Beauty 101: Eyeshadow

The finished look 

Eye shadow is a powdered cosmetic used on the eyes to provide definition or color. In Bobbi Brown's Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual, she explains eyeshadow as to be used to help accentuate the eye and make color stand out (Brown, 94). I will be using a mix of dark shades to accentuate my eye and oranges and reds o make my brown eyes stand out more. I will also use a couple different formulas of eye shadow.
For this tutorial I will be using the She palette by Colourpop Cosmetics.

Step 1

1. Start by putting an orange color in the crease. This will act as a transition shade. Transition shades are useful for eye makeup by providing a color that makes darker and more bold shades easier to blend and look smooth over the eye. I used a fluffy dome-shaped blending brush for this.

2. Next, I used a red color in the crease and outer corner of the eye. This is the darkest color used. A denser brush than the last works better for this because I want this color to be more bold and pigmented rather than the transition shade that I wanted lighter and blended out further. Because this color is still in the crease, I wanted it to be blended smoothly with the transition shade so I made sure I used a fluffy brush rather than packing brush that is used for packed, intense color on your lid.

Step 2

3. The next step is to use a shimmery pink shade over the bare space on your lid. I used a flat packing brush for this since only the edges needed to be blended out from the lid. Once I picked product up on the brush, I used rosewater spray to intensify the color. After the pigment was placed, I used a blending brush to blend out the harsh lines.
4. Once the top shadow is done, I used a small brush described by Brown as a "Eye Smudge Brush: A small-head brush with a slightly rounded point. This brush has soft, flexible bristles that help smudge liner to create a smoky look" (Brown, 12) to add the orange color we started out with and the red shadow from the second step under my eye from my outer corner to the further end of my iris.
5. The final step is to add mascara and false eyelashes. I used the Ardell Soft Touch Wispies 162 Black and the Loreal Lash Paradise Mascara to add volume and length to my naturally stubby lashes

Step 5

Step 3

Step 4

 Have you ever used eye shadow before and if so, how did it go?

Brown, Bobbi, et al. Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: for Everyone from Beginner to Pro. Springboard Press, 2011.