The ONLY eyeshadow and TOOLS you need AND How To FIND it for YOU!

I don't like to push products on anyone and I thought by not disclosing the brands that I was using and simply describing the type of product that somehow that would be more helpful. I tried to use brands and products that are readily available across the world that any brand would pretty much carry and from different budget points as well. Products that you likely already own so that you can recreate the looks then and there without needing to go out and purchase anything. However, I have now realized that that isn't the most helpful. That you want to know what brands I use and what brands I would recommend and I would also love to hear what your recommendations are too so we can help each other find products that work for us. So I'd really love your help on that part. If you see a brand that's unavailable in your country that I'm talking about here, I would love if you would suggest a brand that is more readily available where you are. So please let me know what country you're from and what brand you like to use and I will add them to the list and I'm really excited to hear your suggestions and thank you ahead of time for your help on that. Now with all that said, let's get started. As with all the tutorials that we do, we always start by prepping the lid. Now this can be done in a few different ways with a few different type of products depending on your skin type and the look that you're creating. Now there's a few reasons that we prep the lid. Firstly, it gives the eyeshadow something to hold on to. The skin on the lid is always moving from blinking to smiling, even sneezing. And also prepping the lid creates a barrier between the skin and the makeup, especially important for people with oily lids. The oils from the skin can actually break down the makeup and prepping the skin creates a blank canvas for the eyeshadows to show up on. A tinted primer can actually create an even tone so that your eyeshadows can display their true color. So here are a few products and brands that I would recommend for prepping the lid. I have used Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer for years. I do prefer the tinted one over the original formula. The original formula dries clear, however I found that it was just a little bit too liquidy in comparison to Eden. I do wish they would come out with more shades though because I feel like it's a great base but I have to color match with certain people so I'll add in a touch of concealer either lightening or darkening it. On the plus side, I've actually learned that I can mix and match with this particular type of primer. You see, the older I get and the drier my skin gets, the less I have a need for oil control, which is what this primer does. So instead, I like to mix in a little bit of concealer and this sheers it off. You can also apply it with a damp sponge because that helps too. But that way it's not as heavy, it doesn't weigh down the lid. And this mix and match technique can be used for most liquid eyeshadow primer. For instance, the Wet n Wild one. This is a drugstore alternative to the Urban Decay one. If you find that liquid eyeshadows are very heavy, they weigh down your lid, or they cause your eyelid to shrivel up like a little raisin, try mixing it with a very lightweight concealer to sheer it out. The best lightweight concealer, in my opinion, is the L'Oreal True Match. It is hydrating, it's medium to full coverage, it blends easily across the skin. Also, pairing the primer with a concealer means that you can adjust it depending on what you need, or maybe how dry your eyelids are on that day. For instance, if I'm doing a basic smoky eye, I will do a 50-50 mix. But if I'm using a lot of glitter, then I might do a 60-40 mix because the glitter needs something a little bit stronger to hold on to. Or then you can adjust it for the weather. Whether or not I'm wearing my glasses because that traps heat behind it, meaning the eyeshadows are more likely to smudge and melt, so therefore I'll have to use a higher concentration. Or maybe you're just hormonal and you're going through some hot flushes, or maybe you have watery eyes. You can just adjust it depending on what you need. Now, another alternative for dry lids is to use a mattifying concealer. And I'm sorry to my oily lid friends, you do need to use a primer. But I will ask my oily skin friends to do me a little favor. I'm not an expert on matte concealers because I rarely use them. I've got dry skin. But if you could just recommend a oily skin safe concealer that maybe people with dry skin can use as a primer, I would really appreciate it. Concealers are great for just basic looks. They're not going to last that long, they're not going to create a barrier, but they're great in kind of a hurry or like a day-to-day quick base. I would not recommend using the L'Oreal True Match alone though because it's far too hydrating and your eyeshadows are going to slip and slide even if you have dry skin like me. Well, at least that's what I found. Now, if you hate liquid primers, you find maybe they separate or maybe they just don't really work for you, try using a stick primer or a potted primer. For example, MAC Paint Pots. And you can use this primer as a base or an eyeshadow itself. If you're using it as a base, make sure that it's matte and make sure that it works with your skin tone. So Soft Ochre is a classic. It works with the warmer skin tones. It's quite similar to Eden by Urban Decay. Painterly is what I use in the winter when my skin is a little bit more on the cool neutral side. It's Laying Low is a peachy beige contemp- I can't- every time I try and say this, I say it wrong. This particular one is a warmer, deeper version of Soft Ochre. And then you have It's Fabstract, which is a neutral medium brown. So those are just a few of my go-tos. Now, if you're using any of these for cream eyeshadows, which some of them have like iridescent finishes, a shimmery base, if you're using it as a cream eyeshadow, make sure you still prep the rest of your lid because you're likely only going to apply them as a cream eyeshadow in certain areas. So don't neglect the rest of the lid. NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils