After applying eye shadow to your lid, you move to the next step: the crease. You get the color on the applicator and begin gently brushing it on. And then you stop. Without blending the color in, you decide to head out for the day.

Now, you may not see a problem in this, but the rest of us do. You can’t just leave it there like that, unblended into the lid. It looks unfinished and silly, which, unless that was the goal, is not a good thing. Even you couldn’t have convinced yourself that a single matte brown arc through the crease looks good.

Eye shadow, an art by itself, can be hard to master. Yeah, it may be rough at first, but with enough practice, you’ll get the hang of it. Video tutorials make a good place to start. Watching other people apply their make-up has been helpful to me in the past. Study their techniques and base the way you apply your eye shadow around theirs, although not all styles look good on all eye shapes.

Sometimes, you just have to go for it. Form your own techniques from practicing how you would like your eye shadow to look. Experiment with different ways of doing it. As long as it looks good, the way you put it on doesn’t matter. Trying a different way of applying make-up before you leave the house is probably not the best idea. Trust me, you won’t let yourself forget it once you have.

To achieve the look you want, having the right brushes can be important. Unless there’s a really good sale, I won’t buy brushes without feeling them first. No one wants to apply makeup with a scratchy brush that almost hurts to use.

Once you have the right brushes and colors, choose whatever styles you wish to use. While practicing new techniques, don’t use an expensive palette. You don’t want to waste something that was over $50 on practice.

Remember to use makeup as a way to express yourself. Do it so it makes you happy, but in doing this, make sure it doesn’t look ridiculous.