How To Create A Cut Crease With Eyeshadow

The greatest thing about makeup is that it can help us all feel better about our self-perceived "flaws." Yes, it's important to embrace your insecurities, and yes, it's important to create your own definition of beautiful, but having makeup as a tool to make yourself feel more confident is a wonderful gift from the beauty gods. Thanks to highlighting palettes and innovative products galore, we're learning how to get a full pout or how to create a cut crease with eyeshadow, and are loving our needle-free options.

A cut crease is a great thing for those of us with extra small, deep-set or hooded eyes. A cut crease can make these shapes appear to be bigger and brighter. It's a pretty cool technique that I rely on daily — I have very small eyes, and I love creating a larger, doe-eyed effect with shadow. Even if you have large eyes, you can play them up and show them off in a grander way with a cut crease.

Creating a cut crease isn't terribly complicated. Simply put, it's a way of applying shadow that creates depth and dimension to your eyes. You don't need a special tool or expensive product, just your go-to eye shadow palette, a blending brush, and some patience.

Below are my go-to steps for creating a cut crease with eyeshadow.

1. Apply A Primer

MAC Cosmetics Pro Longwear Paint Pot in Bare Study, $22, Nordstrom

Applying a primer before your eyeshadow is a super important step you should be doing all the time. A primer will help the shadow go on smooth and pigmented, whether it's a $50 shadow or it cost you $1 at your favorite drugstore.

2. Apply A Transition Shade

Milani Cosmetics Bella Cosmetics Gel Powder Eyeshadow, $9, Amazon

A light matte brown, warm or cool, serves as great transition shade. You want to ease the transition from skin to shadow, and something a little darker than your skin tone helps do that in a way that looks blended and natural.

3. Stick To Mattes When Creating A Crease

Matte Eye Shadow Palette, $18, Too Faced Cosmetics

When you're creating a crease, mattes are the most natural shades to use. After your transition shade, you can use darker browns and neutrals to deepen your crease.

4. Use A Fluffy Brush

Sigma E25 Blending Brush, $16, Amazon

A soft, rounded blending brush is the best tool for creating the illusion of a natural cut crease. When in doubt, just keep blending!

5. Hold Your Brush At An Angle

Sigma E36 Blending Brush, $15, Amazon

Instead of holding your brush upright, which can cause a harsher line, hold the brush upward and at and angle for a softer application.

6. Blend Out With A Transition Shade

Makeup Geek Eyeshadow in Creme Brûlée, $6, Makeup Geek

Once you've created a deeper crease using a darker shadow, you can go back over it with a little bit of the transition shade to soften.

7. Do The Lid Last

NARS Dual Intensity Eyeshadow, $29, Nordstrom

If you want to apply shimmering shadows to your lid, do that last. That way, the color looks applied to a natural crease. Otherwise, your shadows may blend too much together and drown out the crease.

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