Eye Makeup Tricks for Oily Eyelids: How to Fix Eye Shadow Creasing in the Eyelid
Have you ever had eye shadow crease after a few hours of applying? Eye shadow creasing in the eyelid can look sloppy and unprofessional. Here’s a way to fix it.
How Do You Know If You Have Oily Eye Lids?
After washing your face and not applying any makeup, wait three to four hours. If you eye lids turn shiny and liquid-looking, you have oily eye lids. This means the oil will mix with the eye shadow and guide it into the creases of your eyes.
Prepare Your Face Before Makeup
- Cleanse: Like with all makeup application, you should wash your face with a cleanser and dry before applying any makeup. This is especially important if you have oily skin.
- Moisturize: Even if you have oily skin, moisturizer is still important. Choose a water-based, oil-free moisturizer. Recommendations: Clinique’s Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel; Bare Escentuals Rare Minerals Moisturizer.
- Mattify: This step is optional, but applying a mattifying cream/gel to the upper eyelid area will help keep oil at bay. Recommendation: Cosmedicine Medi-Matte Oil Control Lotion SPF 20.
Prepare the Eye Area
- Foundation: Powder foundations are best for oily eyelids. Apply foundation all around the eye area. It’ll help to control oil and make your shadow colors pop. Mineral loose powder makup works very well for this. Recommendation: Bare Escentuals bareMinerals Foundation SPF 20.
- Powder: This is the most important step! Dap on some finishing powder with a concealer brush all over the eyelid. This is what will help control most of the oil. Recommendation: Bare Escentuals bareMinerals Mineral Veil.
Choose the Right Kind of Eye Shadow
Especially for oily lids, it’s important to choose the right formulation of eye shadow. The new liquid and cream shadows can be tempting, but even with oil control, these shadows will break down when they mix with natural oils produced by the skin. Therefore powder is the best for oily eyelids.
- Loose powder: Loose eye shadow gives the most control. It’s especially useful for soft and translucent applications, for a more natural effect that can be built up to be dramatic. Recommendations: Bare Escentuals Glimpse; MAC Loose Shadow; Make Up For Ever Pure Pigments Eye Shadow.
- Pressed powder: It tends to go on thick, but it’s a lot less messy than loose shadow. Apply with a brush for better control. Recommendations: CARGO Eyeshadow; Dior Eyeshadow; L’Oreal HIP Eyeshadow.
For Excessively Oily Eyelids
If you try these steps and still your eye shadow creases, the best solution is to not apply eyeshadow over the whole eyelid. Instead, try the following steps:
- Highlight: Apply a light color or shimmer under the curve of the brow and in the inner corner of the eye. This will give the illusion of a more made-up eye even without eyeshadow on the lid.
- Shadow: Apply powder shadow only a third of the way up the eyelid with an angle brush.
- Line: For a smokey effect, press shadow liner into the upper lash line, making sure to get in between the lashes. For a hard line, mix shadow liner with water or a waterproofing solution (like Make Up Forever Eye Seal), or use waterproof pencil or cream liner (like Make Up Forever Aqua Eyes).
Eye Shadow Primer
This is another option if you don’t feel like using foundation and powder. Eye shadow primers are liquid and cream solutions that help to keep your eye shadow from creasing. Always set the primer with finishing powder before applying eye shadow. Here are some different products:
- Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer
- Bare Escentuals bareVitamins Prime Time Eyelid Primer
- Two Faced Shadow Insurance
- Smashbox Photo Finish Lid Primer
