Alana Mitchell, Licensed Esthetician, Day Spa Owner

Experimenting with eyeshadows has become one of my favorite ways to change up my look.  It’s a great way to take an outfit from day to night, or go from all natural to beauty goddess.  Below are tips for getting it right!

Prep

Always apply your eyeshadow after you’ve finished with your concealer. Start with a Lid Primer or sweep on a loose translucent powder.  This step will help your shadow stay in place as well as allow the colors to show truer.

Pippa Middleton stunned the world with natural look!

Basics:

With an eye shadow brush, sweep a neutral, light color from your brow all the way to your lashes.  La Bella Donna Candlelight Cream Colour  ($68) is a gorgeous base that can be worn on any occasion! It doubles as a cheek highlighter, too!   Use a medium tone from your lash line to the crease of your eye lid.  Next, take a darker shade and brush it into the crease of your lid with a small brush.  Blend like crazy!  Remember, you want to build your eyeshadow, so start with a small amount of products and add as needed.

Tricks of the Trade:

Studies have shown that people find symmetrical faces beautiful.  Consider your face shape, and use the controuing tips below to enhance or create symmetry. Remember, not all “looks” are flattering on everyone. With makeup, you always want to work with what you got!

If you have eyes that are close together, place the light color on the inner corner of your eye and start your medium and dark colors at the mid point. This will draw the whole look outward.

La Bella Donna Candlelight

If your eyes are wide set, bring a shadow liner all the way into the corner of your eyelids next to the bridge of your nose.  Try Glo Minerals Cream Eye Liner ($19). It comes in five beautiful colors!  The creamy formula is perfect for creating lots of looks.

If your eyes are small, stick to lighter shades. Yep! Little known secret darker shades actually minimize your eyes!

Have droopy or tired looking eyes? Apply shadow to the outer corner of your eyes and extend your eyeliner into a slight cat eye to add lift to your look. I use a Glo Minerals Angled Eye Brush  ($24) to create my cat eye.

Women with deep set eyes can sweep a light to medium color on their lid, followed by a darker color slightly above the crease to minimize depth.

Kierra Knightly's Bold Shadows

Choosing your Shadows

Formulas
Eyeshadows come in creams and powders.  Choose the formula you like to work with.  I recommend sticking to powders for older women because creams tend to settle in to wrinkles and creases.

Colors

Colors range from dark to light, and matte to frosty.  Matte shadows absorb light while frosty ones reflect it.  If you are older or have puffy eyes, stick with matte shadows.  Make your cream shadow last longer by lightly dusting your lids with a loose translucent powder.  Young Blood makes a ton of individual shadows  ($20) in beautiful colors. I recommend using Pink Diamond, Doe, or Halo for your light color.

Glo Minerals Cream Eye Liner

When choosing a color palette, don’t be afraid to try new things and experiment a little!  In general, dark eyes look great with grays, blues, purples and greens.  Light eyes stand out in browns, taupes and bronzes. When in doubt, you can’t go wrong if you wear a color that softly contrasts your eye color.

It’s always a great idea to play around with your look. Take pictures and see what you think!  With the holidays just around the corner, new eyeshadow is an inexpensive way to wow them at the office Christmas party!
From so many requests, I have developed a special page on my shopping cart site skincarebyalana.com with a special page set aside for eyeshadows I love. Click Here to see it!
I have another article that might help you even more titled: How to Apply the Perfect Smokey Eye!
Hope this helps, click here to call or email me with questions!

Last updated by Alana Mitchell at February 22, 2013.