Back to Basics: Understanding Eye Shadow Placement

Aaaannnd we’re back! It’s time to get into the nitty gritty of powder eye shadows. You’re going to be a boss at eye shadow by the time I’m done with this series. If you’re not, you’ll have to come out to one of my group workshops soon. I’ve already discussed form and texture in a previous post. What we will focus on now is eye shadow placement, simple pictorials using only a few techniques, and coordinating all that with Fall trends. Ready?

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The photo above gives a very simple breakdown of how the eyelid area is divided into zones and where to place your colours.

Zone 1: The photo shows zone 1 in two different areas because it’s indicating that if you are using a light-coloured shadow, you can use the same colour in both these areas. These are the highlight zones–the areas that you want to bring out as focal points.

Zone 3: The binary opposite to the highlight areas is the contour area. The darkest colour almost always goes in zone 3. This area is often referred to as the ‘outer v’ and ‘crease’ (the hollow area below the browbone). We place dark colours in this area because dark colours recede. You need both dark and light shadows to create dimension to the eye, so that it doesnt’ appear flat.

Zone 2: The transition area. This area is between the hollow area of the crease and the brow bone. If zone 1 and 3 have light and dark shadows, respectively, zone 2 should have a medium coloured shadow. This creates a gradual transition between the darker area of the crease and the lighter area of the brow bone.

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If you want to get fancy by wielding 6-7 different eye shadows for your look, then the info-graphic above is your best bet. Here’s an example: