Monday, April 4, 2011

How to Deal with Eye Shadow Fallout

Eye Shadow fallout is pretty much the worst thing that can happen when you're trying to do your makeup [closely followed by clumpy mascara and messing up your liquid eyeliner.]

A lot of people say that cheaper eye shadows are the only ones that have excessive fallout, but I've experienced it with shadows of all price ranges though I've found that It's usually most common in darker shades.

There's no way to stop fallout, so all you can do is deal with it.
Here are a few ways:

1. Do your eyes before anything else
I'm not a huge supporter of this option because I hate putting on concealer after eye makeup. Because I have dark circles, I use about three different concealers on different parts of my under eye area, and I have a very specific way of doing it. Any time that I try to do it after applying my shadow, it ends up looking weird.
*I think this could work for someone who doesn't wear a lot of concealer.

2. Wet your brush first
Obviously, this means dampen your brush, not run it under the faucet until it's drenched. I find that this method works most of the time, but I don't always want to apply my shadows wet. Sometimes, dampening the brush changes the color of the shadow and not always for the better.

3. Tap the excess shadow off **
This is another one that works most of the time, but sometimes it's not enough. Tap your brush either on the shadow pot or onto a tissue so that the excess shadow falls off and only a bit remains on the brush. I use this method for lighter shadows because even if a little still falls on my face, it won't be as noticeable.

4. Place a business card under the eye **
I use this method most and it's the one I find that works the best, it's just not very comfortable. It doesn't necessarily have to be a business card, some people use a piece of paper or tissue. Basically, anything that can be placed [or held] directly under your eye to catch any fallout and keep it off your cheeks.
*Sephora sells Shadow Shields. You get 30 shields for $12, which might be fine for some, but I would rather use my free pieces of paper. Also, with the shadow shields, you have to apply your concealer after your eye makeup anyway because when you peel it off, the makeup will go with it, so it kind of defeats the purpose for me.

5. Use Loose powder
This is the only method I've heard of but have yet to try, only because I think it sounds messy and kind of a pain. Take any kind of loose powder [white or translucent, of course,] and put a heavy coat of it under your eyes. When you're done with you makeup, take a big brush and brush away the loose powder and any shadow that has fallen on top will be swept away along with it. Many people swear by this, and it sounds like it works, I just can't be bothered to coat my face in powder every day.

6. Pat, don't Sweep
I left this for last because I think it's the most obvious one. When applying your eye shadow [especially if you're using a brush instead of a sponge applicator,] don't sweep the color across your lid. Instead, lightly pat over the desired area, you'd be surprised at the difference it makes.

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