Talking Techniques - Part 3a

Hi all:
Once again its been too long since I've said HI! Sorry but 'life' keeps interrupting our party. What's a girl to do? Believe it or not, I started this post over a month ago (sigh).

Well today I'm going to continue with my "Talking Techniques" series and talk about the eyes and eye shadow. There is so much on the topic I'm going to have to do a sequel on eyeliner and mascara application. All from Penny's experience of course. Hope it helpful.

Eye Shapes/Looks

Before applying eye shadow you should determine what shape of your eyes. I know it sounds like a bit much but it makes sense when you think about it. Different eye shapes require different techniques. In my research for this post I came across this diagram which I thought was pretty helpful. Below are the various techniques described (which I also hi-jacked off the Net. LOL)

Average: Apply contour (darker color) along lash line, then along crease for a V-shape. Blend the application. Create a wedge at the outer corner using an accent color. Line upper and lower lashes.

Wide Set: The emphasis is on the inside half of the eye above the crease. Apply contour shade along lash line from inside corner out, then back along crease to inner corner. Add an accent color in a small wedge at outer corner, being careful not to extend beyond the edge. Line upper lashes from corner to corner, adding a little lift at the outside. Line lower lashes and gently smudge.

Close Set: The emphasis is on the outer half of the eye. Apply contour shade along lash line and in the crease, starting above outer edge of iris, extending beyond outside corner and up. Blend the application. Make a large wedge at outer corner with the accent color. Line upper lashes from inside edge or iris past outside corner of eye. Emphasize mascara application on outer lashes.

Deep Set: The key is to lessen the shadows on the inside corner and make the brow bone area look less recessed. Apply more base color at the inside corner of the lid. Apply contour shade out along lash line and in along crease, stopping just above the inner edge of the iris. Add a little more color under lower lashes from inside edge of iris to outer corner. Add accent color lightly along crease, blending well. Line upper lashes from inside corner to just past outside corner, lower lashes from outside corner in to just below the pupil, gently smudging.

Prominent Lids: The key is to contour below the crease to draw attention away from how much lid is exposed and to emphasize the upper lash line. Add contour shade over entire eye socket, blending carefully. Apply accent color along lash line from inside corner to slightly past outside corner, then in below crease instead of along it. Line upper lashes from inside corner out, with the line getting thicker at the outside corner. Line lower lashes, then gently smudge upper and lower line application.

Hooded Lids: The key is to use color to make it seem as though more of the lid is showing. Apply contour shade on lid from corner to corner, extending slightly above crease, and under lower lashes, working from outside corner to inside edge of iris. Apply accent color close to lash line above center of pupil and blend outward. Line upper lashes corner to corner, lower lashes from outside corner to inside of iris. NOTE: Keep in mind that the wider the liner above the lashes, the less lid you will see. Penny has hooded eyes so to open up my eyes I started lining my upper water line (where the lashes come out of your lid) instead of above my lashes.
(read full story....)

Now that I have officially taken all of the FUN out of eye shadows, let's put it back in. LOL! The previous steps are the 'basics.' The cool thing about eye shadows is that there are so many colors, shades, and textures, and so many ways to wear them. It's FUN to create new looks. Penny has her daytime looks (usually for work) and her evening looks where I do most of my experimentation. Although I have smallish, hooded eyes, I still love a good smokey eye look for nighttime. If done right it can be sexy and sultry. There are so many new varieties of the smokey eye now too...using colors like brown for a daytime look...or grays and blues. I've even done a purple smokey eye that would go great with the colorful looks of spring. What are some of your favorite eye shadow looks?

Eye shadow Finishes:

Bobbi Brown
Customizable Palette

Do you know the difference between shimmer, metallic, frost, and glitter shadows? What about matte vs. satin or veluxe pearl finishes? Shopping for eye shadows can get a little overwhelming these days. It's important to understand what the different descriptions mean and what looks best on you. Some make-up professionals even classify certain finishes to be more 'age appropriate' for some than others. Here's a quick guide:

Matte - High color pay off, no-shine
Satin - Pure color in satin style finish, provides soft subtle non frost light refractive sheen
Frost - Iridescent shine that adds a highlight quality to any color
Metallic - Opulent formula that looks like liquid metal on lids and reflects light
Glitter - Just as it sounds; visible pieces of glitter
Lustre - Smoothly pearlized; intensely frosted with a deluxe ultra fine conditioned finish
Velvet - Soft look finish, plush velvety look and feel
Veluxe - Superfine texture. Pigment rich and very luxe. Supple to apply, silky smooth matte finish
Veluxe Pearl - Vibrant velvety soft with a metallic shimmer veluxe formula overlaid with high-shine pearl

Metallic gold & black

Some of Penny's favorite eye shadow brands are by MAC, Bobbi Brown, Smashbox, Urban Decay, and Make Up For Ever (MUFE). Except for MAC you can purchase all of these at Sephora and some at ULTA. For my budget-friendly palettes I like Coastal Scents which I buy from Amazon.com, and I have a couple by Revlon.

Shades:
In addition to knowing how a particular finish will look on you, it is just as important to find the right shades for your skin tone and eye color. I have posted about this a few times now. Some manufactures have even identified which colors look best with which eye color, and sell the shadows in sets. I love my Smashbox Photo Op Eye Enhancing Palette for Hazel Eyes ($42, Sephora).

Nude eye look (matte)

Formulas:
The most common formulas are cream and powder shadows. These formulas can often be used together or alone. Find the formula that works best for you. I like powder shadows because I find them easy to blend with the right brush and easy to layer for any look. My cream shadows I find easiest to blend with my fingers.

Multi-color veluxe pearl

Penny never puts her eye shadow on without primer (Too Faced Shadow Insurance, $18, Sephora) this helps prevent creasing and to keep the shadow on all day. I also use a  cream shadow as a 'base' before applying my powder shadows. A base not only creates a smooth and even canvas, but it helps my shadows to last longer. As a base I use MAC's Paint Pot in Painterly ($17.50), a long-wearing cream eye shadow which evens out my naturally dark lids. It dries quickly to a matte nude beige finish. By using a base my eye shadows show more true to color than if I put them on my natural color lid. Clinique has a product called Touch Base for Eyes ($15) that works pretty good but I stopped using it because it dries out in the packaging before you even get close to finishing the product.

Today's talk was all about eye shadow. Next time we'll talk about eyeliner and mascara to finish the perfect eye look. Who knows...Penny might even venture into faux lashes as well (although I'm still quite the novice). LOL!

 

Please feel free to comment and let me know if you have any questions or tips you'd like to share about your eye make-up routine. Sorry for the long post. I missed ya! :-)

Be blessed. Be beautiful.
Penny