How to Prevent Eye Shadow from Falling onto Your Cheeks

Pressed powder eye shadow comes in just about any color you can imagine. It is lightweight, easy to apply, and highly portable. But it you're not careful when applying pressed powder eye shadow, you can have a big mess on your face. Whether you use a brush or a sponge applicator, as you swipe the shadow across your eyelids, little bits of loose shadow tend to fall below your eyes, creating 'eye shadow fallout.' It doesn't look too bad if the shadow is a neutral or flesh tone, but if you try to wipe away the excess shadow of a dark or bright color you could end up looking like you have dark circles, bags under your eyes, or just a plain old mess on your face. But there are a few simple options to deal with eye shadow fall out.

One way to prevent excess shadow from laying on your cheek is to put your eye make up on first, before any other makeup, then use your eye makeup remover to wipe away any flakes of shadow, and then put on your foundation and concealer. This is an inexpensive solution that does not take much time to do. However, you may end up with slightly oily looking cheeks and you may have trouble getting your foundation to stick where the eye make up remover was used.

Another option is to put a barrier between your eyes and your face. Robert Jones, of www.robertjonesbeauty.com, sells a product called, "Shadow Shields." Shadow Shields sell for $9.99 a box, and each box contains fifteen pairs of shields. The shields are half moon shaped and have an adhesive on the underside. Just attach the shield, using the adhesive, underneath your eye area. The pad will catch the falling eye shadow and keep your face - and the rest of your makeup - nice and clean. The downside is that these shields, while not terribly expensive, are not terribly cheap either. It will cost you around $20 a month if you use a pair of shields every day to put on your eye makeup.

Linda Mason, a famous makeup artist, gives some advice in her book, Makeup: The Art of Beauty. She says to layer loose powder under the eye after completing you foundation. With a thick layer of powder under the eye area, put your eye makeup on. The loose powder collects all of the eye shadow droppings. When you are done, you can wisk away the loose powder and the eye shadow fallout goes right with it. This solution works well, but can be a bit messy when loose powder flies around. Be careful not to smear the powder as you wipe it away or you will end up with loose powder and flecks of eye shadow caked to your under-eye area.

If none of these solutions are helpful, another option for preventing eye shadow fall out is to use a liquid or cream shadow. Cream shadows are nice because they can easily be applied and blended with your fingertips, a sponge applicator, or a synthetic eye shadow brush. Keep in mind that this type of shadow will be harder to blend than a powder shadow. Also, too much cream shadow will lead to creasing of the shadow on the eyelid.

If you don't like cream or liquid shadow, another solution to this problem is to simply tap the excess shadow off of the brush before applying it. This will leave just a tiny bit of shadow for you to blend onto your eyelids, but you can add more shadow until you get the look you want. Application may take a bit longer until you really get the hang of it.

if you have tried all these tips and still end up with eye shadow fall out, just wipe away the makeup where the shadow has fallen and touch it up with clean fingers, some concealer, and your regular foundation. It may feel like you are applying your makeup twice, but it's a quick, easy, and inexpensive solution to a very real makeup problem.