were also a great alternative to MAC Paint Pots back in the day. They're also great if you're not a big fan of jars, though NYX do have one in a jar, which is pretty good. Now we're veering into eyeshadow territory, but using a cream eyeshadow with a shimmer or a color is a great base for the rest of your eyeshadows. So you can invest in the good bases and then just use kind of cheaper eyeshadows over the top. Now there's also a thing called mixing mediums, like the Illamasqua Sealing Gel or the Inglot Duraline. What you basically do with this is mix them with powders to create a creamy texture that then sets like a powder but really long-lasting. So that's just an alternative way to make sure that your eyeshadows are working for you. So there's so many different ways that you can prep the lid. There's so many ways to make your eyeshadows work best for you. But if you have any suggestions on eyeshadow primers that you like or if there's one that you really don't like, definitely let me know and I will add it to the list. And I have three brushes that I think are essential and the brushes that I use are by Blanchemes Cosmetics. I have been using these for years. This is my friend's brand and this is going to sound kind of sponsored, but I promise you she doesn't know anything about this. I just love supporting her and also her brushes are amazing and they're so affordable. The first essential is a fluffy brush. This is probably the most important out of all of the brushes. You can apply eyeshadows using your fingertips. You can use those little spongy things that some of the palettes come with, but you need a good blending brush to create that soft, blurry, blown-out look. And you can only do that with a fluffy brush. Now there's a million different ones to choose from, but here are the two that I use the most often. So we have the E26. This is a beautiful brush to use. Super easy to create different blending techniques. You can use it horizontally. You can use it vertically. It's not too fluffy. It has a little bit of stability behind it. And then we also have the E20. Very similar. Again, just not as flat, more rounded at the top, more kind of tapered at the top. And I love this one because it's synthetic so you can use it with creams, gels, powders, everything. So once you have your blending brush, next we have a pencil brush. This is used for smudging and applying in smaller areas like underneath the eyes, for instance. I have two brushes that I use the most often. This is the E85 and then we also have the E01. The E01 is synthetic and I love this one. You've probably seen me use this a million times. It's one of my absolute go-to favorites. And the final essential brush is a flat brush. This is great for pressing and swiping on the eyeshadow. Now I have two options here. I have one that is a natural hair and one that's synthetic. So we have the E24. I really like this one because the tip of it kind of tapers out and creates really, really thin lines so you can get right underneath the eyes. But then we also have the E40 which is synthetic so it has this almost slickness to it. It's also great for applying concealer, great for applying primers, great for even just smudging around the lip line with a little bit of concealer because it is synthetic. We can use it with creams, we can use it with gels, we can use it with powders, liquids, everything. So once you have those three, you can then create pretty much every single look you can think of. There is one eyeshadow that you really need to focus on. It is the one eyeshadow that adds shape and structure to the eyes, can be used alone or used to create a blend with your other eyeshadows. So whether you're doing a cut crease, a smoky eye, a dramatic look, a simple look, this is the one eyeshadow that you will add into that mix. And once you find this eyeshadow, you will purchase it again and again. I spoke about this eyeshadow before but I think it's better if I just show you an example of what I'm talking about. The best way to find this eyeshadow for you is to swatch your favorite nude lipstick, blush, bronzer, and contour or even just lay them out in front of you. Now imagine if you mixed all of these together. Don't actually mix them, just imagine it. You'd probably end up with something that looks like this. This is the perfect shade for this combination. It's not as warm as my bronzer, it's not as cool as my contour, it has a hint of my blush. And if you find that too difficult, just have a look at how it matches with my nude lipstick. It's just a little bit more muted and that is how you find this for you. And here's another combination. So lipstick, blush, bronzer, contour. And here are two eyeshadows. Now I want you just to think about it for a second. Which one do you think would work better with this combination? Probably this one. It fits with everything that we have going on. Now how about between these two? It's a little trickier but I think we'd still keep with the original one because it's a more muted version and it works with everything. Now you have to make sure that this eyeshadow is matte and usually you apply it with a fluffy brush or even your fingertips. It's a very sheer amount that goes on the lid. So if you do see a swatch online and you're not sure if it's going to work for you because it just looks a little bit too strong, just imagine what it would look like if you applied it very sheerly. So just look at the shade and the tone and just imagine that the depth can be adjusted with the application. So let me go through a few of my favorite examples. I'm going to be using Mac just as a starting point. Not that you have to use Mac eyeshadows but the great thing about Mac is that you can typically find dupes for it. So if you want to put in, for example, I have Soft Brown by Mac. Just go to Google and just type in a Soft Brown dupe for Mac eyeshadow and you're going to get a few different combinations. Or if you want to do Hawke's eyeshadow, you type that in, you're going to get Max Factor Dreamy Another great thing about Mac is that it actually gives you a little description of what the color is right underneath. And you can use this to find out what's going to work best for you. All you're going to look for