The Art of Make-Up

“Take her swimming on your first date!”

“I can wipe your beauty off with a tissue.”

What if the deeply-rooted cultural hatred of things society associates with women expressing themselves would simply go away? What if women could wear boots and enjoy pumpkin spice without being harassed? What if women could dress comfortably in the summer without being sluts? What if artistic men and women were able to wear as much makeup as we please without being ridiculed?

I understand this is something that will take a while, but there are small steps to dismantling the patriarchy. Personally, I like to wear a full-face of makeup and juxtapose that image with my pseudo-masculine gender queer personality as a means of disrupting the idea that makeup is inherently feminine. For me, makeup is art. I paint portraits with the same strokes I use to do my eyeshadow. Because I view makeup as a form of artistic expression without tying it to societal ideals of gender or beauty, I like to be as creative as possible, and I am constantly trying new things. When I first began doing my makeup, I struggled mostly with eyeshadow, and I truly still do. I always do my eyeshadow first to allow the most time for it. Because of this internalized fear of making myself look as if I have a black eye, I have decided to extend my acquired lessons to the public. While I have been doing makeup for years both in terms of special effects and everyday wear, I have no credentials besides “I’ve been doing this a while.” While the following eyeshadow technique works for me, I strongly encourage everyone taking the time reading this to search for inspiration within your own psyche. I will use the original Urban Decay Naked Palette simply as a source for color and shade reference, but please mind you that this is only because the Naked Palettes were my tools for uncovering the secrets of makeup.

1. (Optional but recommended.) Start with a primer, preferably a lightly-colored cream primer. Cover your eyelids up to your brows.

2. Next, use what is called a transition color. When using Naked, I go for the shades “Naked” or “Buck” as these natural tan shadows blend out a dark crease color very well while effectively blending into a brow highlight.

3. Next, using a smudge brush (or any thin shadow brush), apply a darker color to the crease and outer corner of your eyelid. Typically, I would use “Darkhorse” or “Hustle,” but “Creep” and “Gunmetal” are really useful for darker looks.

4. Using “Sidecar,” cover your eyelid from the center to the outer crease, where it will be blended with the crease color.

5. Highlight the inner corner and brow bone (area directly beneath the eyebrows) using either “Sin” or “Virgin.”

6. BLEND! Using a fluffy blending brush, begin in the inner corner and move the brush in small circles, mixing the colors on your eyes to appear as if they fade into one another.

7. (Optional but recommended.) Since I do my eyeshadow before anything else, I set my eyeshadow with the Urban Decay All-Nighter setting spray before continuing with my face. This, of course, is a personal preference and will not affect anything except the longevity of your wear.

While I have confidence that this is a fool-proof tutorial, I challenge each and every one of you to improve and extend your creativity beyond this very basic natural look and try something that will challenge status-quo.