Don’t know the first thing about applying eye shadow? Do you know where to put all the different shades? Worried about whether your shadow matches your outfit? And do you know what are all the different eye shadow brushes are for?You will, when you finish reading this article.
The first thing you should do is take a deep breath and remember that the wacky world of eye shadow, brushes and hue coordination does not have to be nearly as confusing as it may seem. There are some neat tricks and short cuts to creating beautiful peepers!
When it comes to picking colors, choose them based on your skin tone and hair color, rather than trying to match with your outfits. There really are no rules when it comes to this, you can pretty much choose any shades that you find complimentary to the look you’re wearing.
Remember though, it’s always best to take the level of formality into consideration when you choose which colors to use. For example, if you are going for a more dramatic smoky look, it may be more suited towards evening, and if you are choosing a light summery outfit, you may want to choose something shimmery, light and more natural, such as bronzes, pinks and neutrals.
The good news is that you really can’t go wrong if you follow a few simple rules. First, you want to make sure that you always blend, blend, blend! I recommend using duos (sets with 2 shades of a color), since once you begin blending you really are creating a layered, multi shaded look anyway, and this way you keep the application simple.
You would start with the lighter shade and apply all over the lid, up to the brow bone with the medium size eye shadow brush (I prefer natural hair brushes, but it really is up to you) and distribute the shadow evenly.
You then take the darker shade and using the tip of the medium brush really pack in the dark shade on the outer crease, about half way from the outer edge into the centre with a quick “packing” rhythm. You then take a large, soft bristle shadow brush and just blend it all until you see it’s even and looks the way you want it to.
For a more dramatic look you can take a small fine straight tipped shadow brush and line under your lower lashes with the darker shade. You can then add a light, metallic spot of shadow on the very inner part of your eye for a bright eyed look.
It’s certainly not important to stock your beauty arsenal with every brush on the market, however a few key brushes will take you a long way, and the teeny weeny sponge-tip brush they include with eye shadow isn’t one of them!
Just to recap, you will need: one medium size shadow brush with a fairly sturdy bristle, one larger shadow brush with very soft bristles for blending, and finally one small angled hard bristle brush for creating a liner effect. (This brush also doubles as an eyebrow shadow brush, so it’s extremely useful!) Voila!