How to Apply Makeup Shimmer

Squirt a pinch of makeup primer onto your palm and apply it to your clean skin, blending from the center of your face outward onto your forehead, cheeks and chin. This gives your makeup a smooth surface, which is especially important if you will be adding shimmer, because it highlights any imperfections and dryness.

Apply your foundation as usual, buffing any hard lines and edges away with a flat-top face brush or makeup wedge. Foundation creates a clean canvas for makeup that helps colors and textures appear more pigmented on the skin, so do not skip this step if shimmer is a key part of your look. If your skin is smooth and flawless even without makeup, you can call attention to it by choosing a foundation with very fine light-reflective particles. Any time you use this type of foundation, keep the rest of your makeup matte to avoid overdosing on shimmer.

Smooth an eye makeup primer on from lash line to browbone. Eye primer does for your eyelids what makeup primer does for your face. When the product absorbs, lay down an eyeshadow base, also from lash line to browbone; this will make your eyeshadow pop. On eyes, choose only one spot to wear shimmer. You may apply a shimmery eyeshadow either to the center of your lids, on your crease, under the arches of your brows or on the inner corners of your eyes (see Resources for the basic eyeshadow application method). You can still apply a subtle, sheer highlight on your browbones and on the inner corners of your eyes even after putting shimmery eyeshadow on your one chosen area. Highlighter on the eyes is common in a flesh, silver or gold tone but can be any other shade that complements the rest of your eye makeup, as long as it is light and sheer so that your skin shows through. It should not contain evident shimmer particles, nor should it be frosted.

Decide which one of two ways to use shimmer on your cheeks. You can opt for a shimmery blush, which you dust on the apples of your cheeks. Blend away any demarcation lines for a naturally flushed look. To put the focus on your cheekbones instead, examine the undertones of your skin. Apply a sheer silvery highlight on the tops of your cheekbones if your skin has cool undertones; use a gold-tone highlight if your skin's undertones are warm. As with your eyes, the highlight you apply on your cheekbones should not have obvious shimmer particles and should merely give your skin a glowing sheen. If you have very oily skin, you may want to keep the shimmer away from your cheeks, leaving the gleaming effect on your eyes and lips instead.

Wear shimmer on your lips by choosing a shimmery lipstick or lip gloss. To avoid looking tacky, make sure to use a product with very finely ground shimmer rather than highly visible specks of glitter. Use a lip brush to apply the product from the center of your lips outward toward the lip line. The less product there is close to the lip line, the less chances there are of bleeding and feathering. If your lip gloss is very shimmery, you especially want to keep it away from the lip line, because this can make it seem as though you applied too much product on your lips. Layer your shimmery lip gloss over a lip stain if you want color that lasts even after the gloss has worn off.