Back to Basics Makeup: Eyeshadow

Eyeshadow is one of those things that can be done so many different ways. You've got smokey eyes, winged out eyeshadow, cut crease, and about a million other eyeshadow looks. Today I'm going to go through a basic eyeshadow look. 

The colours you use really depend on what you like. You can use matte or shimmery or metallic. You can even use all three! I would say that as you get older, you may want to lessen the shimmer. Don't get me wrong, I think shimmer can look incredible on more mature skin. However, I think a softer shimmer is more flattering. I also recommend using matte eyeshadows in the crease. They really make more of a difference in terms of shaping the eyes. I'm not being too specific as to what colours I've used in this post because it's more about technique.

How to Apply Eyeshadow: 

I'm going to split this explanation into three sections; crease, eyelid and outer corner. 

Crease:

The crease of your eye is where it naturally sinks in. To find your crease, with your finger, gently feel along the eye. Where the skin sinks in, is where your crease is. You can really change the shape of your eye using matte shades in the crease. 

With any eyeshadow look, I like to begin by using a matte eyeshadow that is a just a little bit darker than my skin colour in the crease with a fluffy brush. Doing this will not only help define the crease, but it will also help you blend out your look later on. Trust me, this is the key to a good eyeshadow look. This is called the transition shade. It very subtly helps transition the look by creating a base. 

I'm building up the colour very slowly in the crease using a fluffy eyeshadow brush. 

As you can see, my crease on the right eye is slightly more defined than the left eye using just that one shade. 

Keep building up the colour using the same brush, using wind shield wiper motions. This basically means going backwards and forwards with the brush horizontally. Once you have laid down the transition shade, you can build on it to add further definition if you want. This time I use matte eyeshadows that are a bit darker than the transition shade. Since I have a small crease and want to define it quite a bit, I use a lot of eyeshadows. You don't have to use that many, I just prefer it to get the definition I want. 

I'm using an eyeshadow that is a shade darker than the transition shade in the crease on the same fluffy brush. You can use wind shield wiper motions to build it up and blend. 

As you can see, the crease of the right eye is slightly more pronounced. The more you blend and build, the more definition you will get. Just go slowly with very little on the brush.

In this picture, I have used a few more matte eyeshadows to build up definition. The crease of my right eye is definitely more pronounced.

A closer look at how to apply eyeshadow to the crease.

If you have a very small crease or hooded eyes, you can use a smaller crease brush for a more precise application of colour.

Eyelid:

For the lid, I like to use a lighter slightly shimmery eyeshadow to bring light to the eyes. This will help to brighten up the face and make you look more awake, especially if you put the shadow in the inner corners of the eyes. 

As you can see, my right eye is a lot more open and it's brighter. 

A closer look at the lid shade. 

Outer Corner:

Now this step is really optional but I think it just adds a nice bit of subtle smokiness to a look. Use any darker eyeshadow and pack this onto the outer corners of the eye, like I've done in the image below. 

Eyeshadow placed on the outer corner. 

You then need to blend it with a fluffy brush. You can use the same brush that you used in the crease. Blending is very important for this step because as you can see in the picture above, it will look very choppy and harsh if you don't. Use the same movements with the brush as before; wind shield wiper motion going back and forth with the brush. You can also use small circular motions to blend. 

Outer Corner blended. 

To finish off the eyes, go in with a clean fluffy brush to blend out the edges. 

You can see that the edges look a little harsh and need to be blended out.

Use a clean fluffy brush to blend the edges of the eyeshadow. 

The finished eye with mascara.

So that is how to create a basic eyeshadow look. I really hope that this has helped you and that you've been able to follow it. This has definitely been the hardest Back to Basics Makeup post to do because I wanted to show as many steps as I could. Eyeshadow is really about practise and blending. You need to be patient when blending and take your time. If eye makeup is well blended, it looks good no matter what you've used!

Thanks for reading, 

Avani

xoxo