How to Use Your Eyeshadow as Eyeliner
Running low on liquid eyeliner? Save yourself a trip to the shops and reach for your favourite eyeshadow palette. With just a few tricks and flicks, you can wear your favourite eyeshadow as eyeliner. What’s more, you can also use your eyeshadow as highlighter or even blush. Makeup heroes don’t come more versatile than this one.
Preparation is key
While eyeshadow can double as eyeliner, it isn’t its main purpose. To fake a perfect flick with your favourite shadow, prime your lids in preparation with Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion’s creamy formula. This will prevent your delicate eye area from drying out and help the eyeshadow to glide on more easily. Voted the UK’s no.1 premium eye primer product*, Eyeshadow Primer Potion also helps to keep your colour vibrant and stay put all day long.
Wetter is better
A bit of tap water goes a long way when you’re trying to line your eyes with your favourite eyeshadow. Better yet, dampen an angled brush with your favourite setting spray to help coat it with your colour of choice and to turn loose pigments and powder eye shadow into a paste you’ll find easier to tease across your lash line. Make sure to keep your brush damp rather than dripping wet to avoid any unwanted runny streaks though.
How to set a great example
A quick spritz of setting spray on a fine eyeliner brush can turn any shadow into a long-lasting eyeshadow liner. For your finest eyeliner application yet, give our super-fine Pro Precise Eyeliner Brush, made from cruelty-free synthetic bristles and with a long, ergonomically designed handle to keep wobbles at bay, a light dusting of All Nighter Setting Spray.
Next, dip the makeup brush into your chosen eyeshadow until sufficiently coated with colour and create your flicks or lines, layering for more intensity.
Finally, finish with another spritz of All Nighter Setting Spray. Its patented Temperature Control Technology and weightless vegan formula help to lower the temperature of your makeup to lock it in place and keep it looking fresh for up to 16 hours, without fading or smudging.
Why we love this makeup hack
It’s easy on the eye
Anyone that’s attempted to create the perfect winged eyeliner will know that removing stubborn eyeliner can ruin your look in a flash. An eyeshadow liner can be much more forgiving. To add a little more definition to smudged or smokey eyes, you can simply add your shadow to the outer corner of your eyes and tidy up with a cotton swab dipped in makeup remover.
Customised colours
Now you know the ultimate makeup hack, armed with a setting spray and one of our makeup palettes, you can create any eyeliner colour you like. For days that you fancy switching it up from classic black and brown liner, a simple spritz is all you need to create a custom eyeliner colour.
For a subtle sheen and to add a bit of sparkle to any event, look to Urban Decay 24/7 Shadow’s shimmer shades and metallic finishes. They are as long-lasting as they are highly pigmented and their vegan formulas** come in golden and bronze hues for a foil finish.
To make blue and brown eyes pop every day, our neutral (but never boring) Naked palettes include a selection of brown hues that match any skin tone and occasion, and create a velvety-smooth line.
For days that call for something a little extra, fans of our Naked Wild West palette and its desert-inspired shades can experiment with a pop of turquoise or green eyeshadow liner. Don’t be scared by green, it is a universal colour that looks great on everyone.
