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Basic Makeup Q & A: Eye Makeup
By Destroyx | February 3, 2010
This is the second part of my Beauty Q & A series where I answer reader questions about makeup. If you missed the first installment on foundation, check it out here.
QUESTION: How do you deal with mistakes such as extending too far and that annoying fallout of loose eyeshadow. - Luise
ANSWER: I always try to apply makeup with baby steps, so that I can avoid mistakes like extending out too far. Unfortunately if that happens, I normally use a baby wipe to remove the makeup and start again which can be quite frustrating.
Fallout can be very annoying if you have already made up your entire face. So I usually try to do the top half of my makeup first, do my eye makeup and then clean up the fallout, before finishing the makeup to the bottom half of my face. (I answered a similar question also in the foundation FAQ)
QUESTION: How best to apply false eyelashes and which glue do you use? (I know most sets come with a free tube, but I find they often don’t last very long or tend to be already dried up). I get lots of problems with getting glue in my eye or gluing top and bottom lashes together accidentally!- Luise
ANSWER: I would recommend Duo Surgical Adhesive as being the best eyelash glue. You should be able to purchase it from MAC counters or a good beauty supply store. Putting false eyelashes in can be extremely hard, but practice makes perfect. I would suggest perhaps using less glue and waiting until the glue is tacky before applying the eyelashes. The glue shouldn’t be runny enough to stick your bottom and top lashes together accidentally! I have written a whole article about false eyelashes previously which you can check out here.
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QUESTION: I love makeup and I love doing makeup for other people. The one problem I always run into is with my sister. She is Korean (we are both adopted) and I’m just not always very confident on how to apply her eye makeup correctly since she doesn’t have the crease that a lot of people I put makeup on do. It’s due to a lack of knowledge/practice on my part. I love your looks and would really like to recreate them on my pretty little sister. Any quick tips for me and her? - P.Magpie
ANSWER: As I am asian too and do not have an ‘eye crease’, I have also encountered the same challenges when adapting eye makeup looks for my own eyes. I find that many tutorials and beauty editorials in magazines do not feature many asian models, which can make it difficult to figure out how to put the makeup on so that it flatters the eyeshape. So instead of trying to replicate the looks in fashion directly, I would suggest that you should take inspiration from the colours and texture of the makeup look and adapt it to the eye shape you are working with.
Most of the time when I do my own makeup, I colour in the entire eyelid with eyeliner (in a cat eye shape), as this can really flatter asian eyes. Lastly, I find that because I don’t have a crease in my eye, it leaves more space for me to fill in with eyeshadow between my eye and brow bone which I think can be an advantage! Ultimately, you will just have to experiment with finding an eyeshadow shape which suits your sisters eyes.
QUESTION: Is there anything special which you use to ‘fixate’ your (eye)make-up to make it last throughout the day? - Kurai
ANSWER: Yes! My ’secret weapon’ is ‘Two Faced Shadow Insurance’ Eye primer. You just put a small amount on your eyelids and your eyeshadow will ’stick’ to it and last all day without creasing. I would highly recommend investing in it! I have also had good experiences with Urban Decay’s Potion Primer.
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QUESTION: I’ve never tried putting loose glitter on my eyes before. So I’d like to know how to apply it and make it stick without any of it falling off (and into the eyes). - Typhoid
ANSWER: Loose glitter can be extremely messy and when it comes in contact with the eye can sometimes be irritating and harmful (especially for contact lense wearers). I find the easiest way to apply glitter is to first coat the area where you want to stick the glitter to with some kind of emulsion based product, such as gel eyeliner or cream eyeshadow and then dab the glitter on with a brush when the product is still tacky or wet. When the product dries, it will make the glitter stick. Miss X also has glitter glue available for applying loose glitter to which is available here.
QUESTION: I’ve recently discovered the joy of lining my waterline. I know lots of people say not to - but I like the ‘finished’ look it gives to a whole makeup look. The only problem is, that I can never get it to stay! I’m forever having to reapply it when I go out, which is such a pain - even if I use waterproof! Is there a way to get eyeliner to stay on my waterline, or am I doomed to forever reapply while I’m out? - Heart Grenade
ANSWER: I say YES to lining the waterline. I think it also looks really awesome and completes your makeup look. I find that I just use MAC kohl pencil eyeliner for the waterline and that lasts all day. Unfortunately, if you have naturally watery eyes you will probably need to keep reapplying it. Another product you might like to try is gel eyeliner which you can use with an angled eyeliner brush for precision application. I often find it has a better sticking power than pencil eyeliner because it is more pigmented. However I would caution you to be careful not to put anything too strong (like liquid eyeliner for example which can be a bit ‘fumey’) on the waterline as it can often irritate your eyes.
QUESTION: What do you do to prepare your skin for color to make it pop out as well as possible? - Lucinda Lee
ANSWER: As I mentioned before I always prime my eyes using ‘Two Faced Shadow Insurance’ Eye primer to make the eyeshadow stick to my eyes. Also, I have found that putting a base of white gel eyeliner or white face paint underneath the eyeshadow can make any weak eyeshadow pop. If that is not available to you, I would suggest using any white chubby eyeliner pencil as a base (I have heard NYX does a good version though I haven’t tried this myself).
