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Eye Shadow for DummiesAug 06 '03 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Eyeshadow is your friend; you just have to get comfortable with technique application. Wear any color you want, as long as you're willing to blend, blend, blend!
Here are three quick and easy eye shadow application techniques that should help you make the most of your collection in your cosmetics drawer at home, and help you decide what you need to add! Be sure to check out the Tips section for more in eye shadow application and choice. These techniques assume you have applied concealer and foundation before you start. For Tired Eyes If you have had a rough night, this is a great technique--and this one, with two toddlers who are still waking up in the night, is my usual application. You will need: - Light, frosted eye shadow or creme--pink, peach, silver, gold, bronze... most colors will do, as long as it's light and shimmery. - Colored medium-to-dark shade, like green, blue, aqua, purple... your choice. Can be matte or frosted. You can also use a soft eye pencil in a bright color. - Mascara Here's the technique: 1. Apply the lightest shade to the entire lid of the eye, from the lashes to just below the brow. Extend the shimmer just beyond the eye area to the outside of the bridge of your nose, where dark circles often start to appear. 2. With the brighter color or pencil, line the top lash line, starting from the outer corner of the eye, and pulling gently about 2/3 the way across the lid. If you're using a pencil, make this a thick line. 3. Still using the brighter color, line the bottom of your eye at the lash line, using a thinner line. Start from the outer corner and go about 1/3 of the way across the bottom, staying as close to the lashes as possible. 4. Using a clean eyeshadow applicator or small sponge, blend the bottom line gently, and remove excess with a Q-tip. For the top line, use the eyeshadow applicator to blend the line upwards and outwards, extending the color towards the crease of your eye and towards the outside corner. 5. Curl your lashes and apply lots of mascara. It's Only Natural If you're not into colorful eye shadow--suppose they remind you of the blue and purple that was so popular in the 1980s--this technique will be right for you. Choose natural colors--earthtone, brown, mauve or rose--depending on your skin tone and mood. Matte colors will look most natural here. You'll need: - Light shade (ivory, light pink or cream) - Medium shade (soft sable, mauve, soft mustard brown) - Dark shade (chestnut, plum, bronze) - Mascara The How-To: 1. Apply the lightest shade over the entire lid, from the lashes to the brow. 2. Using the medium shade, apply from the lash line up to and including the crease. (If you have deep-set or almond-shaped eyes, stop at the crease.) 3. Use the darkest shade like you would eye liner, starting from the outer corner of the lash line, moving inward about 2/3 of the way across the lash line. Leave the lower lash line alone. 4. Using the lightest shade and afterwards a cosmetic sponge, blend well. The end result should give you a uniform look, with the lightest shade at the brow, moving to a darker shade toward the lash line. 5. Curl your lashes and apply mascara to both top and bottom lashes. Day To Evening This technique works with almost any 3-color shadow palette available for dramatic results. Choose natural earth-tones or mauves for a more natural look, charcoals or colors for evening glamour. This technique works best for those with wide, as opposed to almond-shaped, eyes. If your eyes are deeper set, consider this technique minus the medium shade. This technique may require some practice to master, so give yourself some extra time. You'll need: - Light shade (possibly frosted) - Medium shade - Dark shade - Eye pencil in a corresponding shade (optional) - Mascara The Technique: 1. Cover the entire lid with the lightest shade, from the lashes to the brow. 2. Apply the medium shade from the top lashes to the crease of the eye. 3. Using the darkest shade, begin from the outer corner of the eye, applying along the crease. Draw a wedge (or a right triangle), one leg of the triangle along the crease (going about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way across the eye). Drop the right angle straight down from the outside of the crease to the lashes, and finish the angle from the lashes to the 1/3 to 1/2 the way across the crease. Fill in the wedge lightly if necessary. 4. If desired, line the bottom lashes about 1/3 of the way across (starting from the outer corner of the eye) with the darkest shade or with the eye pencil. If you're using a pencil, line the top lashes as well, about 1/3 of the way across. Blend well and remove excess with a Q-tip. 5. Now it's time to blend. I usually blend with the lightest shade for a daytime look, the medium shade for an evening look. Be sure to blend all the colors, concentrating on the wedge. Follow up with a cosmetic sponge, and a cotton ball to remove any excess. 