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Best Ways to Apply Loose Eyeshadow

ByCordelia

 Best Ways to Apply Loose Eyeshadow - I know that many of you are intimidated by loose eyeshadow because you feel like it's a mess to apply. So today I'm going to tell you the best ways to apply loose eyeshadow, plus other tips and tricks so that you can feel more confident when you use it.

Best Ways to Apply Loose Eyeshadow

I love loose eyeshadows. I know that many of you are intimidated by loose eyeshadow because you feel like it’s a mess to apply. So today I’m going to tell you the best ways to apply loose eyeshadow, in addition to other tips and tricks so that you can feel more confident using loose eyeshadow.

Now, I have oily hooded lids. So in addition to a good eyeshadow primer, I really like to use a sticky base or a mixing medium. I’ll be sharing examples of those as well.

PR + Purchased by me. This post was originally written in 2013 and has been updated to include more information and video for 2017.

What I’m Wearing in the Loose Eyeshadow Video

Best Ways to Apply Loose Eyeshadow Best Ways to Apply Loose Eyeshadow

Fashion
PattyBoutik Lace Inset Sleeve Blouse
Bobbi Boss Yara Teal Wig 
Bellabeat Leaf Urban 

Eyes
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Too Faced Just Peachy Mattes Palette (Peach Tea, Peach Butter, Just Ripe, Chocolate Dipped)
Kat Von D Mad Max liner
Urban Decay Perversion Mascara
Cover FX Celestial – highlight
Colour Pop Jet Set Black pencil
Eylure 005 Accent Lashes
Duo Lash Glue
Urban Decay Walk of Shame pencil

Face
Jouer High Coverage Creme Foundation in Pearl
Physicians Formula Murumuru Butter Bronzer
Tarte Exposed – blush
Cover FX Prism & Celestial – highlight
Lips
Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in Hex
Urban Decay Vice lipstick in Conspiracy
Nails
KBShimmer I’m Onyx
I love this lip combo of Urban Decay Hex pencil coupled with Conspiracy lipstick! It’s such a gorgeous Fall shade.

Best Ways to Apply Loose Eyeshadow – Eyeshadow Brushes

These three brushes are the best brushes I’ve found for using with loose eyeshadows.

Urban Decay Moondust Brush
The Urban Decay Moondust Brush is perfect for applying loose eyeshadow or glitter shades.

Kat Von D Glimmer Brush
The Kat Von D Glimmer Brush is great with super sparkly shades.

Makeup Geek Foiled Brush
The Makeup Geek Foiled Brush works well with loose glitter or semi-loose eyeshadows.

Best Ways to Apply Loose Eyeshadow – Use Sticky Bases

Best Products to Apply Loose Eyeshadow and Glitter

L to R – Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy, Darling Girl Glitter Glue, Violet Voss Secret Weapon, Too Faced Glitter Glue

Violet Voss Paulina Swatch
Violet Voss Paulina glitter
L to R – Darling Girl – Fyrinnae – Violet Voss – Too Faced
Sugarpill Lumi Swatch
Sugarpill Lumi
L to R – Darling Girl – Fyrinnae – Violet Voss – Too Faced

You absolutely need a sticky base. Fyrinnae’s Pixie Epoxy and Too Faced Glitter Glue are my two favorite sticky bases. Violet Voss Secret Weapon is good as well. Darling Girl Glitter Glue is now called Darling Girl Glitta Grip and it’s also an excellent choice. Granted, Too Faced Glitter Glue is the easiest to get ahold of, so it’s probably the best one to start with.

 

For Dry Application of Loose Eyeshadows

If you are working with loose eyeshadows and not using a mixing medium or foiling product, here are the steps you need to take.

  1. Apply your eyeshadow primer.
  2. Take a bit of your loose eyeshadow color and put it into the lid of the container, or a mixing tray, whatever you prefer to use.
  3. Dip your brush into the loose eyeshadow and tap off any excess product. This is extremely important! You can even give your brush a shake to make sure it’s got off all the excess.
  4. Pat the color onto the lid, slowly. This will minimize fallout.

Although it may be true that you can apply your foundation first, I prefer to apply my eyeshadow before I do any other makeup so that I can clean up any fallout under my eyes. However, if you like to do the rest of your makeup first, put a lot of extra translucent powder under your eyes to catch the fallout. Then you can simply sweep it away.

