How to Apply Cream Eyeshadows for Easy Looks

Cream eyeshadows are an excellent choice for one-and-done looks, which is when you apply and blend out a single eyeshadow all over the lid to add color, texture, and/or dimension without having to spend a lot of time. These types of looks are perfect for those hurried mornings when you’ve slept in or need an extra oomph on the eye area but don’t have the time.

Cream eyeshadows are also useful as bases, where you’d layer other eyeshadows on top of it to improve adhesion, pigmentation, or transform the powder eyeshadows (make them cooler, more shimmery, etc.).

If you’ve struggled on how to apply cream eyeshadow and how to incorporate your favorite cream eyeshadows into your regular beauty routine, you’ve come to the right place! Here are our top tips and tricks on applying cream eyeshadow that we hope will help you!

Step-by-Step Application for Cream Eyeshadows

1. Most formulas apply best with a flat, synthetic brush (some like MAC’s 242, which I’ve found difficult to dupe, but concealer brushes often work well in its place).  The synthetic material ensures that it doesn’t get sucked into the bristles, which gives better color coverage and payoff as well as gets more even coverage in a single layer.  I use about half of the length of the brush flattened against the surface of the eyeshadow’s surface or on the applicator (for liquid eyeshadows) and then apply as appropriately.  If you need to apply the product to a small area, try using a lip brush (or something like Urban Decay’s E213), which has a similar shape, but is much smaller.
2. Control the amount of product for desired result!  Be careful using very pigmented cream or liquid products; you’ll want to be careful to take just what you need in order to sheer it out for a one-and-done look.
3. Use a clean, fluffy brush (synthetic preferred) to soften edges as they are drying down, as this helps to soften the edge without adding more product nor sheering out the bulk of the placed eyeshadow.
4. When working with multiple shades, it is often best to work dark to light and having multiple brushes on hand really goes a long way to avoid muddying colors up as it is harder to fully wipe away excess otherwise.  You can try using a quick-drying brush spray, which are alcohol-heavy, and wiping on a paper towel if you only have a couple of brushes.  I would avoid doing this with brushes with natural hair, though.
5. By working dark to light, you can gently pull and diffuse the lighter shade over the darker shade while maintaining the intensity of each shade on its own.  I find that working light to dark can result in too much of the darker shade coming through as the lighter shade is dry by the time I’m blending out the dark, so inevitably, the darker shade ends up having to be diffused over the light, resulting in a larger, darker section than I may have anticipated.
6. For more glittery formulations, you’ll want to work quickly when it comes to blend because as the glittery eyeshadow dries down, blending will just result in loosening the sparkle/glitter, which will cause fallout.
7. If you’re only using one cream eyeshadow over a larger area, sometimes a fingertip works just as well as a brush, and fingertips tend to be slightly better in softening edges if it is a drier or thick formula where the warmth from fingertips can soften and make the product more malleable.

How to Blend Cream Eyeshadows

Work quickly, one eye at a time.  Cream eyeshadows typically dry down, sometimes within seconds and others have more play time, but it’s always a good call to apply the product to one eye at a time until it is blended to your satisfaction.  Once it is set, it likely won’t diffuse or move much.  (The exception would be cream-to-powder formulas, which are more blendable at dry down.)

Wetter formulas require more work.  If a formula is very wet and takes awhile to dry, it can crease or pull into fine lines on the eye area, so the best way to deal with this is to go back and press and buff the color out of the creases once it has dried a bit (but not fully dry) so that the product doesn’t end up locked into the lines in the end.

Use circular, buffing motions to diffuse the edges of cream eyeshadow.  Using moderate pressure (less for more pigmented/wetter formulas, more for drier formulas), move your brush in very tight circles to diffuse and soften the edge of the cream eyeshadow that you’ve applied.

Use the edge of your fingertip to gently push the edge of the eyeshadow toward the area you want it to be blended out toward.  I find the edge of my fingertip is smooth enough but gives me some precision to get the edges to soften without moving too much product away from where I want pigmentation.

Work with darkest to lightest shades, especially on the lid.  When using more than one shade, I prefer applying darker shades first, as it is easier to diffuse a lighter shade into the darker shade–the opposite ends up making lighter areas smaller, which is usually not what I’m after.

Experiment with application methods and tools.  Unlike powder eyeshadows, cream eyeshadows vary formula to formula, shade to shade, so much more, so what works for one product doesn’t always work as well for another.