is something that matches something that you already use. So say if you're a peachy blush type of person, then you're going to look for the word peachy and you're going to look for the word soft and muted in the combination as well. That way you're going to make sure that it's going to work really well on the eyes alone but also going to blend out any of your other eyeshadows as well. Here are a few of my favorite Mac eyeshadows that I would use for this. Unfortunately, most of my go-to's have been discontinued and I have some that are unopened because I knew they were going to get discontinued. So I can't exactly link the ones that I use the most often, but I will try to find some dupes as best as I can and share those instead. But let's talk about the other tools that can really help with your eye makeup. And I'm going to start with eyelash curlers. And I know that some of you are like, Sinead, I don't use an eyelash curler. I don't like it. Just wait. I want to share some information because I feel like it's a very love-hate relationship that people have with eyelash curlers. And I'm a little bit of an eyelash curler geek. So I want to show you how to pick a good one that's going to work for you. Let's go through a few different eyelash curlers and let's start with this one. I don't like these ones. This is a spring loaded curler. You can tell it's spring loaded because of the distance between the handles. Now even though this is super cute because look at it going up the stairs. So cute. It really is. And a lot of people love them. But for me, spring loaded ones are a little scary. Basically, the spring loaded ones give you a tighter squeeze because you're pulling the handles together. And what this is going to do is then create that curl and that lift. However, this has happened to me on more than one occasion. See those little caps that sit over the handles? Yeah, sometimes those caps can slip off. And when they slip off, they pull your lashes out with them. I'm not talking about this particular brand. It was two other brands. One of them, I can't even remember the name. And then one of them was discontinued. So thankfully, they're gone. They're also not great for people with grip issues because you do have to squeeze it. I'm also not a big fan of these open handles. Sometimes they can kind of pinch the same one with the double one. Sometimes they can kind of pinch the skin, which is really unfortunate. But what you also want to watch out for is the top plate. You see how this top plate is attached? It's not in one piece. It's sitting on either side. Now this top plate is very important. And over time, some of these ones that are sitting in can start to gradually move and then you're going to get an uneven curl. So it's not very long lasting and therefore not worth investing in. So now that we know what to avoid, let's go through a few that I do actually like. But this is actually the top rated one. People swear by this. It's very popular and it takes all of the boxes. It's got a good handle. It's a good top plate. It's in one piece. It has a good grip. So yes, this is worth the investment if you have that type of money. Because once you find a good eyelash curler, you are going to have it for pretty much life. But my absolute go-to favorite is the Inglot one. I've had this for 10 years. Still works perfectly. Perfect shape. Perfect hold. Absolutely love it. Now if you have naturally curly lashes and you don't have to worry about that, maybe your only problem is that your mascara always smudges. Well what you can try is something like this which is a lash guard. Basically it prevents your mascara from getting on your skin as you're applying it. So you hold it with one hand and apply your mascara with the other. It's also great if you are in very hot humid conditions where your mascara takes forever to dry. Now say you've applied your mascara. You've curled your lashes. It looks great but you want to apply some falsies but you really are struggling. It might not be you. It might not be your technique. It might not be anything to do with your skill level. It might be the glue and the tool that you are using to apply your false lashes. So let me start off by talking about the tools that I would recommend. Now eyelash tweezers are different from eyebrow tweezers. You can use eyebrow tweezers to apply your lashes but you can't use eyelash tweezers to remove hair because it doesn't have that same grip. Eyelash tweezers are actually more blunt, rounded, more smooth on the end. They don't grip the hair in the same way. So if you find that as you're applying your lashes with your tweezers it's holding more to the tweezers and not onto your eye, it's probably because those tweezers are designed to grip more. What you want to do is swap them out for an eyelash tweezer instead and it makes such a difference. Now I'm kind of known for these tweezers. I've been using them for years. For some reason the brand stopped making them. I do not know why because they're amazing. However another one that I really like is this one. This is great because it's really long meaning I have lots of control and you'd be surprised about how easy it is to apply lashes when you have the right tool. Another thing that can really affect your application is your eyelash glue. There are so many different types of glues out there you really just have to find out what works best for you. Now this was the original. This was the go-to one for a long time. It was in a tube form, a little runny, it was kind of tricky to use at the beginning. They also do have a brush-on version which is much easier and it came in a light and a dark which was great because sometimes the original even though it's supposed to dry clear can kind of go a little bit white so it's nice having the darker one there because it kind of blends everything away. But these are very liquidy and they do take a while to get used to even though I will say that once they dry they are the most long-lasting. But if you find it very messy there are some other options too. This one is a liner version so basically it's like a liquidy felt tip liner but with glue. This is really handy for traveling because you can do those little top-ups. You know how sometimes the edges