For Foiling of Loose Eyeshadows

  1. Apply your eyeshadow primer.
  2. Take a bit of your loose eyeshadow color and put it into the lid of the container, or a mixing tray, whatever you prefer to use.
  3. Dip your brush into the loose eyeshadow and tap off any excess product.
  4. Apply your foiling or mixing medium. I prefer Urban Decay All Nighter Spray.
  5. Brush or pat the loose eyeshadow on, depending on the foiling medium you choose.
  6. I find it works best if I apply all of my other eyeshadows first, then apply the foiled shade last.

Whenever I foil my loose eyeshadow, I use short brush strokes, much like dashes. When I’m patting loose eyeshadow on, it’s almost like tapping or dabbing it onto the lid. You can also apply a loose eyeshadow, then use a bit of a foiling product on top, then finish by applying more of that same eyeshadow to make sure that the eyeshadow shade is vivid.

Pixie Epoxy used as liner
Pixie Epoxy used as liner with Fyrinnae Because Cats eyeshadow

After dabbing a bit of Pixie Epoxy on the back of my hand, I took a stiff angled brush and dipped that into the product on the back of my hand, then I used that to line the outer 3/4 of my upper lash line.  After waiting for it to get tacky, with another stiff angled brush, I brushed Fyrinnae Because Cats on top of the Pixie Epoxy.

Urban Decay Zodiac - dry and foiled with e.l.f. Studio Makeup Mist & Set
Urban Decay Zodiac – dry and foiled with e.l.f. Studio Makeup Mist & Set

Using Loose Eyeshadows with a Damp Brush
If you’d still prefer not to use a sticky base, I highly recommend using Urban Decay All Nighter Spray or e.l.f. Makeup Mist & Set, which is a great MAC Fix+ dupe. You can lightly mist your brush, dip it into the loose eyeshadow, and pat the color onto the lid. See my Best Ways to use e.l.f Makeup Mist & Set.

Blending Loose Eyeshadows
If you’re having trouble blending the seams of colors where you’ve used a foiling product, take a clean brush and dip that into the loose eyeshadow, tap off any excess, and then blend the edges. I also find that it helps if you’ve put down a base eyeshadow color underneath a more vibrant shade. Sometimes, taking a brush like the Makeup Geek Smokey Eye Brush to use for blending really helps.

Even though these are the best ways to apply loose eyeshadow, all of these products and techniques work with pressed eyeshadows such as the Urban Decay Moondust eyeshadows or Heavy Metals palette, too.

Other Ways to Use Loose Eyeshadows

In addition to using loose eyeshadows as eyeliner and eyeshadow, here are some of the other ways to apply loose eyeshadow.

  1. You can mix loose eyeshadow with clear lipgloss (or even a colored gloss if you like) to add or change a gloss color.
  2. Press loose eyeshadows at the center of your lips on top of lipstick to add extra dimension and depth.
  3. Layer loose eyeshadow on top of gel or pencil eyeliner.
  4. Highlight the cheekbones with a loose eyeshadow like Sugarpill Ghosted.
  5. Mix loose eyeshadow with clear nail polish (in aluminum foil) to make a nail polish color.
  6. Try mixing loose eyeshadow with a moisturizer to create a luminizer for the cheeks.
  7. Mix loose eyeshadow with Urban Decay All Nighter Spray to create a cream blush that melds seamlessly into your skin.

Best Ways to Apply Loose Eyeshadow Video

Products Mentioned in Video

I hope my best ways to apply loose eyeshadow video gives you the confidence to try loose eyeshadows! They truly are gorgeous and versatile.

Check out my 8 Tricks to Make Eyeshadow Blending Easy!

You might also want to check out 34 Life-Changing Beauty Hacks!

Cordelia Frost is the creative force behind Phyrra, a treasure trove for cruelty-free indie and goth makeup enthusiasts. She's the author of the game-changing 'Hooded Eyes Makeup Manual' a must-read for hooded eyes makeup.

Cordelia's world is a kaleidoscope of alternative beauty, gothic fashion, and life-enhancing tips, making every visit to Phyrra a journey into a more colorful and inspired self.

