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4/12/12

Basic Eyeshadow Blending Tutorial & Tips

I have been meaning to do this post for a long long time! I did do one last year in September (!!!), but I did not like the photos & the lighting & my brows looked so untidy....let's just say I wasted a few hours & a pictorial.
When I say "What is blending?" I can't help saying it like Channel [V] VJ ~ Lola Kutty:
"Whaaht ees theese blanding?", with a hand gesture to go with it.
The reason I'm doing this tut is because I feel silly writing in my tutorials: "Blend well/ blend the edges" I always imagine someone reading my blog thinking- "Yes woman, blend, but howww???" I would be thinking the same if I didn't already know. Like in cooking, you can't just say "Cut the tomatoes julienne" without explaining how to do it. I don't really know what 'julienne' means, I learned the word from Monica Gellar. You remember her job interview with the creepy perv? "Are they, uh,  firm?..... I like it dirty" - about tomatoes & lettuce.
The main aim of eye shadow blending: To blur out the prominent edges so you don't really know where the color begins and ends. In most cases, the goal is to make it look like a gradient. Blended eyeshadows look more natural, especially when bold colors are used- a vibrant blue eyeshadow looks less trampy when blended well. With good blending, you can make 10 colors look like 3-4 colors.
I use only 2 blending techniques: 
Blending Technique 1: Windshield Wiper Motion- Place your blending brush on the line, and starting from outer corner of your lid, move the blending brush in a windshield wiper motion. Left-right-left-right......moving with the curve of your eyeshadow. This won't be hard to do if you have a deep defined crease. Most times, this technique is not enough, so you do the next technique in-between or after, whichever way you are comfortable with.....
Blending Technique 2: Swirling Circular Motion- In this, you make little circular swirls quickly. Start from outer corner and work your way inwards. This blending technique works well especially if you're applying one color on inner half of lid & another on the outer half, and you want to blur the prominent line in the middle where the two colors meet.
Below I'll show you how I blend a single brown eyeshadow. I only used one blending brush & a beige eyeshadow:
Tips:
  • Shake off excess color on the brush before placing it on your lids.
  • It's better to start blending from the outer part of your eye, coz that's where you want the eyeshadow darkest most times. Of course you can go back & forth once you're into it.
  • Use a light hand when blending, try not to press too much. Do it as though your shading an apple with a red color pencil on a piece of paper (the harder you press the color pencil, the more uneven/untidy it would look) If you're a makeup artist, pressing hard is a bad idea, especially if your client wears contact lenses. 
  • Blend only that outer line/edge, try not to touch the rest of your lid.
  • Say you're using other colors, like green & pink - Use green on lid & pink as blending color, or vice versa.
  • I'd say hold your blending brush at a 45° angle.

Eyeshadows for blending:
Something close to your skin tone & in a matte finish. Here I used Urban Decay Naked from Naked Palette.
Other options: MAC Wedge, Brule, Malt, Omega. I'm sure there are a few from Inglot too, but can't remember the numbers right now.

Blending Brushes:
Something soft & fluffy, but one no bigger than your middle finger for the crease. Here I'm using the crease blender from Too Faced Brush Kit 

To sum it up-  One Blending Brush, One Beige Eyeshadow, 2 Techniques, Practice, Practice....and you're on your way to Pro-ville.

Hope you liked this basic blending tutorial. Now I can do more tutorials & link "blending" to this =)

♥ Cynthia Z *.*

66 comments:

  1. Thnks for teaching ... i will try these techniques and hopefully will learn them soon . .

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  2. CZZZZZ ... WOW ... so WOW and i am sure nobody but only you could have done this ..... no offense here but am saying this as you have explained this so well ... really very well done babes :D ....

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    1. Really Rash??? That's so sweet of u to say. Thank U!Happy you liked it :) <3

      ♥xx♥

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  3. Thats exactly what I needed ..some explantion on how to "blend"!!!
    U got telepathic powers..I was just googling on this..also please can u do a tut on how can I find my outer "V" I keep making my eyes droopy when I extend the lower lash line for making a V :-(

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    1. Lol...what a coincidence! Ok will do that sometime. It's basically the V that forms when you join the outer corners of yr crease and upper lash line

      ♥xx♥

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  4. Thanks a lot cynthia,......... simple lucid explanation

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  5. I have a VOV eyeshadow quartet and I was so clueless about how to use it! It has black, gray, silver and white shades and in some of your previous posts, you've used those colours so well! But I just didn't know how to get the look. Now I do! Thank you Cynthia!

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  6. Whoa ! This tutorial was so well explained. I'm sure this help many people. You show real concern for your readers..I guess this is why you are the cosmo's beauty expert :)
    *Winks*

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  7. Hi Cynthia,

    I love the smokey eye look, but not the elaborate one but the smudgy one.Can you please do a short tutorial on that. If you have already done, please provide the link.

    Between loved this tutorial, its really helpful for novices like me ...

