Don't Be Afraid of Eye Shadow

Lets talk about the basics.

Tools

You will need a good quality eye shadow brush. For detail work, also have on hand an eyeliner brush .
As a last resort, you can use a q-tip or your finger. Brushes are best, though, so invest in a good quality brush as soon as time and budget allow.



The basic application includes:
1. Prime your entire eye area (lower and upper eye lid, and all the way up to your eye brow) with your mineral foundation.
2. Apply your lighter colors first, the medium shades next, and lastly, your darkest shades. You can use the same brush for all colors this way. If you use a separate eye shadow brush for each color, then you can apply the colors in any order.
3. Blend, blend blend. Unless you are specifically going for a harsh, strong look (very rare!), then blend all edges well. You don't want to be able to see the line where one color ends and one begins. So again... blend well.

Eye Shape

Look into a mirror and determine the extent of eye lid that shows when your eyes are fully open.
If your lid isn't visible enough, use cream on the eye lid (or other light color that you choose).
If your lid shows too much, use brown on the eye lid (or other dark color that you choose).
If you have the perfect amount of eye lid showing, you can make the decision whether you apply a dark shade or a light shade to your eye lid.

Keep in mind that darker colors will recede, while lighter colors will become more prominent.
Also, depending upon your preference, you can apply your eye makeup either in a rounded shape (following the contour of your eye and brow bone), or in a winged shape (flaring out in a triangle shape).
Try both and see which you prefer. Some eye shapes will look best with the rounded style, while others shine with the winged shape. Some people can use either and look great.

To correct wide set eyes, apply more shadow on the inside area of your eye (next to the nose, and up toward your brow).

To correct close-set eyes, apply most of your eye makeup on the outer corner of your eye.

Choose your colors.  

If in doubt, just about everyone can use brown eye colors successfully, because they will mimic shadows on your face.

Before applying eye makeup, prime the area first by applying a light layer of your loose powder mineral foundation all around your eye, and up to your brow bone.

Then try two different looks to experiment. First, try a rounded look. This is simply when you follow the natural, round contour of your eye lid.

Then try a winged look. A winged look is a flaring triangle shape that gets wider toward the outer corner of your eye.

Decide which you prefer. This will depend upon your face shape.

Once you are ready to apply your eye makeup, apply your shadow to both eyes in the chosen style, either winged or rounded.

You can either apply the shadow to just the crease (fold) area, or the crease and the lid area. This is just up to you.

Apply a lighter color like cream to your brow bone (right under your eye brow).

BLEND WELL. This is KEY!! Smudge those edges until it all blends together!

Next apply eye liner (I prefer a pencil or loose powder with an angled brush), to the upper and lower lash lines, beginning at the outer corner of the eye and stopping about 2/3 of the way to the inner corner. Leave it defined if you like, or smudge it for a natural look.

Mascara is next. I prefer beauty tubes. There are two kinds that I know of one by Blinc and one by Loreal.  NO smudging or smearing during the day; even in the humid climate. It comes in many colors.....

What I like most about it, is that it slips right off your lashes when you wash your face at night!  Little tubes come off on your hand and rinse away... VERY cool. After that, you're done. You can apply eye brow color if need be, but most
people don't need to.

For night time, apply your makeup heavier or use darker shades or even sparkly/shimmery colors!

Eye makeup is really so easy... don't make it harder than it is!

Just keep in mind:

Blend well, go with browns and creams if you can't decide on colors, stay with mattes and neutrals for day, and save your darker or shimmery colors for night.