Bid Farewell to Eye Makeup Creases for Good With These Red Carpet Pro Tips

Get close-up ready with this step-by-step guide

It's a story we all know too well.

How many times have you spent countless hours perfecting your cat-eye, only to find carefully applied shadow and concealer flaking off hours later? Getting a finished product that mimics Zendaya or Olivia Culpo's red carpet faces takes time. If you're not prepping the eye area correctly, embarrassing lid and under-eye creases wind up making you look less-than-ready. So what gives?

In an effort to never again have to deal with clumpy eye makeup, we asked pro makeup artist Ashley Rebecca to walk us through what we're doing wrong.

Moisturize first. It doesn't matter if your skin is oily, dry, combination or anything in between, your skin needs to first-and-foremost be moisturized. This stands true for foundation prep as well, but is especially vital for the delicate eye area. To prep the under-eye area, Ashley "starts with a hydrating eye gel (like her pick from Boscia) for treatment since cream textures tend to cause creasing," recommended Ashley. 

Primer is everything. It may feel like an unnecessary step but eye shadow primer is the number one way to combat oily lids, which are the culprits behind clumpy shadow. "Depending on the makeup look you're going for, you can use a colorless primer (like Ashley's favorite by NARS) or one that has pigment (like the longwear pots from MAC)," said Ashley. 

Make it matte. The same way that a shadow primer creates a matte base for buildable no-crease pigment, you'll need to also matify your under eye post-hydration. "You can use a mattifying foundation primer (the same primer that you also use on the rest of your face before foundation) to create a poreless finish before applying under-eye concealer. You won't be building shadow on top of your under-eye (unless you are going for an under-eye smoky eye), so the last step here is to set with a finely-milled loose powder.

Make it last. "By using primers and following these tips, your makeup will certainly last all day," assured Ashley. To prolong your look, keep your fingers off your face throughout the day and lock in your makeup with a setting spray.

It may sound daunting, but hey, if an extra five minutes is all it takes to guarantee paparazzi-worthy eye makeup, color us sold.