6. When you're finished, you should have a uniform-looking color, with the lightest shading above the crease to the brow, getting darker towards the lashes and then outside corner of the eye. Reapply just a spot of the lightest shade to the area just below the brow for extra lift. 7. Curl the lashes and apply mascara to top and bottom lashes. Other Tips... - Frosted, shimmery shadows are great for adding lift and brightness to eyes, but they tend to make older eyes look crepey and wrinkled. If you have the beginning of crow's feet, only apply shimmer shades to the top of the eye area, above the crease just below the brow, and blend with a matte shade. - To determine your best colors, check if you have any natural (not from the sun) red in your hair. Warm skin tones have natural red or gold highlights in their hair (again, not from the sun). When comparing colors, you want to see which shades best bring out your face, rather than the garment. Warms will look better in brown, cools will look better in black. Warms can wear orange and yellow, where as cools will look better in blue, purple and pink. With eye shadows, you can wear almost any, though when choosing earthtones, warms will choose yellow tones, and cools will choose mauvey browns. - Should you correspond your shadows to your eye color? Yes! But you don't have to lock yourself into a shade palette, either. Purple shades tend to accent the green in your eyes. Green will accent the brown. Pink can make blue eyes look even bluer. Brown will add natural brightness to any eye color. - Pink... beware! If you have tired eyes or a lot of redness in your eyes, you might want to avoid pink shades. Usually, mauves or plums will look fine, but for your safest bet, try earthtones or browns. - Browns, earthy tones, mauves and roses make for a lovely, natural day-time look. If you'd like a smokier look for evening, try going to brighter colors, grays, charcoal and silver, and frosts. - The basics of eyeshadow application--you want the darkest shading on the bottom and outside corners of your eyes. A lighter shade along the brow will open eyes and add highlights and sparkle. Moving towards the inside of your eye to the bridge of your nose with the lightest shades (and blending carefully) will add a lot of lift as well. - Any good eye shadow technique will be enhanced with an excellent brow shaping. I suggest you get a professional brow wax (ouch!) at least once every three to six months, and pluck stray hairs in between. Professionals can give you a great brow shape that will accent your eye shape. - You can wear any color you want, as long as you blend! Avoid over-done looking eyes by blending with a cosmetic sponge or a clean eyeshadow applicator. Cotton balls and Q-tips are great from removing excess shadow, but not for blending. - Especially with darker shades, choose shadows that blend easily. I have had a lot of success with BeautiControl, Clinique, Merle Norman and Reflect.com shadows. You can apply them dry and they blend well, and applying them with a wet applicator will give you a great eye liner. - Tools of the trade: If you're serious about eye shadow, invest in a set of good brushes. Merle Norman has a wide eyeshadow brush to die for! BeautiControl offered a great set not long ago for $25, with a lip brush, shadow and contour brushes, powder brush and blusher. Brushes are easy to use and can help you apply the shadow just where you want it. Less blending is required. A contour brush can be used as a brow brush as well, as its hairs are bristly and slightly more firm. I use this brush to line my eyes as well. - Contact lens wearers: I wear soft lenses, and I can understand the discomfort of getting flakes in your eyes. I recommend starting with a cream shadow base to help assist in blending and getting the shadow to stay. Apply shadow lightly--it's easier to apply more shadow than it is to remove. Use department store brands, home party brands, or ones that are labeled safe for contact lenses. - Mascara: Choose brown for warm skin tones or natural-looking cool skin tones, black for cools who want an evening or more dramatic look. It's okay for blondes to wear black mascara and eye liner now! Also, be sure to replace your mascara every 3-4 months after opening, and do not share this product with anyone else. (Seriously, you can get some yucky little growths in your mascara after only 4 months!) - Practice: This is the one thing anyone can learn. If you practice every day (every morning!), you'll soon be comfortable with how you apply your eye shadow. Pick up women's magazines for the latest in application techniques, visit your favorite department store cosmetics counter or go to a home party, and watch carefully. - When in doubt, blend some more!  |
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