How to improve your make-up skills: eyeshadow edition

I have practised my make-up skills for a few years now, and I’ve learned a lot of things by just watching youtube video’s and reading tons of blog articles. Today I want to start a new series on my blog in which I share my best make-up tips per caterogry with you. This way you might be able to improve your own skills!

Products.

I think that one of the most important tips I can give you is: use the right products! I think that your eyeshadow looks really depends on the shadow that you use, the colors and the quality. Therefore I will first show you which eyeshadows I would recommend in three different caterogies: mono’s, smaller palettes and palettes.

Mono’s.

 

First off all, mono eyeshadows. I want to start off with saying that you don’t have to buy expensive products to make your look beautiful. I will share budget proof eyeshadows as well as high end eyeshadows with you.

The first shadow I want to talk about is the P2 Eye Dream duo. It’s an eyeshadow that contains two different colors. I have this one in another color as well and I think that these are one of the most amazing budget proof eyeshadows you will every find. If you want a really pretty look using pigmented shadows you should really try these out.

Also the Essence 3D eyeshadow as well as the Catrice mono eyeshadows are very great. They have great color pay off and come in such a lot of shades that there has to be some kind of color in the collection that you like. The best thing about them is that they are super affordable! Another very affordable option are the Kiko eyeshadows. These are besides the P2 shadows the best budget eyeshadows I own. They come in such a lot of different shades and are absolutely amazing.

I also really like the MAC eyeshadows as well as the Urban Decay eyeshadows. If I have to recommend a color from Urban Decay it would be Buck. Buck is the most amazing blending/ transition color you’ll ever find. I use this for every single eyeshadow look I make! I love it. All that glitters, Twinx and Gleam by MAC are also very great.

Last but not the MNY eyeshadows and the TBS eyeshadows. These are my two favorite mono highlighter shades. The MNY one is nice and shimmery while the TBS one is matt. I like both of them a lot!

 

Smaller palettes.

 

For the smaller palettes I’ve chosen a few of my favorite (mainly) budget proof palettes. First off all the eyeshadow quattro’s by Essence. I have two of those and they are both absolutely amazing. The one on the right is called “To Die For” and the one on the bottom I have written a review about and is called “Most Wanted”. Both of these palettes have great pigmentation and are very affordable.

Another palette that I really like is the Absolute Nude palette by Catrice. It’s only a few Euro’s and it has great quality and contains very pretty colors.

The Glam’Eyes palette by Rimmel London is also a very great little palette to use. I also wrote a review about it, so if you want to see swatches you should definitely check that out. It contains very high quality neutral shades which I really love.

The two more expensive “palettes” are the TBS Shimmer cube and my freedom system palette by Inglot. If you have and want to spend a little more on your eyeshadow, I would really recommend these two. The quality is great and you can make such gorgeous looks with them. A nice thing about the shimmer cube is that it’s also really easy to blend.

Palettes.

If I had to choose one “form” of eyeshadow, I would go for palettes. It’s so nice to have all the shades you need in one place. I really enjoy using high end palettes, but I also have 3 budget faves.

If you want to invest in your eyeshadow/make-up I would recommend the Urban Decay Naked palettes. They are a little bit more expensive but I think they are defenitely worth it. The Naked one is full of warmer toned shades, the Naked 2 is full of cooler shades and the Naked 3 is filled with pinky shades. Choose the one you prefer and I’ll promise you you’ll never regret that.

Another great brand for eyeshadow palettes is Too Faced. These are again a bit more expensive, but they are so super amazing. I love the shades and the quality. I love the names the shadows have. The packaging..

Last but not least the MUA palettes are also a great find. These are actually very affordable and are great. They are inspired by the Naked palettes, so if you don’t want to spend €47 you can go for one of these. I love them!

Brushes.

Another very important thing are the brushes that you use. Brushes make your life so much easier and can make a whole lot of difference for your eyeshadow looks. I would recommend getting brushes from Zoeva. They are not that expensive, but the quality is amazing.

There are also a lot of different types of brushes, for different ways of applying or areas where you should use them. I will now show you the types of  brushes that I recommend for making a beautiful eyeshadow look.

A pencil brush: Pencil brushes are made for applying eyeshadow in your crease. I like using this for applying my darker shade. I really like this one by Zoeva called “Petite Crease”. It fits in my crease perfectly and applies the shadows very well.

A fluffy mutifunctional brush: This brush can be used for a lot of things. You can apply your lid shade with it, apply your crease shade with it, etc. I like using this one for my transition color. The medium brown shade that I like to apply in my crease right before applying my darker crease shade.

Blending brush: One of the most important brushes is a blending brush. You need this with every single eyeshadow look you’re making. Wether you use 3 colors, 5 or only one. You’ll need this to blend any harsh lines and make your look look smooth.

 

A smudge brush: This brush is perfect for applying an eyeshadow underneath your lower lash line. Because it’s quite small and stiff you can get really close to the lash line and apply it very precisely.

Large and small shader brush: These brushes are just perfect for applying eyeshadows. You have them in all kinds of sizes, colors, etc. I like the large and normal shader brush by Zoeva a lot as well as my Hema eyeshadow brush. I love this one for applying my lid color. If you apply eyeshadow daily, I would recommend getting more than one of these. You’ll be needing them.

Smaller fluffy shader brush: I love this little fluffy shadow brush by Gosh a lot for applying my highlighter shade. It’s very basic but perfect.

Tips.

ALWAYS wear a eyeshadow primer underneath your eyeshadow. Wether you´re going to apply a cream, powder, liquid or whatever kind of shadow. Always use one. This will make the colors more intense and prevent your shadows from creasing throughout the day. It doesn´t matter wether you use a cheap or an expensive one, as long as you do use it.

I think that my ultimate tip is wearing a cream shadow underneath your eyeshadow. I really like the Maybelline color tattoo´s for this and the P2 forever intese cream eyeshadow. This will make the colors of your eyeshadows even more intense as well as that they stay on even longer. This will make your look really stand out.

I hope that this post has helped you in any way. Let me know in the comments what your ultimate tips or favorite products are that help you improve your eyeshadow skills!