Why your mascara is smudging!
Hello darlings, as some of you know I answer makeup questions on twitter but I thought that sometimes the answers can be so long it is easier to write a post about it.
One lovely follower asked "I wonder if you could recommend a mascara.... my current ends up under my eyes with black smudge marks". The same idea goes with eye liners too., why do they smudge?
There are a number of reasons why that can be happening and it is not you mascara. You need to ask yourself a few questions first.
First the obvious one, when we cry with sadness or with laughter our makeup can run. I would happily let me mascara run with tears of laughter any day! Now moving on to the science why this is happening......
Do you wear a eye cream and if so do you only apply it to your orbital bone which is the bone round your eye socket? Firstly, you should always apply eye cream around your orbital bone not your eye lids. When we lay down and sleep gravity comes into play and only the correct amount of eye cream is drawn onto the lid. Eye creams can be very stimulating so its best to use a tiny amount but also apply it to the orbital bone only. Secondarily, there are oils in a eye cream which are essential so they can blend into the skin. If your eye cream is applied to close to the lashes then the oils from the eye cream will start to remove the mascara. You may not even notice this is happening. Your eyelashes can touch your lower lids many times through out the day so this is highly likely happening. The same idea can happen with under eye concealers too. If you concealer is too high, the oils from the concealer can be removing your mascara and even eye liner. To put it in simply terms think about eye makeup removers, they contains oils to help remove stubborn makeup! Only apply under eye concealer to the dark shadows under your eye. Tilt you head down slightly when you look into a mirror on the wall. Look for the darkness and cover that with a tiny amount of concealer and blend it into your skin by tapping it with your ring finger.
If you suffer from redness around the lash line then I would either used a face powder with a little bit of coverage to camouflage the redness for a no makeup look or I would apply eyeshadow of your choice but still being wary of red undertones in eyeshadows as they can emphasis red. Try black, grey, slate, navy, green....... think cooler colours.
Finally onto your mascara. Some mascara get dry and brittle and the mascara will drop off little pieces onto your lower lids. If you mascara is dry and brittle then its best to throw it away. Waterproof mascara is a good bet, however if your using eye creams and concealers like I have talked about above it too will probably smudge too. I don't believe in needed a separate mascara for your lower lashes, I don't have time to faff around with an extra mascara. The easiest way to apply mascara to your lower lashes is to remove excess mascara from the tip of the wand with a tissue and hold the mascara wand vertically, with the tip dance it along your lower lashes like you are waltzing not the tango. The waltz is gently the tango is powerful and passionate.
I have listened to all your advice Nina but its still happening what else can I try?
Apply a tiny about of loose powder with a fluffy eyeshadow brush along your lower lash line, this will absorb excess oils and make a tiny barrier between your eyelashes and skin.
Line your lower lash line with an eye shadow and a small brush to define the lower lids and skip mascara there completely
Wear a smoky eye and go with the smudges. Sounds crazy but it will work. No one will know and it will be great for a evening makeup.
Dye your lashes.
How do you deal with smudged makeup? I would love to hear! Nxx
