#theSOproject Eyeshadow

How I Wear Eyeshadow
On a day to day basis, I usually stick to a sweep of a pale neutral colour with a subtle shimmer, sometimes with a touch of brown shadow applied as liner to my upper lash line.  On an evening out, I love to layer up and go for a high impact look using smoky greys, blacks and taupes or browns and creams, using lighter highlight colours on the inner corner, towards the inner half of the lid and the brow bone.  I rarely go for different colours but like to have a few options in my kit for if I am feeling more adventurous!  As in my eyeliner post, I am going to direct you to YouTube to check out some of the fab tutorials out there for application tips and ideas.

Eyeshadow Base
I always, without fail, start with a base, either a cream shadow such as a Mac Paint Pot (Painterly is great for this) or my Origins Ginger Zing; or an eyeshadow primer such as the Urban Decay Primer Potion or Bare Minerals eye primer. This helps the shadow to stay in place and not fade or smudge throughout the day.

Palettes
All make up brands offer eyeshadow palettes, selections of colours that work well together for a range of looks.  For a budget buy I would highly recommend the Sleek palettes - there are lots available ranging from neons to neutrals and everything in between.  They are highly pigmented and blend well.

The Naked and Naked 2 palettes from Urban Decay are one of the more popular high end options. Beautiful colour selections and incredible pigmentation ensure that these are highly sought after!

Mac quads can be bought ready assembled or you can put together your own favourite colours. I like the combination of a matte neutral, pale shimmer, dark matte and dark shimmer in order to create anything from a 'no make up make up' look, a simple neutral combination, right through to a highly defined bold look.

Single Shadows
I have a few single eye shadows, mainly minerals and loose pigments. They are great for patting on to build a heavy colour but to be honest, I find them to be too fiddly and messy to bother with often.

Pencils and Shadesticks

Pencil shadows are basically a pressed cream shadow that are easy to apply.  Metallic colours look particularly nice and work well in pencil form as they glide on easily.

Blend!  
Whichever look I go for, I always blend, blend blend. This means that you will never have harsh lines and the colours will gradually blend into each other.

What are your favourite eyeshadows?

Leave your links if you have done an eyeshadow post!