One of the answers last week's post from Ken Boylan brought about a Eureka moment for some of you. He advised that in order for shadow to stay put longer and blend well, you should do a little bit of prep first. "When you’re using a powder eye shadow, make sure that your eyelid is completely dry before applying it. If the eyelid is in any way oily and you apply shadow straight on to it, it will stick - and you won’t be able to blend with your brush," he said.
Me, I always start off with a sweep of a pale shadow shade over my entire lid, from lashline to brow, and my product of choice is usually Bobbi Brown eyeshadow in Bone (1). It's pale, it's matte and it evens out tone, doing the trick to prep my lids for colour. I rarely find my shadow creases during the day (and if it does and I have no brushes, I re-blend with my pinkie). If you're not a BB fan, then MAC to the rescue with Blanc Type (3), another matte shade in a creamy colour.
On the budget end of things, check out Rimmel for their Colour Rush Shadow Mono in Moonstone or 17 Solo Eyeshadow in Ivory Coast.
Those suggestions are all well and good for my dry skin, but you may need a little bit of extra help if you've got a sebum-prone face.
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In that case, think about using a cream-based product to give a key to powder shadows and help them stay in place. Go easy with these or you'll look a bit bananas with a thick layer of product from lash-to-brow. I'd suggest concentrating on the lid and blending up towards the lashline, and then applying your colour.
The two I think'd do the trick here are Urban Decay's Cream Shadow in Rehab (2) and Estee Lauder's Double Wear Stay in Place Cream Shadow in Ivory Lace (4). Both are lovely solo, but the double function makes them really useful for locking colour onto your eyes until you want to remove it. Purse a little light? Try Maybelline Dream Mousse Eyeshadow in Beige.
I know I'm only giving recommendations for a typical 'pale' Irish skintype, but if you're darker, check out mushrooms, warm taupes, beiges and upwards to browns to suit your own colouring. I tend to prefer to keep my base colour as matte as possible, so I don't blind people with a lid of glimmer. And that means I can load up on sparkle with my coloured eyeshadow too!
