The Internet Taught Me: Basic Eyeshadow Tutorial

Hello! Today I'd like to discuss eyeshadow for beginners, and give a quick little tutorial on my "everyday eye." Eyeshadow is my favorite tool for making eyes look larger and gives a look more oomph instantly.

You will need:
-3 shades of eyeshadow (see specifics below)
-a highlighting brush (I'm using a clean crease brush for mine--fingers work too!)
-a shading brush
-a crease brush
-a blending brush

OPTIONAL:
-eyelid primer

in my opinion, the crease brush and the blending brush are the most important ones--you'll want them to be soft.

Here is everything that I'm using:

-Urban Decay Naked eyeshadow in Virgin
-Maybelline Lavender Smokes liner color
-Revlon single in Taupe
-e.l.f. eyeshadow primer in Sheer
-ecoTools angled crease brush
-ecoTools blending brush
-e.l.f. shading brush
-essence of beauty crease brush (for highlight)


The concept behind eyeshadow is in the name--eye shadow. When applying it, at least in this configuration, the emphasis is on deepening the crease (the area between your browbone and your eyeball) and visually raising the browbone. In order to acquaint yourself with the personal contours of your eyes, I recommend shutting them lightly and just putting your fingers all over them. Squish around, get to know where your bones begin and where your eyeball ends. By doing this you'll be able to find your crease more easily.
Here I am sans eyeshadow:

First things first: choosing colors. When doing an eyeshadow look like the one below, you will need at least three colors. One dark, one in the middle, and one light. More specifically, they should be generally in the same color family. You can get little trio palettes at the drugstore that all are meant to work together, not to mention they sometimes come with little paint by numbers versions of this tutorial on the back, minus actual instructions on application.
I like the combination I chose because it's a cool-toned purplish combo which brings out the green in my eyes and still remains fairly neutral. Here are closeups of the shadows from palettes.

Maybelline's Lavender Smokes liner

Urban Decay's Virgin

Here we go!

(Optional: Apply eyelid primer. This will even out the tone of your eyelid and make your eyeshadow last longer. For darker looks, this is really important. I'm using e.l.f. eyelid primer in Sheer.)

1. Get one side of your shading brush all up in the mid tone you chose. Apply directly to your eyelid, stopping at the crease, and making an even base. Apply more as needed.

2. Tap your crease brush on the darkest tone you chose. Starting just before the outer corner of your eye, start to brush the color into your crease. You should feel as though your brush is moving in an arc, hugging the edge of your eyeball through the lid. So graphic!

3. If it's not looking too hot right now, don't worry! Blending brush to the rescue. Grab your clean blending brush, and move it over the crease color in circular motions, buffing out the edges to, well, blend the two colors into one another. When it comes to blending near your outer corner, try not to blend down or up very far, or you might have to do some damage control with concealer on your temple.

Almost there!

4. When your crease is to your liking, brush your lightest color above said crease on your browbone, and dab a bit on the inner corner of your eye near the tear duct. This will make your eye look more sculpted and brighter.

Et voila! You're ready for whatever you want to do next, be it eyeliner & mascara or watching Netflix for ten hours. Well, do the other eye, but you get me.

See what I mean? More "enhanced," even if that is a stupid word re: makeup.

Extra tips:
-For more eye brightening power, take a shade between your base color and highlight color and pat it directly into the center of your lid, above your iris.
-I like to take a little liner brush, dab it in a dark color (I love NYX's single eyeshadow in Sensual) and run it along my lower lashline because it's a lot less harsh than eyeliner.
-For a more dramatic look, you can use an even darker color than your crease and pat it into the outer third of your eyelid. You can then grab a blending brush and blend the darker bit outwards and up in a wingish shape. This look takes a lot of fiddling, so be patient!

Can you see why I love eyeshadow so much? It always makes me feel more awake & fully finished, if you will. If you try anything here or have any questions, feel free to comment below or tag me on Twitter at @thathermitgirl. Happy Tuesday!

xx,

The Pin-Ups Are Jealous: Cat Eye Tutorial & Tips

Let's talk about one of my favorite products: eyeliner! It comes in an array of forms (pencil, gel, liquid, cream) and can change a look entirely. Once I started wearing eyeliner I couldn't go back-- I totally get why it's been a beauty staple throughout history. My favorite look is the classic cat eye, but it can be a little tricky to get the hang of.

Today I used the first gel liner I ever bought, by Mommy Makeup in Black Orchid, along with my SHANY eyeliner brush (it came in a 12-piece set, and is brush number 4). I love this color because it's a deep metallic purply color that isn't especially harsh and reminds me of autumn. It also goes on incredibly smooth. Let' get started!

 If you're wearing eyeshadow and plan on wearing mascara, apply the eyeliner in between those two steps. Eyeshadow would smudge and cover your hard work if you applied it after your eyeliner, and it's difficult to apply eyeliner when your voluminous lashes are blocking your view. First step, use your brush or pencil (I recommend using a liquid, gel, or cream liner for a really precise cat eye) to apply a line of your desired thickness along your upper lash line. Take it slow, and remember to breathe! Just like yoga.

Your lower lash line is an excellent guide for deciding what kind of angle you want for your wing. Draw the base of your wing as if you were drawing a continuation of your lower lash line if you're unsure what angle you'd like. The one I did here doesn't exactly follow this, but as long as it's not pointing downward, I think I'm safe.

Here's where it all comes together! The width of the line you drew in the first step will affect the thickness of your wing. Draw a third line, connecting the tip of your wing to your lash line. This piece may take some practice, but once you get it down, it's worth it. Next, fill in the space left, and you're done!

Mascara is next! 

What's your favorite kind of eyeliner? Do you have a look you love?

xx,