QUESTION: How do you get your makeup to look so…symmetrical. I often find that I can start with one eye, and apply the makeup perfectly on one side, but when I go to do the other eye, it just doesn’t look right. - Lolita
ANSWER: The obvious answer is that practice makes perfect! However, most people don’t have symmetrical faces, so don’t sweat too much about the makeup not looking 100% symmetrical. I usually do each makeup step on both sides of the face (e.g. I put eyeshadow on my right and left eye before proceeding to the eyeliner stage) as I find it aids in making the overall look symmetrical. I have gone out with quite asymmetrical makeup, and most people don’t notice, so I wouldn’t worry about the symmetry of your makeup too much!
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QUESTION: I was wondering if you could do like a little video tutorial to show your techniques in applying things like eyeshadows and blending them? I have tried even the basics like a smoky eye which you can really smudge and can get away with shonky blending techniques, but if I want to so some really cool bright colours and blend on different parts of the eye I’m unsure of what goes first, in which part of the eye and how to layer them without them ending up murky and weird. Should I mix wet and dry eye shadows or loose powder and are there kind of rules on where darker eyeshadows or brighter ones should go? and I have the same problem with making them look symmetrical as well since my left hand is useless at precision! - Cookie
ANSWER: Video tutorials are definitely in the works (I’m just saving for a camera), however I can answer some of your questions. I find its much easier to either use all wet pigments or all dry pigments. If you have ever tried to mix a dry pigment over a wet pigment, you will probably find that it will go clumpy. I find it’s easiest to stick to wet or dry, or at least wait until the wet pigments are dry before attempting to blend them in with dry pigments.
Experimentation is key in eyeshadow placement and there are not really any hard and fast rules about where the darker and lighter colours go. I always just experiment (and I am often surprised by the outcomes actually!) I hope to share some more makeup tutorials with you soon with more experimental eyeshadow placement that deviates from the regular smokey eye look.
I use my right hand to apply makeup to both of my eyes. I don’t swap hands when I want to the the left side, as my left hand is not nearly as steady as my right hand.
QUESTION: How do you keep eyeliner or eyeshadow from rubbing off and forming half circles around the crease of your eye? - Sayuri
ANSWER: Again, I would like to recommend using ‘Two Faced Shadow Insurance’ Eye primer to make sure the eyeshadow and eyeliner really stick! It also helps to apply foundation on the eyelid before applying any makeup to the eye. If you have particularly oily eyelids, some people recommend applying silica or rice powder prior to applying the eye makeup as they help to absorb the oils on the eyelids.
QUESTION: What about eyebrows? I have really pale eyebrows and i was wondering if there is a good way to shape them, as i have difficulty seeing mine and also how do you apply eyeshadow to match them to a wig that is a different color than your natural? - Lucinda Lee
ANSWER: Having pale eyebrows can be a total blessing! This means, that you can probably draw your eyebrow shape as you please. I would suggest getting a sharp eyebrow pencil and drawing a shape that you feel suits your face. Then try to pluck your eyebrows into a shape which matches that line you drew. Zoetica Ebb did an absolutely brilliant tutorial on eyebrows which you should definitely check out.
To answer your second question, I find it’s really fun applying makeup to match a wig, because it means that you can try all different colours that match the wig instead of your natural hair colour. In general, when I am colour co-ordinating my makeup I try to either use matching colours or totally opposing colours. For example, if you were wearing a blue wig, you might like to try blue makeup to match, or wear red/orange makeup to provide contrast.
Topics: Amelia Arsenic, Beauty, Makeup |
February 4th, 2010 at 12:46 am
great advice! :3 by any chance do you use GEO circle lenses? or in any contacts? because i was wondering if there is any precautions or methods to apply eye makeup to avoid irritating your eyes. since you know sometimes you can apply mascara and it can kinda irritate your eyes and contacts. well id love to hear if you had any advice for that! :] thankies!!! <3
February 4th, 2010 at 1:54 am
Yay, this was fun to read! I love reading about makeup, looking at makeup…I feel so relaxed when walking through Sephora, it’s like therapy!
But I look bad with makeup on! Anything more than mascara and lipstick and I start to look like a drag queen. So I always have to go for natural looks, since painting up my face just doesn’t flatter me. But I’ll keep looking at your pretty makeup and dream!
February 4th, 2010 at 3:41 am
Thank you so much for this. I actually ran into a problem with false eyelashes this weekend as did a friend who had just terrible glue. So this is really helpful!
February 4th, 2010 at 11:29 am
I always love reading your makeup advice! Some of the things that can be hard for many people, you make sound like a piece of cake. Thanks again <3
February 4th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
You’re an angel for answering my question. Thanks :)
February 4th, 2010 at 7:19 pm
You´re great! Really your make up is incredible, thanks for your answers ;)
February 5th, 2010 at 12:20 am
Wow, I’d never have thought of using face paint as an eyeshadow base, saves me heaps of money :) Thankyou so much for these Q&A segments, I really love reading them ^_^
February 6th, 2010 at 3:18 am
you make me want to wear make-up Amelia! :) lol xo
February 8th, 2010 at 10:20 am
this was awesome and extremely helpful!! ^.^
thanks a bunch! :]
February 22nd, 2010 at 6:38 pm
Thanks for this :)
It’s always nice seeing different people’s techniques so you can expand and improve upon your own
I love these q&a’s!
can’t wait for more :)
xx
March 1st, 2010 at 9:19 pm
awesome TUT! your makeup is gorgeous :)
March 1st, 2010 at 11:34 pm
As always a great read and many great tips ^^
Thanks so much <3
March 3rd, 2010 at 5:36 pm
do you have any makeup that starts whith a x?????and if not make some please!!!
March 9th, 2010 at 11:08 am
Amelia! Thanks for answering my question! Great advice :)