which goes under the brow, choose a soft brush as this color is generally not as dramatic, a gentle sweep of color is really all that's needed without over doing it.

Experimenting with tools and technique is definitely a big part of it, finding out what brushes and styles you like and best suite your eye looks that you wish to create will be the fun.

Just remember the rules of thumb to follow, the larger the brush and longer the bristles are, the soft the application will be, the firmer, and more dense a brush is, the more heavy and full appliction will be.

Also, patting on colors will give a solid, full color, bold effect (ot's also a great technique for loose shadows), sweeping/wind shield wiping back and fourth motions will blend down and soften, and circular/buffing motions with help with appliction and blending for more condensed areas.

Feel free to message me if you have any questions!

[#7]

Hi Tetodd,

You have some really great tips within your post from all the other beauty talkers I'll add that technique is really important to achieving a great eye look. You mentioned "flakes" and that your eye shadow looks "messy".  Are you using windshield sweeper motions to applying your shadows? If so, try using a flat eye shadow brush, tapping off excess shadow, and using a pressing motion to apply your eye shadow which will help reduce the flakes and messiness.

Hope this helps,

<3 Julianna