7 Eyeshadow Mistakes That Are Making Your Eyes Look Droopy After 40: Not Blending Upward & More

Of all of the makeup products you can own and use daily, eyeshadow feels like one of (if not the most) challenging one to master. The intimidating product and packaging itself doesn’t make that any easier, either. You bring home a quad or extensive palette of eyeshadow shades — light, dark, matte, shimmery — and just stare at them, unsure of which color to put where and how to make it all blend together and work well.

Worse still: eyeshadow mistakes are SO easy to make — all it takes is the misplacement of a shade and your eyes can look smaller and less bright and awake than before. So while shadows can really deliver the goods when you get a few handy application tips to accompany them, they can also ruin our overall look if you’re not careful. These seven eyeshadow mistakes can make eyes look droopy — avoid them if you want a bright, alert look.

Skipping Primer

There is no great eye makeup look if your eye makeup is streaking and melting onto your eyelid two hours into your application. The solution for this is primer and not skipping it. Apply an eyeshadow primer to neutralize discoloration on your lid and create a barrier between your shadow and eyelid oils. This mattifies the lid and helps prevent streaks.

Using Too-Dark Eyeshadows

Good things happen when you use lighter eye shadow shades than you’re used to applying. That’s because a lighter shade can open up the lid area, which is especially helpful if your lids have become more hooded over the years.

Not Blending

If you aren’t properly blending your eyeshadow colors, they can sit like blocks of hues that don’t complement your eyes. Use a specific blending brush to make sure there are not harsh lines that separate lighter and darker shadow shades.

Not Blending Upward

One way to prevent eyes from looking droopy when you’re applying eyeshadow is to not only blend your shadows but to blend them in an upward manner out towards the outer corner of your eye. This helps keep the color concentrated toward the upper an outer zone of your lid for a more uplifted look.

Using the Wrong Brushes

Eye makeup brushes are shaped differently to help perform different application tasks. A larger, puffier brush, for example, may be better for blending colors you place in the fold of your lid, while an angled brush is best for applying darker shades that are concentrated close to the lash line. A blending brush is a completely different brush altogether, and one that does a good job of ensuring all harsh lines are muted.

Not Keeping the Inner Corner Light

You’re missing a unique opportunity to brighten eyes and make them look wider with a pop of lightness and shimmer at the inner corner of the eye. You can achieve this with a light bone or peach-colored shadow on the inner eyelid that you then blend outward. You can even add a small pop of highlighter to the inner corner where your nose meets your inner eye, which is an area that tends to cast off dark shadows.

Making the Lower Lash Line Too Dark

When you’re used to lining your lower waterline or lash line with a black or dark pencil or shadow, kicking the habit can feel strange at first. Your eyes may even feel naked to you and undone. But dark makeup in this area can have the effect of dragging your eyes downward and making them look droopy. Concentrating your makeup on the top lid or even the top outer corner may have the opposite effect.

Your best personal solution may not be to give up any makeup on your lower lash line, but using a lighter color, like a light or medium-toned gray, may help by defining your eyes, but not pulling them downward.