Eyeshadow Placement

Today I’m going to go over the basics of eye shadow placement, and show you an easy to replicate way of doing your makeup. 

A very typical eyeshadow placement is something like this:

All of us have probably seen countless tutorials in which many different colours, textures and finishes are used but the placement is the same.  There are reasons for this.  This is generally one of the most flattering placements for a wide assortment of faces and eye shapes.  The lighter shades in the inner eye open up the eye and make it appear wider, the darker shades in the crease of your eye provide some depth to your face.  It’s a very tried, tested and true formula but is happily easy to recreate. 

As always, the shades I’m using are not needed to do this look.  What I’m going for is to show you ways to use this placement for a multitude of colours.  I’m using what’s flattering to my skin tones and eye shade, and what’s already in my stash and readily available.  This can be recreated with all sorts of colours, from neutrals to brights and glitters.  Unfortunately I don't have photos to accompany the steps today as I had an early start, but it's a very basic look and should be easy to follow!

1.  Prime your eyelids.  I always include this step because my eyelids are very oily.  The primer keeps my eyeshadow lasting all day and keeps the colours appearing brighter.

2.  Back to my best friend the transitional shade.  Even if you’re using all brights, a transitional shade in a colour slightly darker is going to be highly helpful to you when blending. 

3.  Take a colour slightly darker than your transitional shade to deepen the crease.  Blend with a large fluffy brush.

4.  Take a colour that is lighter than the previous colours and apply it all over your lid.  Blend into the crease with the same large fluffy brush.

5. Take a colour that is the lightest of the shades you are using and highlight the inner corner of your eye.

6.  Finally, take the darkest shade and apply it directly to your outer eyelid, and blend.  You can finish it up with blending darker shades under the lower lashes or eyeliner to complete the look.


And the finished product:

With 4 colours of a similar shade ranging from lightest to darkest, you can reacreate this in so many ways!