    Love :)

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    1. I'm going to do a tutorial on this look soon- http://www.indianvanitycase.com/2012/04/look-other-side-of-me.html

      Previous smokey tuts below:
      http://www.indianvanitycase.com/2012/02/kareena-kapoors-eye-makeup-tutorial.html

      http://www.indianvanitycase.com/2010/12/genelia-dsouza-in-fast-track-ad-makeup.html

      ♥xx♥

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  8. You are a great teacher! I never know how to explain like you and the illustration is great!

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  9. Brilliant! Love this tutorial. Perfect for people like me, who are so terrified by the idea of unblended eyeshadow so end up not using eyeshadow at all!

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  10. I do the blending party pretty much like this. Blending makes the eye makeup look perfect.
    I have seen some bridal makeup artists just putting the color on the lid and doing nothing on the blending part,It looks horrible!!

    As usual great job Cynthia :)
    Bless you :)

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    1. Thanks Namita :). Yes! I know about what you mean... there are plenty of MUA's like those.

      ♥xx♥

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  11. Cynthia seriously God bless you!

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  12. Thanks Cynthia you are an angel..u don;t know how difficult it is for beginners like me to blend properly..this certainly helps

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  13. Oh Cynthia, you doll! You are absolutely precise on blending! I have seem so many makeup gurus on youtube, but your blending is to clean-cut. LOVE IT. Thanks for the tips :)

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  14. oooh lovely technique and lovely brushes...But I must say that would suit your eye shape and flatter it.

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    1. Thanks...I usually apply it like that coz of my hooded lids

      ♥xx♥

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  15. I never heard of that Swirling Circular Motion technique before, interesting! I'm not sure I really use a technique to blend my eyeshadow... at least, I'm not able to explain it ahah! Thanks for this, very helpful x

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    1. lol...I would've loved to know how u do it though

      ♥xx♥

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  16. Lovely post Cynthia..Very detailed ...

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  17. The timing of this post is impeccable :) Just yesterday I was looking for eyeshadow blending tutorials. This post is so helpful. Thanks a ton! When I try to blend, the colour usually travels all the way up to the brow bone..I guess I need to get a proper blending brush. Would you know of any budget options as I'm just a beginner?

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    1. On the brow bone you can apply a highlight color instead. There are a lot of budget brushes, like ELF, which u might find in Mumbai. Other option is only Vega, but I doubt it has a good blending brush. Also check out Kryolan brushes.

      ♥xx♥

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    2. Thanks a lot. I live in Mumbai so yay! :)

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  18. I didnt know about the first technique at all! I always follow the second one! I noticed one thing good brushes make lots of difference, good fluffy ones really helps me a lot!Lovely tips!

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    1. Second one is sometimes good enough :)

      ♥xx♥

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  19. this is such a useful post, altho i m in2 makeup, i always find it a major task..specially whn m pressed for tym..bt as u said practice wud mke me improve on my tym mngmnt...

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    1. Yes, practicing makes everything easier

      ♥xx♥

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  20. OMG! I'm gonna BM this.. first tightlining & now this - you are my beauty guru for sure! Shd've taken some lessons from you when we met. Maybe next time :)

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    1. Aww T! Glad u like it too. Ya, maybe next time, although I don't think you need lessons ;)

      ♥xx♥

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  21. nice tutorial, this will help beginners in make up like me :)

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  22. Wow... loved the tut.. Thanks for sharing Cynth :)

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  23. I love eye makeup but blending has always been my nemesis.. Your tute really helped a lot. Now m on the lookout for good blending brushes.

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  24. ; w ; I love you for this. I'll be practicing and practicing this until I get it just right!

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  25. Hi Catherine, thanks for teaching me to blend eyeshadow, i needed that tut! I was hoping you could do a post on choosing colours to blend together. Im so lost with this! For example if i have say MAC SABLE..how to i go ablout choosing the colour to blend with it?
    I have so much of eyeshadows but dont like to wear them because i dont know what colour goes with what!
    XXX Hopeless Me!

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    1. You mean Cynthia, right? :D

      You can use a matte color close to yr skin tone with Sable too.

      ♥xx♥

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  26. Hmm.. The second technique was new to me.. Thanks!!

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  27. Cynthia, what is a good brush to use for smudging? I find those sponge/rubber smudgers very harsh on the eyes....

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  28. FANTASTIC blog! Definitely keeping tabs on your posts! xx from Canada

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  29. Love the tut girl!!! I have lately started following your blog. Looks like I am going to get addicted :) Keep up the good work!

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  30. I only now saw this tutorial! Super helpful! Thanks :)

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  31. OMG!! Thank u thank u sooo much for this post. I only recently started on makeup and I have always loved eyeshadows but clueless as to how to get them on without looking like i got a black eye, regardless of the colour I use! -_-" This is really the best post I have ever seen on blending. Thanks so much!

    Could you pls do a tutorial on eyeshadow application as well? I mean like WHERE to put what colour and how much?
    ps: I'm chinese so my eyes would probably need a different eyeshadow placement from yours or the caucasian ones I see online. Thank u so much again.

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I ♥ finding little notes in my Vanity Case, so do drop one. I read all of them & I try my best to reply to each & every one of them [check back in 2-3 days =D] but most times it's physically impossible! Either way, I love to hear from you & really appreciate you taking the time out to share your thoughts <3

Thank you for reading! :)

♥xx♥