just lift? Well you can just pop a little bit of the glue on with the little liner, press it back down and you're good to go. Now my absolute go-to favorite that I would swear by is the Bond and Seal by Kiss. This is my go-to. One side is a glue and the other side is a sealant. Now this is only good if you apply your lashes underneath and press upwards and it's funny how popular that has become. I've been doing it for a really long time before this product even existed but this product makes it so much easier. It's a tiny mascara wand on one side and it's basically like glue mascara. You paint it on just like mascara and then you press your lashes upwards and it holds in place. Once your lashes are on there you then take the other side which is a clear sealant and basically just run this over the edge. It's just going to remove any of that stickiness on your lashes. Nine times out of ten this is what I'm going to be using to apply my lashes. Now you can also sleep in this style of lashes as well that you apply with this particular glue but they have this nighttime sealant. It's very similar to the sealant that is on the other side but basically you apply this before you go to bed and it just seals in the lashes so that you can sleep. And then we also have the pre-glued ones. Now I'm not usually a big fan of pre-glues, okay? Never really liked them but these Kiss lashes have this like fork type of a hold so it's not just sticky. It's not just pre-glued. It has these lines that create this grip. I am obsessed with this technology. I wish I could meet the person who came up with this because I'm like, this is so smart and it really works and just, chef's kiss. And the brand is called Kiss. It does actually come in lots of different styles but I really hope they come out with more because I need more variety. Now when it comes to strip lashes, when I first started wearing strip lashes I would be wearing these ones which were the Demi Wispies. They are a classic. I just find myself not reaching for them as much. I feel like we have much higher quality lashes available now. The main issue that I have with this now that I didn't see before is the bluntness and the shagginess of this cut that's then mixed with this very perfect cut curve. It just looks very unnatural but we can't forget where we came from but we can move on from it and learn from it. So if you are still a fan of Demi Wispies, try out some of the other brands that have Wispies available like the Kiss So Wispies. These are actually very similar but you can see how the ends aren't as blunt and that curve is a bit more natural. However, if you want to go for that really natural look, I would actually recommend this brand. My Lash But Better Range by Kiss. This is going to have people wondering, do you have lash extensions or are your lashes just naturally amazing? They have a few different ones within this range. I love Blessed. They're one of my go-to favorites. All mine and well blended. Beautiful. And these are great for people that find lashes to be just too huge and they want something a little bit more natural. In saying that, I don't think that all lashes need to be real and very realistic. I can appreciate a heavy lash but if I'm going to go for that kind of natural in-between look, I want them to look as real as possible. The best way to do this is to look for how they taper. See the way that the ends taper off? That's the biggest difference that you will see. So look for something like this if you want that real and not super fake artificial finish. Now like I said, I don't want my lashes to always look super realistic. Sometimes I want them to look super fake because it might go with the actual makeup look that I'm doing. It adds that drama. And especially for a lot of my makeup lessons, I will be wearing lashes like these because I'm really zoomed in on my eyes. So I kind of get away with it. And you might wonder why if I'm so zoomed in, why do I need these massive huge lashes? Well you know the phrase, the camera adds 10 pounds. Well in the makeup world, the camera removes 10 pounds of makeup. So for the makeup to look like it does in real life, you have to basically add 10 pounds of makeup. Not actually but you know, the concept of that. You certainly have to add a lot more but bear in mind that these look amazing on camera but in real life, I kind of look like if I flutter my eyes too much, I might just fly away. Now for somewhere in between, like yes I'm wearing false eyelashes but they're not the main focus, I might go for a brand like this and I also met some of the girls from this brand. This isn't sponsored but I met them a few years ago and I love them and I always like to share them because they were so sweet and friendly and I buy from them all the time. Now for my mature eyes, I don't like really heavy lashes. I like something shorter, denser with a very soft tapered tip and a good lifted curve. Now the older you get, the more you might lose some of your natural thickness of your own lashes or this can happen at any age. If there's an issue with your hormones or you have an illness, I might actually recommend you going for these lashes. The great thing about these lashes is they actually hold to the lid for those with limited to no lashes and they're also very comfortable, they're very lightweight, they're great for beginners and I just love the entire concept of making sure that everybody has a lash that's available to them. Now I think we've pretty much covered all the essential products for your eyes and I've been also trying to keep track of all of your questions which I will either reply to in a video form or a comment but I'm excited to move on to face products really soon. So if you do have a product where you're like, I think I need a product that does xyz but I don't know what that product is, definitely let me know and I will add it to the list as I'm going along talking about some of my favorite go-to face products. But as always my friends, be kind to yourself, be kind to others. I have a difficult week ahead which I'm a send out some good vibes to everybody. I hope that you will have a good week and maybe you'll send me some good vibes back and I will hopefully see you really soon. Fingers crossed. Bye!