Getting the Most from Your Eye Shadows

Hello fashionistas,

This is Beth, your Indianapolis Personal Stylist here. If you are like me, at times you will buy the eye shadow quads that have different shades of color for you to use in various ways for your eyes. You might have even tried them out at a cosmetics counter at Macy’s or Sephora. Good for you! I am all about taking advantage of other’s expertise, and getting the free gift from products such as Clinique, Channel, Lancome, etc. I love getting the gifts!!

Anyway, in my previous career, I did commercial and bridal makeup so I learned along the way from my work and some of my amazing friends who’ve done make for years: Carole Schidler (who’s been a makeup artist her whole life), and Brenda Sotolongo (who owns The Makeup Shop–her makeup is awesome). From Carole I learned: when you are shopping for an eye pencil, try it out on your hand. It should easily glide and give creamy color on your hand. If it doesn’t, pass it by. You don’t want to stretch out your skin as you apply an eye pencil that is too hard. Also Carol would lament about the number of ladies who insist on wearing beige, light brown or gold lipstick. “It looks terrible on eyeryone,” she’d say. Especially as you age, you need color. (One exception may be an 18-year-old model with perfect bone structure.)

From Brenda, from whom I took my makeup artistry course, one of the main things I learned is moderation. Don’t overdo makeup and try for a natural look. In class we would discuss all the various brushes, and what they do. Brushes really are great. They save makeup because you don’t use as much — especially with foundation. And, they help you apply makeup in a more expert way. One of my favorite  brushes to this day is by Laura Mercier. It’s a square eye brush (pictured here). I would buy the cake eyeliner by Mercier and uses the brush for that. But, you can also use it with eye shadows as an eyeliner. You wet it, brush it along the darkest color of your eye shadow quad, and apply to the top eyelid along the lash line (remember no spaces here between the lash and lid) on the top and bottom. Don’t forget to add a littler lift at the edges of your eyes.

What eye colors should I wear? This information by Kelsey Kramer (Google) is one of the best explanations I have seen. I do take exception with the blue eye colors. I am not afraid to add navy, green, purple or teal liner –not shadow–to my blue eyes–in moderation. I agree the pinky bronze is one of the best eye shadow colors for blue eyes.

http://www.bhg.com/beauty-fashion/makeup/the-best-eyeshadow-shades-for-your-eye-color/#page=1

Two other important things for making your eyes beautiful:

  • Consider a high quality eye primer. Using primer on your eyes will make your makeup stay in place all day. I like Lancome’s creamy eye primer. A friend of mind likes Urban Decay’s primer because her skin is slightly oily. Try some out — don’t be afraid to ask for samples before you buy.
  • Second, when you use a bright color on your eyes, use a little taupe or beige eye shadow on top to tone it down. Just a little, mind you. This will make it all blend in better and look a little more natural.

Hope to see more beautiful eyes out there!

Have a great day.Keep is sassy, Indy.

Beth Divine, Indianapolis Personal Stylist