Happy Friday, everyone.

This week has been incredibly difficult for me, especially after the events in Barcelona yesterday. A lot of people tell me that I shouldn’t let it bother me, but I feel things deeply no matter where in the world they happen. I am disgusted, angry, and heartbroken for the people of Spain, just as I am disgusted, angry, and heartbroken for the people of Charlottesville. Just because it didn’t happen in my backyard, doesn’t mean I don’t feel it.

There isn’t a lot of information yet on how we can help Barcelona in their time of need, but there are things we can do for Charlottesville… specifically, a donation to the C-Ville Victim Relief Fund. All monies go directly to the people of the city affected by the horrific events that began last Saturday. You can donate here.

On to today’s post!

I’ve had a lot of people ask me how I do my eyeshadow and to be honest…I don’t really know per se. That sounds ridiculous, I know, but I think of eyeshadow in terms of artist tools, like inks or paints. My art background made applying eyeshadows make a lot more sense, once I figured out how they worked as a medium. I decided to start with a simple one color shadow tutorial, as it’s a great place to begin the indie eyeshadow journey.

A note on indie shadows…every brand has a different way that they blend their shadows, thus making them apply very differently. Some companies include synthetic oils or kaolin clay to make them adhere to the lid easier or blend better, and others eschew additives and stick with pure pigments. Loose shadows will behave somewhat differently than pressed shadows. Some shadows will require a sticky base, or foiling with a spray to really pop. All I can recommend is practice, experiment, and have fun! Makeup comes off if you make a mistake, so don’t stress if it doesn’t go right the first time.

My one-and-done looks are actually comprised of 2 shadows- A fun duochrome shade, and some sort of complementary highlight shade.

Gather your supplies! Primer, concealer, eyeshadows of choice, sticky base, whatever you may need.

Choose your brushes! I’m using my new BH Cosmetics Crystal Quartz brushes that I just received… the $20 pricetag was worth it for the bag alone, but the brushes are soft and sturdy as well. I like to use a flat, somewhat fluffy brush to apply loose pigments, but use whatever you’re most comfortable with.

Check out your canvas. I didn’t realize how many mascara flakies I had when I took the pic, so sorry about the mess! It’s important to understand your eye shape to maximize your eyeshadow application. What works for sort of deepset eyes like mine may not work for hooded eyes, or monolids, or eyes with a lot of lid space. I recommend How The Hell To Wear Makeup by Katelyn Galloway as a great additional resource.

Prime your lids with your favorite eyeshadow primer and let set a moment. I like Milani Eye Primer, but don’t apply too much. Eye primer’s sole purpose is to make sure your eyeshadow sticks and lasts all day.

Apply an eyeshadow close to your skintone to set your primer a bit and ease blending. I use Wet n’ Wild Crème Brulee for this!

Choose your indie base shadow. I’m using My Pretty Zombie Avulsion today, which is a pretty orangey pink with pink duochrome. This is not a super sparkly shade, and I chose it for this reason. Collect a little on your brush and tap off the excess.

Apply to your lid with patting motions, making sure to get as close as you can to the upper lash line. Don’t worry too much if this is messy or if there’s a lot of fallout, we can clean it up later. Just make sure to keep things confined to the lid space.

Using the same fluffy brush, begin to blend the shadow up into your crease. Feel free to pick up more product if you like, but build it up slowly. Your goal is to be able to see a bit of the color in your crease with your eye open. Those with hooded eyes may want to blend with their eyes open to make this easier. You can also go back with your nude shadow to soften any hard edges closer to your browbone.

Looking good so far, but I wanted a little more intensity and duochrome pop… Take a little dab of a sticky base (for me, my HG is Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy), spread it between two fingers, and dab it all over the lid evenly. You can’t really blend over PE, so make sure you’re happy with your base placement before this step. I find it helpful to mix the PE with a drop of water to thin it out a little and make it easier to spread, but this might not be necessary with other brands.

Let the sticky base sit for a second, then dab more shadow on top of it. This intensifies the duochrome substantially, or makes glittery shades REALLY pop!

Take more of your shadow onto a small flat brush or a pencil brush, and run along the outer 2/3 of your lower lash line. Make sure to fill in near the outer corner of the eye, connecting the lower lash to the upper lid eyeshadow.

At this point, we’re looking pretty good! This is when you’d clean up any fallout.

I like to do my eyeshadow before any face stuffs, so after cleaning up my fallout with a makeup wipe, I conceal my dark circles. I use a combination of Nyx Dark Circle Corrector and Physicians Formula Gentle Cover.

So far so good!

Choose a complementary or contrasting highlight. I have Crow and Pebble Lights That May Have Been Stars here, a sparkly white with a reddish shine. Pick up some shadow on a tiny flat brush, and spray with setting spray. You don’t have to use spray but I find it makes the color pop.

Apply to the inner corner, along the lower lash making sure to slightly overlap your other shade, and along the upper lash, doing the same. Feel free to blend into the previous shade a little.

Line your waterline. A nude pencil helps mitigate any redness and creates a space between your eye and your eyeshadows. This isn’t always necessary, but I find it helps if I’m wearing a red shadow, since it makes me look more awake (red shadows can make you look sleepy). Feel free to experiment with other colors, or even black.

Mascara! I only apply mascara to my upper lash because I’m lazy, but you do you. Just make sure you get the brush as close to your lashline as possible. You can also tightline at this point if that’s your jam. If you’re into liquid liner, this is when I’d add that, but I’m too lazy. :p

Ta da! Pretty simple, even though it looks like a lot of steps. Ideally, I can do my eyeshadow and be out the door in about 10 minutes, but if you’re new to this just take your time. Again, mistakes are removeable!

This eyeshadow look is great for everyday, and works with practically any color you can imagine. Here’s a bunch of looks I did with the same technique, in a selection of super sparkly, semi-matte, satin, shimmer, and metallic shades, from neutral to ridiculous. In my opinion this technique works best for duochromes, since you can get a lot of depth without a ton of effort, but I think it would look fine with standard eyeshadows as well!

Do you have an eyeshadow technique that works awesomely for you? Have questions? Feel free to leave me a comment!

Have a fantastic weekend, and I’ll see you all next week.