How to Sheer Out a Cream Eyeshadow

Fluffy, synthetic brushes (I like Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush or IT’s All-Over #322) work well for getting some color onto the center lid and then work well to diffuse the edges in light, circular motions to spread and buff out the edges. To pick up product, use the edge only and swirl softly in the pot or lightly dab the edge onto a liquid eyeshadow applicator and gently buff in 2-3, circular rotations on the back of the hand prior to applying to the lid (this step is particularly important if you are working with a more pigmented formula).

Apply using a clean fingertip (or get a little on the back of your hand using a spatula or end of a brush handle) by patting on the center of the lid and diffusing outward and upward.  Often, the warmth of the fingertip can help make the eyeshadow more malleable and spread quickly.

How to Use Cream Eyeshadow As an Eyeshadow Base

1. If you’re looking just to lay down a wash of cream eyeshadow as a base, applying and blending out with fingertips is quick and efficient.  It’s also a good way to get a thinner layer across a larger area without fear of it drying down too quickly.
2. For more precision, use a flat, synthetic brush (some like MAC’s 242, which I’ve found difficult to dupe, but concealer brushes often work well in its place) to lay down the product on the area you want and then use the edges of the brush to gently diffuse the edge if desired.
3. The most important part of application in my experience is ensuring that the layer is even in thickness and has minimal patchiness (unless I’m really packing on a much deeper, more pigmented product on top, then the patchiness often doesn’t matter).  If it’s an uneven layer, that just ends up coming through more and more with powder products layered on top.

Sydney Grace Cream Shadows | Look Details

How to Use Cream Eyeshadow As Eyeliner

1. You’ll want to use a synthetic, angled or thin liner brush; I like angled brushes best with cream and gel eyeshadows that are quite pigmented and a bit denser.  Thin liner brushes work better for me when I’m using a runnier, more watery, or liquid formulation.  Here are some of my favorite brushes for detail work.
2. Some formulations apply better in short strokes, picking up more product as necessary, and others can be applied in a more fluid, one-stroke motion and then repeated for greater intensity if desired (not all liquid/cream formulas layer well–this is particularly true with thicker, chunkier finishes and very liquid eyeshadows that take longer to dry down).

How do you apply your cream and liquid eyeshadows? What applications and tools work well for you?

How to Fix Common Cream Eyeshadow Mistakes

Your mileage may very tremendously depending on the formula.  Unlike the powder eyeshadow, one brand’s cream eyeshadow and another brand’s cream eyeshadow can vary wildly, which can mean that one application method will work well for but not the other.  This is often related to product density, how emollient/liquid the formula is, how pigmented it is, and how long it takes to dry down.  Experimentation is vital.

Wetter formulas can take longer to dry, so it will be more important to keep eyes closed while waiting to dry (to minimize product getting into creases and lines) or a thinner, sheerer layer applied, set, and then built upon with a second layer for greater coverage if desired.

If an eyeshadow has taken a bit of time to dry down and has pulled into any fine lines or creases, you can easily diffuse and soften any creasing preemptively by using a fluffy brush or patting with fingertip over the area as it is drying down. It’s a bit like under eye concealer; sometimes you have to let it do its thing, crease a little, and then go back and blend after it has some time to dry down but isn’t cemented on yet!

A lot of liquid eyeshadow applicators are over-sized and disperse more product than needed, so using a separate tool (fingertips or otherwise) is often a better choice than the included applicator (often, a doe-foot).

You can dust translucent or similar-colored powder on top to help set and prevent creasing over time.

Cream and liquid eyeshadows tend to be easiest to work with on the lid or all-over so I often prefer to lay down powder eyeshadows in my crease area or above it and then applying cream/liquid eyeshadows on the lid itself.

I find applying powder before cream eyeshadows makes it easier to avoid disrupting the cream eyeshadow once it has dried down, as some formulations can flake off with too much blending once they are set, so I try to do more of the blending ahead of time and then only go back in to darken or soften after the cream eyeshadow has set if necessary.

Best Brushes for Cream Eyeshadows

Use synthetic brushes.  Synthetic brushes won’t absorb product like a natural-hair brush would, so they are ideal for more emollient products like cream eyeshadows.

Flat, firmer brushes are best for getting the most coverage.  These will pick up a lot of product and deposit it well to a single area, particularly areas like the lid space.

Fluffy, tapered edges work well for diffusing edges or getting sheer coverage.  The fluffier, tapered edge helps to blend and spread out product on the skin, and these types of brushes also work well for applying color all-over the lid.

Don’t forget your fingertips!  Fingertips work well for all-over lid application and can be used for the inner corner or the center of the lid.  If you have smaller fingertips, you might be able to do just about all the work with your fingertips alone!

Looking for the perfect formula? Check out our favorite eyeshadows.

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