Let’s be honest, a majority of people who wear makeup feel like they are just mediocre in the artistry. A lot of the time wearing and applying eye shadow is more of a chore than an actual recreational activity. Realistically a lot of people feel they look more like a clown when they apply eye shadow than beautiful.

Sometimes there can be major problems with eye shadow, racoon eyes, cakiness, muddy colors and the like. There are different hacks to use that can perfect any eye look. These hacks are used everyday by professional makeup artists and will make applying eye shadow easy and flawless:

1. Prime Your Eyes
Priming eye shadow is a must if you want to achieve the perfect eye look. Using eye shadow primer will not only help the shadow stick and reduce the eye shadow shifting but it will also help create an even base to put the pigment on, allowing the color to remain even throughout the application. Investing in a decent eye shadow primer can change your whole makeup game.

2. Blending Techniques
Blending your eyeshadow or not blending your eyeshadow can be a huge make or break the look. When you blend your eyeshadow it will create a seamless, gradient look from where your skin meets the color. Using a small fluffy makeup brush in windshield wiper motions will help blend the color. Additionally, by using clean eyeshadow brushes and blending every time you apply a new color or start to blend will completely eliminate any muddy look.

3. Avoid Cakey Looking Shadow
We have all seen the cakey looking makeup that screams for help, but how is it avoided? The old saying “less is more” is really true. By starting with a small amount of product and working up to the look that you’re going for instead of applying it all at once will truly help with any cakey look.

4. Eye Creases
As we age we develop fine lines and wrinkles around our eyes. This is not limited to crows feet, but will develop on the eyelids and under eye as well. This can make it very difficult to avoid your eye makeup creasing. However there are a few tips that you can use next time you apply eyeshadow to avoid creasing completely. By using moisturizer and letting it dry completely before applying your eye primer you will kind of fill in any dry patches. Additionally going in with a light hand will help the eyeshadow not settle into the wrinkles but instead go over them. Baking your under eye is a popular technique, however it can make any wrinkles pop, so try to avoid baking.

5. Know Your Eye Shape
The fun thing about eye shadow is you can play with your eye shape to virtually create any type of look. If you are going to play with your eye shape, it is a good idea to know your eye shape and know how to work with it. Applying winged liner, cream eye shadow or even metallic eye shadow to hooded eyes is a completely different process. Make sure you look down instead of closing your eyes completely to achieve different eye looks if you have hooded eyes.

Eye shadow can be such a fun thing to work with when applying makeup. There are endless possibilities in the looks that can be created. Sometimes there are struggles but by knowing some tricks of the trade and practicing you can create something beautiful.