MAC paint pot Bare Study (Photo credit: 20augustus)

When I first started wearing makeup, I dismissed the use of any eyelid primers. Like concealer, I thought it was an extra, unnecessary step. But I soon learned that if you want your eyeshadow to last, or the colors to really stand out, an appropriate eyelid primer and/or base is crucial to sustaining your eye look for the day.

This brings me to today’s post. I stayed away from home overnight, and in my hasty packing, I left my favorite eyelid primer at home (MAC paint pot in Groundwork). Certainly not catastrophic, but I was concerned because I knew I would be having a long day today. I thought quick and wondered what I could do. What I used was not some MacGyver-type solution, but it’s a nice alternative if you find yourself in a pinch. Remembering that some women actually use concealer as a base, I lightly swept my MAC concealer over my eyelids, taking care not to use too much, as concealer tends to crease. To further avoid creasing, or caking up of the concealer, I swept a layer of MAC Mineralized Skin Finish (which I usually as a light pressed-powder foundation) on top, just to set it (also realizing this is the same technique I used to set the concealer in my under-eye area). Now that the canvas was ready, I painted away! We won’t discuss the fact that I had left my second set of shadows at home as well, and only had my highlight color (MAC’s Arena) and crease contour color (MAC’s Embark). But I put those two colors together and made a nice neutral look!

Just remember that here are no real hard and fast makeup rules, but like in cooking, if you know basic techniques and understand some of the ‘science,’ then you can come up with quick solutions to avoid makeup problems.

MAC Arena

MAC Embark