Applying Loose Powder Pigments Perfectly

Loose pigments and eye shadow powders are not the best friend of today's modern busy woman, thanks to our get in-get out lifestyles. However, when you have the time in your morning routine to make your face a perfect work of art, loose powder pigments can be a strong ally.

Powder pigments, like MAC pigments, are pure color and are made to be used as a base ingredient in many parts of your makeup routine. They are strong, bold pigments and can be used pretty much everywhere - like eye shadow, blush, and even can be added to clear gloss to use on your lips. Using these strong pigments correctly takes a bit of time and a careful hand, and should certainly not be done when you're in a rush.

To start using powder pigments and powder eye shadows, start with your eyes. You should apply a clear uncolored primer or cream, or a similarly colored cream eye shadow base (like E.l.f. Cream eye shadows or ULTA's eye primer). This ensures that your powder won't be flaking off of your face during the day, and will firmly keep that bright pigment for as long as possible.

Now that you've primed your eyes, choose the shades you like that can complement each other well. Duo and trio tones are insanely popular, so green / pink and blue / orange pairings are great ideas to try. If you've chosen to use a cream eye shadow as your primer, make sure you've chosen a shade that doesn't contradict the powder pigments you want to use. For example, if you choose E.l.f duo shadow cream in olive (which gives you a pretty green color as well as a shimmery gold), your loose powders should be somewhere along the lines of the green and gold spectrum. Of course you'll want to use all of your bright rainbow of colors as soon as you can, but you don't want to look like a clown. (Sometimes, people who attempt duo and trio toned eye shadows do not do it correctly, and they wind up with eyelids that look like Picasso painted them while having arm spasms. Use your best judgment!)

I'll use the popular green and pink duo tone combo as an example for the rest of my tips. Let's say you've used a clear primer, and now you want to blend a pale pink and an olive green together without smudging colors or adding too much pigment. For this, you should use three pigments at minimum: your olive green, a slightly darker green, and your pale pink. To make your look even more perfect, add a slightly lighter, shimmery pink to the mix. (This same technique can be used on many different colors, for instance with the blue and orange combination, simply use two slightly differing shades of each.) Start with a small eye brush, not the smallest, but small enough to fit in the corners of your eyes without flaking powder.

The darker green should go in the inside corner of your eye, working to line the bottom and then in a tiny, upwards diagonal motion toward the center of your eyelid. Once you've reached the middle of your eye lid, tap clean your brush and start blending in the lighter green, starting slightly closer to the corner from where you stopped applying the darker green shade. Now you can easily blend these two colors together, creating a small gradient where the colors meet. Don't add the lighter green all the way to end of your lids! Stop once you've covered about ¾ of the length of your lids, leaving a good ¼ and a wing to add your pretty pink.

Now tap your brush gently and softly dab on a tissue. Begin to add your pink color(s), being sure not to touch the green shadow already applied on your lid just yet. Evenly add the pink to the rest of your lid, and softly add upward diagonal wings to the end of your eyes. This will give your eyes a whimsical look, and even further bring out the green on the insides of your eyes. Now that you've brushed all your green and pink, take a teeny bit more pink on your small brush, and blend the pink into the green slowly, creating another small gradient area. In between your colors, you should see a greyish, pinkish, greenish area that adds a perfectly colored wall between your two complementary colors.

This technique works for pretty much any color combination, and don't forget that MAC and similar pure powder pigments are very bold! You don't want to smudge too much or it will be difficult to get it off.

Another way you can blend your pigments, if you're very very careful, is to use the tip of your index or pinky finger. This is a good tip to use with strong pigments, as it can fix the wings at the ends and corners of your eyes while slightly lightening the pigment, giving you a softer look.

Now, for the bottom of your eyes! You'll want to use a small eye brush, an eyeliner brush or wand with an angled or very thin tip. To get your pigments to stay and to perfectly, thinly line the underside of your eyes, you'll want to make those pigments a little less dry. To add moisture and create eye liners out of pigments, I always use a tiny bit of baby oil in a tiny glass dish or bowl. Tap a small amount of your colored pigments into the baby oil, using a different glass for each color. (Sometimes, it's easier to line the bottom of your eyes with a single color. In this case, we'll use pink!)

Mix the oil and pigment very well, I use the end of my brush to make sure it's evenly mixed. Now you can gently dab your eyeliner brush in your mixture, and softly and evenly trace thin lines just beneath your bottom lashes under each eye. Try not to blink just yet! Let it dry for a moment, and viola! You've got gorgeous, perfectly pigmented eyes!

To use loose powdered pigments on your cheeks, simply find the correct pigment and use a face brush. (If you have a brush just one size smaller than the one you use for powder mineral makeup, use that.) Sometimes, the pigments can be too bold for you to use them alone as blush, so try adding a tiny bit of baby powder, or some of your every day powder foundation.

Using pigments for lip color is easy, simply brush onto your lips on top of a gloss or primer! You can even create a stick of your own personalized lip gloss, by buying a clear gloss and tapping some of your favorite powder pigment inside! Shake it up, and you've got a lip color that's all your own.

Make sure you take your time every time you're working with powdered pigments. They are powders, and can get everywhere if you aren't careful!