I recently realized that I haven’t said too much about eye makeup products in my previous columns. This is because I’m terrible at eye makeup and feel like I’m not proficient enough to give any kind of advice in that regard.
However, I still try my best to apply my eye makeup in a way that doesn’t make me look like I’m jumping the gun on Halloween...even though I could watch a million YouTube tutorials and still would not be able to properly blend shadow into my crease.
I’m not sure why my eye makeup skills are poor in comparison to applying makeup to the rest of my face.
In the past I have blamed it on the products I was using. This scenario has proved to be true when it has come to eye pencils and liquid liner (I do believe I’ve mastered the cat eye) but I’ve spent a lot of money on high-end shadow palettes and brushes and nothing has changed. It’s not the product, it’s the user and I am not ashamed to admit it.
A few years ago I purchased the Naked Palette by Urban Decay – a cult product that most women have in their collection. This was my first higher-end shadow purchase and, because everyone gave such rave reviews, I was sure it would be magical and I’d turn into a shadow pro in no time. But this did not happen. I actually grew to despise this palette and, although I haven’t completely retired it from my makeup collection, I find myself avoiding it at all costs because I know I’ll just get frustrated with it and ruin my whole look.
The problem I have with this palette is that the shadows are too sparkly, which for some reason makes it harder for me to blend. Every time I try to achieve that look with Naked, I end up looking like a glamorous zombie… and no, that is not what I’m going to be for Halloween.
Out of the 12 colors included in this palette, using five of those shades is barely worth it to me (especially considering it costs around $52), but I still keep faith that maybe someday I’ll get into it and utilize the other half of the palette.
I do have other eye shadow products that I’ve managed to (kind of) get along with, such as Stila’s In The Moment Palette, which I use nearly every day. Even still, I try stick to what I know and what is easy – which isn’t much. I definitely want to expand my horizons and try more shadow techniques, and hopefully get out of these products what I paid for them. After all, practice makes perfect!
Taylor LaPuma is a junior studying journalism and a columnist for The Post. Do you have any advice for applying eye makeup? Email Taylor at tl674710@ohiou.edu.
