The battle of what order to apply eye makeup in a morning makeup routine is a preference thing but what if I could tell with a few simple tricks, eye makeup application can be much easier, and you and your clients can avoid raccoon eyes and black smudges by just tweaking your routine. Most of us have accidentally smudged our mascara or smudged everything else when trying to fix a tiny mistake. Even makeup pros can make a mess by not prepping the skin well or having the right tools at hand. Why would anyone put time and energy into doing their eye makeup if the makeup doesn’t stay put and instead runs under the eyes or the color evaporates from the eyelid. Eye makeup is added work and we all desire “attention getting eyes”. It is up to the industry pros to ask our clients the right questions and share tips and tricks to ensure “their eyes have it”!
The first thing to take into consideration is their placement of eye cream. If they say their mascara or eyeliner smears not long after application, it could be that the eye cream was placed too close to the lash line, the eye cream was put on a bit too liberally or the eye cream is too heavy of a formula for a daytime eye cream to be worn underneath makeup. Many people do not realize the warmth of the eye cavity will cause eye cream to rise and cause mascara and eyeliner to slide. Remind your clients to apply their eye cream on the orbital bone, or the bone that surrounds their eye socket. The eye cream formula choice is very important, and I recommend Skin Perfect’s Transforming Eye cream as a perfect daytime eye cream base. It adds a silky texture under the eyes that smoothes away fine lines and wrinkles while providing a continual release of hyaluronic acid to maintain deep hydration throughout the day. It also has a combination of soft-focus minerals such as micronized pearl that is a great optical diffuser to minimize imperfections. Also, the caffeine in the formula helps stimulate micro-circulation and depuff tired eyes.
Next, when using eyeshadows, it is always best to use a primer, concealer, or some type of base so the powdery shadows can adhere to the eyelid, contour, and brow bone. I prefer our Colore Me Perfect Eye Primer that comes in light or medium shades. It blocks the discoloration of the eyelid while anchoring down eye shadows and keeping the color nice and rich through the entire day. Without a base, the eye shadow will fade throughout the day requiring multiple applications and it may not even stay in the place the client is trying to put it. Recommend to your client they bring in their eye shadow brushes and show you what they use and how they apply it. This shows them that you really care they are using proper brushes around such a delicate and vulnerable area of the face. I have also helped clients purge through a lot of super old shadows that needed tossed but they just couldn’t bring themselves to follow through. Maybe you can create a marketing campaign around “eyes” in which you can offer eye shape analysis, eye makeup lessons, purge and renew shades for change of season, and properly wash their brushes for them as a nice bonus; better recommend they purchase new brushes from you for a fresh start.
Many clients also may need to do their eye makeup before anything else! Any mistake can be easily wiped away without having to start over with their concealer and foundation. However, there are endless ways and purely preference on how every person likes to do their makeup. It needs to be easy to apply but also easy to fix!
Fixing a makeup smudge is a regular daily routine for most of us. Just try and avoid stabbing yourself in the eye with the mascara wand as that may qualify for an eye appt at the ophthalmologist. Advise your client if a mistake is made during their mascara or eyeliner application, they should allow it to dry and not swipe too soon. This will prevent mascara or liner smudges. Liquid liner is one of the trickiest eye products to apply well so mistakes are bound to happen. It is best for them to allow the area to dry and then go back with a pointed Q-tip and try and remove. The Q-tip can either be dry or what I have found works best is to dip the Q-tip into a little concealer or foundation then use as an eraser. The bit of creamy texture allows me to erase while blending everything back together. It becomes easy to reapply shadows or liner on top if necessary.
Another great tip is to use loose powder such as Colore Me Perfect’s HD Setting Powder as a “catch all” under the eyes when doing eye makeup. This dusting of powder is perfect to catch the shadow that may fall under the eye and help minimize undereye creasing. I like to use a large shadow brush when applying a light dusting of powder under the eyes. Apply just enough so you can easily brush excess off with excess shadow. For those that just want to use the powder for setting their under-eye concealer they can place a cotton ball inside of a tissue (making a little ghost!) and dip into the setting powder, then tap on the back of your hand to remove any excess and lightly blot on top of the concealer area. This is a great way to avoid putting too much powder around the eyes and absorb any oils that try and secrete through.
I hope these tips will reinspire you to market and promote yourself as the eyecare pro for skincare and makeup care. A little less smudges and mistakes will make an easier morning for us all!