When you see someone with a great make up job, you may well find yourself wondering about how to apply eye makeup so it comes out looking like “THAT!” Everyone has had days where your eye shadow seems uneven either in darkness or in blended coloring.
The answer to that specific problem boils down to blending. Always begin applying your shadow using the lightest shade you have, and then layer in the next darker color. You can always add more color, but taking excess tones away is difficult and leaves blotches in otherwise lovely eye shadow.
The steps to applying eye makeup are: concealer and/or highlighter, eye shadow primer, eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara.
Don’t rush your makeup applications. Practice on a day when you don’t need to go anywhere in particular. Try different color combinations – both with and without eyeliner. Make notes of the ones you really like. If you have a digital camera, take pictures of your results and use that as a template when you’re wondering how to apply eye shadow again to get that exact (or very close) results.
Another big boost to showing off your eyes is choosing the right colors. You can certainly go with an eye shadow that matches your eye color. But if you’re looking for impact and boldness – go to the opposite side of the color wheel such as using yellow/gold with blue eyes. Gold is also a great color if you have hazel eyes particularly on a brown backdrop.
Speaking of backdrop – if you want your eye makeup to last all day long with the least amount of smudging seriously consider getting a primer. Just like when you paint a surface, primer prepares your skin. The result is a very smooth look that doesn’t fade even if you have a very active lifestyle. By the way you can get primers in shimmer tones if you want to give your eyes a little more glow without going for full-out glitter.
Some of the techniques for how to apply eye shadow depends on the look you want. For example, the smoky eye is always in fashion. For this type of finished appearance you don’t extend the color farther than your lid, with an accent below your lower lashes. For a little more drama take a white eye pencil and put a dot of it right near your tear ducts – it catches the light and draws more attention to your eyes.
Last but not least – be careful of highlighter. This is particularly true if you have fine lines or wrinkles around your eyes. Choosing the right colors offsets this, as does using primer – but stick with the “less is more” philosophy to maintain that youthful appearance.
