Think blending is basic? Think again. Blending might be an essential skill in any makeup artist’s toolkit, but—as Stephanie tells us today—it takes time and practice to master. Check out her video to pick up her own blending tips and tricks!
The Tools
Today, Stephanie’s using W7’s In the Nude—Natural Nudes eye shadow palette. Starting with pink and pale yellow shades for her base, she’ll be moving to a darker brown to blend into her crease. Her favorite colors right now are coppers, browns, and other warm tones that really help express her blue eyes.
As for brushes, she’s got three at the ready: a flat eyeshadow brush and two blending brushes, including Real Techniques #200, which is—and we quote—her “all-time favorite blending brush.” (Are you taking notes? We certainly are!)
She’s also got a special makeup hack up her sleeve—a small piece of tape. After placing it on the back of her hand to get rid of some of the stickiness, she puts it at an angle beside her eye to keep that point sharp. This trick works great for eyeshadow, but it’s also ideal for pulling off that perfect flick on your winged liner. Stephanie uses it on herself, her models, her clients… everyone!
The Technique
Starting with that flat eyeshadow brush, she picks up some pink shadow as her base and brushes it all over her lid. Then she adds a little bit of that pale yellow shade, layering it on top to bright things up a bit.
Next up—the crease color. She uses her first blending brush to apply a brown shadow to her lid, piling it on at a slight angle. This is where the tape comes in handy—once removed, it’ll create a perfectly straight line. With a second, fluffy blending brush, she gets the blending started. To wrap up her blending she takes the brush in a semicircle, following the shape of her eye.
Does Stephanie make it look easy? Absolutely. But remember, perfecting your own technique takes time and practice. By her own confession, blending took her a few years to master—but if you take a look at the picture she shares from a few years back, you can see how far she’s come! (Don’t worry, Stephanie—we’ve all been there!)
For another easy-to-see demo, she takes us through another blending tutorial on the inside of her arm. Any QC student will recognize this as one of their earliest assignments, so watch carefully! This time, she uses pink and dark brown shades from an Avon Luxe eyeshadow palette. After piling some of each shade onto her arm, she blends the two together in the middle with her favorite blending brush. And voila—A+ blending, every time!