51 Comments

  2. Hello! Thank you for writing this, so far I think this is the most informative article I saw regarding loose eyeshadow! But I do have questions. When you wrote ‘Apply your eyeshadow primer’ and ‘Apply your foiling medium’ this means applying them to your eyelids, right? So there’s no need to mix the loose eyeshadow with the foiling medium first on a mixing surface before applying it to the eyelids? (I saw some people did this on their tutorials?)
    Loose eyeshadow and glitters on my eyes are very new to me so I get pretty confused, but they look so pretty I really wanna try them. Thank you in advance! 🙂

  3. Thank you for the tips! I have never used primer either. I guess I will be purchasing one now.

  4. Wow, i have never used any eye primer. I wasnt aware that it made such a difference. Thanks for the tips.

  7. For someone new to makeup, this is such a helpful post. I am always tempted to buy loose shadows, but hesitant cause I don’t know how to apply them.

  8. Oh man, when I saw ‘Secret Weapon’, I was hoping that was referring to the name of a pigment, not the base-see, I’ve been wanting to buy Lumi, but there’s this $5 pigment from a brand called Jesse’s Girl that in the jar looks like it’d be very similar to Lumi, & the name of the pigment just so happens to be Secret Weapon, lol. What are the odds. I keep trying to see if it’s a dupe for Lumi, but I’ve never been able to find the two swatched together.

    1. Lumi is unique in my collection. Lots of similar, but not exact colors out there. I love my jar and haven’t finished it yet, but it’d one I would repurchase.

  9. This is a really helpful post. Loose eyeshadow and pigments are definitely my favorite and reading this just makes me even more excited to play with the ones I have without being afraid of it being a huge fail.

  10. I’ve never known how to apply loose eye shadows and since reading your blog, I’ve been dying to try them! Thanks for the tips!

  11. Hello cute lady! This looks so amazing. Great post. Pinned and tweeted. We appreciate you taking the time to stop by and party with us. It wouldn’t be a party without you! I hope to see you tonight at 7 pm. Lou Lou Girls

  13. Thank you so much for attending week 17 of
    #PureBlogLove and linking your fantastic blog post, I can’t wait to see what
    you have in store for our next party, Thursday 8 PM EST- Sundays at midnight. Your
    post has been added to the #PureBlogLove Pinterest board for all to see 🙂 Have
    a great day!

    Nicole

  16. Thank you for this awesome post, Phyrra! I’ve been looking for tips like these for months now and this post has answered all my questions! 😀

  17. Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy! No way! My protruding orbital bones or sunken eyes (potato/potato) have made eye make up underwhelming. Some how Pixie Epoxy allow the shadows to diffuse light in such a way that my eyes finally pop. Now just waiting to find out if Benefits new eyeliner truly can give wings to the world… whenever, no rush. Thanks again for the gift of advice!

  19. My Favorite of the entire group is the Too Faced Glitter Glue because it has a tacky texture and lets loose shadows or pigments adhere very well.

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  22. Thank you for this. UD’s Anti-Aging Primer Potion seems to work well with my oily lids, but I’d not thought of doing one eye at a time!

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  36. These are such great tips!! I think the best one is to take your time in applying! So often I am in such a hurry and while being in a hurry I have so much fall out! Great tip/reminder!

    Thanks for sharing!
    Kaitie

  38. I was just wondering. What is your opinion about Shiro Cosmetics because you didn’t recommend them in your list. Also, have you tried anything from Aromaleigh since the site opened back up? I had been buying from Aromaleigh back before they closed the first time around, and am unsure about ordering from the new site. I just was curious about your opinion because I don’t see you using any Aromaleigh eye shadows anymore!

    1. Although I’m not removing my reviews of Shiro or Aromaleigh products I’ve reviewed in the past, as my opinion of those products still stands, some matters have arisen which make me uncomfortable promoting them on my blog in any form in the future.

      1. I’m not sure what your experience was, but I just recently tried Shiro for the first time and am really happy with the colors, the pricing, and the fact that most of their shades are free of carmine, which I am allergic to.

  40. Wonderful Purples amazing colors. Thank you for your helpful review. I did finally get some black eyeshadow , Covergirl Shimmering Onyx 440, bought it a Publix only paid one dollar used a store coupon and a manf. couponn so soon I will practice with it. Thank you, Jerri Davis

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