This was the year that some on TikTok have declared eyeshadow — ALL eyeshadow — a dead-in-the-water trend. But that won’t stop many of us from continuing to lust over pretty eyeshadow palettes and trying to figure out how to blend the makeup in our crease perfectly. Eye makeup can make or break a look pretty fast and it takes little more than a swipe of liner in the wrong place to close up the eye and make it look smaller.
Conversely, eye makeup can also make us look more alert and awake — and it often doesn’t take much to achieve a beautiful eye.
If you’re struggling with your current eye makeup look because something feels wrong (and maybe you can’t put your finger on what it is), here are some of the most common eye makeup mistakes you could be making.
These mistakes can age your eyes fast — avoid them if you want to look fresher and more current.
Creating Harsh Dark Eyebrows
Thankfully, we’ve come around on brows and are transitioning from super-dark, unnaturally bushy brows to a more natural look. If you’re painting your brows too dark, with a heavy gel formula that is shades darker than your brow, the effect can be too drastic and aging. A simple swap is to choose a shade that is 1-2 shades lighter than your brows (if you’re a brunette) and 1-2 shades darker if you’re a blonde and only filling in sparse areas.
Using Too Many Shimmery Shadows
A touch of shimmery shadow on the lid can bring out your eye color and make the eye pop, but too much can look aging. For a more youthful look, use matte or cream shadows and apply them with a large, fluffy brush to the crease of your eye to life and wake it.
Closing Your Eyes During Application
If you keep your eyes closed during eyeshadow application, you won’t be able to see where your crease is actually positioned, and you could wind up placing your shadow too low. Once you open your eyes, especially if you have hooded eyes, your shadow will then be lost on your lower lid. Keep your eyes open when applying shadow to your crease.
You Aren’t Applying Primer
Eyeshadow primer is so important — especially as we age and our eyes become naturally more hooded. Primer helps keep your shadows from creasing and streaking. It also helps blur natural discoloration you have on your hood, like redness and blue veins, for a more seamless makeup look. Primer even makes shadow shades pop more — it’s a must-use product.
Going Heavy With Black Liquid Eyeliner
The simplest swap of all that can make a huge difference in your eye makeup look is swapping a black eyeliner for brown or gray. Black liner can look harsh and liquid liner can be messy. But by simply adding liner to the upper outer corner of your eye and then blending it with a brush (upward), you create a naturally lifted look. Makeup Artist Sona Gasparian even surprises us by swiping liner along her lower waterline — but because she uses such a light shade, it actually opens the eye instead of closing it.
Avoiding these common eye makeup mistakes can help you make your make-up technique more current and fresh.
