Wet vs. Dry eyeshadow.

Dec 7, 2014

Rebecca S.

Eyeshadow

Dec 7, 2014

Rebecca S.

Hi fellow beauties! My experience with makeup is amateur level at best. Growing up, My mum used to make nasty comments about how I looked "promiscuous" (to put it nicely) whenever I wore it, so it wasn't really until college that I discovered how marvelous makeup could be, and my friends took pity on me and taught me how to apply it. Today, I use YouTube and other tutorials to figure out how to get the job done (I can now rock a smokey eye with the best of them!), but there are lots of new techniques and formulas for makeup that I'm just not used to. Lately I've been seeing lots of eyeshadows that brag about being able to be used wet or dry. I understand that wet eyeshadow is far more pigmented, but other than that, I know nothing! Should it be applied differently? Does it need to be reapplied more or less often? Can I use wet and dry shadow in the same look? I'd love to hear any and all help y'all can offer. Seriously, I'm a total babe in the woods, so don't feel like any advice is too simple. Thanks a million!

Dec 7, 2014

Mizz Mea M.

I use both. I don't use them a particular way. I think that the shadows when used wet are more pigmented and last a little long. also it has no fallout like powder shadow does, but that's just my personal opinion.

Dec 7, 2014

Rebecca S.

Cool. Good to know. Do you find it easier to apply wet eyeshadow with a brush, a foam applicator, a q-tip, or even just your good ole fingertip? When blending wet eyeshadow with dry, is it advisable to use a wet tool, or a dry one?

Dec 7, 2014

Kathryn R.

To make your eyeshadow wet, you need to wet your brush and grab the eyeshadow with that and pat it into place on your lid. I would not recommend using a q tip or applicator. A good ole flat eyeshadow brush (wet) works best. Be sure it's not dripping wet. Once you've wet it, tap it on the back of your hands a couple times to release excess water. Once it's applied, (if you are using dry shadow in the same look) it can then easily be blended with dry shadow with a blending brush. Good luck to you!

Dec 7, 2014

Nicole A.

I love the intensity of wet shadows I use mac fix plus and spray very lightly on my brush.

Dec 7, 2014

Jennifer M.

Wet eyeshadow intensifies the pigment color and helps prevent a eyeshadow that has a lot of "fall out" (it tends to fall to your under eye area instead of staying on your lid). If you do try wetting an eyeshadow, get a spray bottle, and lightly spritz the brush with a glycerin water solution like mac fix plus, then Pat gently over the lid. Do not soak the brush, you will have a hot mess on your hands. remember proper sanitation. Wetting brushes will cause germs to grow quicker, you will need to wash your eye brush after each use, or you will be at higher risk of eye infection. If mac fix plus is out of your price range, there are several options including do it yourself recipes, on the web. Just Google "Mac fix plus dupe". Also be sure your brush that you used for wet pigment is completely dry before you move on to the next shadow, or you're going to be sorely disappointed with a muddy mess on your eye. It's better to use a separate brush for each shadow. Honestly, after reading all this, I'm sure you're thinking this is way too much work. It really is, unless you plan on only using one shadow and no blending for eye look. It's much easier to use a good eye primer like two-faced or lorac. It will intensify the pigment in your eyeshadow, help keep it in place longer, and help eliminate fall out. You use extremely tiny dab and pat it on with your ring finger onto your lids. Tap a brush over your sink once or twice, before applying it, to help eliminate fall out. You'll get the same effect for the most part as what in your shadows, with much less headache.

Dec 7, 2014

Rebecca S.

Thanks so much ladies! I really appreciate all your help and advice!

Dec 8, 2014

Jenny A.

You can make almost any eye shadow wet by taking a drop of saline solution and placing it somewhere away from the shadow pan (you don't want to get saline solution in your shadow pan as it can cause the shadow to get hard and caked and not work as a powder any more) and load your brush with shadow and dip it into the drop of saline. Then sort of swirl it around to make a liquid shadow. You can use that until the saline dries. I usually try to do this with my loose pigment shadows because otherwise they tend to fall out. I love using this to turn a darker shadow into an eyeliner as well.
I have some shadows that I only use wet because they either fall out too much, or they don't show up on me. I have a couple of loose pigments that when applied wet, look so multidimensional you really only need one eye shadow. They are just boring and crappy when applied dry and when wet they become amazing. But they usually don't blend into one another and if you do more than one wet eye shadow or try to blend it into dry it's not going to be really work, in my experience.
I have a set of makeup brushes that are kind of my b-list brushes that I save for wet shadows because I know that they are going to get blasted with alcohol to be cleaned afterward or sit on my makeup table till the end of the week when I can shampoo my brushes.
One more time just to emphasize, don't put your wet brushes into a dry shadow pan, or put saline on your eye shadow pan. You will wreck the eye shadow or make a dead spot, where the shadow can't be picked up anymore.