Working With Loose Eyeshadow/ Pigments

Hi Everyone!

Using loose eyeshadow or pigments has a bit of a learning curve. After working with loose eyeshadow for a few years, I wanted to make this instructables to share with everyone all the tips and tricks that I've learned.

Here are some things you will need in order to do a complete eye look:

Loose eyeshadow/ pigment

Eye primer

Sticky base

Crease brush

Flat brush

Angled liner brush

It's best to work with synthetic brushes as opposed to natural bristle because you don't want to get the sticky base on your natural bristle brushes. Unless you don't mind, of course. You will have to wash the natural bristle brushes. I usually just wipe off the synthetic brushes on a paper towel.

You will need:

Loose eyeshadow

Sticky base

Crease brush

Flat brush

Angled liner brush

One of the most important product you need is a sticky base such as a glitter glue. I have Fyrinnae’s pixie epoxy. This product will help the pigment adhere to the eye lids, help it stay in place, and decrease the amount of fall out you would normally get if you were just using primer alone. It will also intensify your eyeshadow. You can see the difference a sticky base (right) vs just an eye primer (left) makes. I have also found it to keep the eyeshadow from creasing and increase it's longevity. Plus if the eyeshadow is duochrome, the sticky base enhances it.

There is a technique to using loose eyeshadow. Pick up some powder in a brush and tap it into the lid. Then swirl the brush in the lid to evenly disperse the color in the brush. Tap off the excess. Repeat if there is a larger concentration of color left on the brush. Work in light layers when putting it on the eyes and build up intensity as needed. Loose eyeshadows are quite pigmented and you don't want your eye look to be patchy and difficult to blend. The purpose of this technique is to diffuse the pigment on the brush and combat these issues.

Before you start any eye look, you want to put eye primer on your eye lids all the up to the brow bone. You can put some on the lower lash line if needed. The purpose of a primer is to keep the eyeshadow from creasing, increase it's longevity and intensity. Then, using the above technique, build up the crease color or colors. You can do the same on the lower lash line; however, if you want an intense color there, then follow the technique shown in the liner section.

It’s very hard to blend colors after using a sticky base, so you want to blend the edges of the lid shade before you put the sticky base on. First place the color that you intend to use on the lid in a light layer and then blend the sections where the lid color meets the crease color. You only need a light layer on the mobile lid because you’ll be covering it with the sticky base. Pat a very small amount of the sticky base onto the lid. Let the base get tacky. It will take about 10-30 seconds. If you’re impatient like me, then instead of waiting, keep patting until it feels very tacky. Now you can pat the lid color on. Start with a small amount and add more until you build the intensity up as desired. You can do the same process in the inner corner of the eyelid.

To use loose eyeshadow as an eyeliner, take a small amount of the sticky base on an angled liner brush and pat it in the shape of a liner on the upper eyelids. You can do so on the lower eyelids as well. Let the base get tacky. It will take about 10-30 seconds. Then take some eyeshadow in the same manner as above, making sure to tap off the excess, and stamp it as a liner. Start with a light layer and build intensity as desired. To get the sharp wing on the end, you can wipe off the bottom part of the liner into the desired shape with a makeup wipe or your finger.

You will get some fall out during placement. The final step is to wipe away that fall out. If you feel like you get a lot of fall out and it’s difficult to wipe away because the pigment smudges, then place a shadow shield or a tissue paper on your undereyes when applying the shadow.

I hope this instructables helps you use your loose pigments more and see how amazing they are.

Thanks for reading!