Crow’s feet and under eye creasing can make even the most flawless makeup application look less than perfect in a matter of hours. But with the delicate, thinly-skinned area under our eyes that tends to show signs of aging first, creasing is inevitable, right? Not necessarily!
With the right skincare, makeup products and application techniques, you can fake a smooth, crease-free under eye area all day. This keeps your concealer, eye shadow, and under eye makeup looking freshly applied for up to 12 hours or more, no touch-ups required.
Keep reading to learn tricks and tips to prevent makeup of all kinds – from concealer to powder to eyeshadow – from settling into fine lines and wrinkles under the eyes as you go about your day. Bid farewell to cracked, creased makeup ruining your look!
Start with Eye Cream and Primer
Hydration is key! Your number one weapon against creasing is ensuring your under eye area is well hydrated and moisturized all day. This makes skin more supple and plump so there are essentially fewer pronounced creases for makeup to settle into.
Prep clean, dry under eyes by first applying an under eye cream morning and night. Let it fully absorb before applying any other complexion makeup. Look for formulas with powerhouse hydrating ingredients like Vitamin C and E, hyaluronic acid, ceramides, glycerin, and plant-based oils. Pat gently with your ring finger to stimulate circulation and drainage while avoiding any tugging on delicate skin.
Beauty of Joseon Revive Eye Serum with Retinal Niacinamide
- Correction for Puffy Eye Bags Fine Lines Dark Circles Wrinkles
You can double up with an eye primer before applying concealer or eye makeup. Look for creamy, emollient primers that hydrate while creating a smooth base for longer wears. Primers also help grip makeup in place. Avoid silicone-based and too drying of formulas or they can accentuate crepey skin as the day goes on.
Catrice Under Eye Brightener
- Conceal & Brighten Dark Circles | With Hyaluronic Acid & Shea Butter | Vegan, Cruelty Free & Paraben Free
Choose the Right Concealer Formula
Liquid, cream or stick concealers are the most common choices for hiding dark circles and blurring fine lines under the eyes. But not all concealers are created equal when it comes to creasing! The formulas that tend to settle into and exaggerate creases most over time contain heavy ingredients like waxes, mineral oil or thick emollients. They also emphasize dryness as they cling to rough patches and settle into creases exaggeratedly over hours of wear time.
Instead, seek out smoothing, hydrating concealers with lightweight gel-cream or serum textures. They use slip agents like glycerin and plant oils for moisture delivery rather than thick waxes or balms that can pool in creases. Buildable, medium coverage works better than extremely heavy, opaque formulas as well.
Additionally, liquid or pen concealers with at least some luminosity help visibly “fill in” fine lines, especially when layered under the eyes. The subtle radiance reflects light away from creases so they remain smoothed and concealed. A mini corrector-brightener pen makes touching up creasing spots quick too.
Use the Tap-Press Method
The actual application of your under eye concealer makes a difference in preventing or at least prolonging creasing as well! Forget rubbing, tugging, swiping or roughly blending. Instead, tap concealer onto areas under the eyes that need coverage using a small flat brush, sponge or (clean!) fingertip. Warm the product slightly before application by rubbing fingers together. Then use feather-light, gentle tapping and pressing motions to blend edges until even and seamless, no harsh swiping.
This helps press pigment into creases without forcing excess product into the deeper folds and fine lines. Build coverage gradually in thin layers this way too rather than caking on heavy product all at once, which accelerates creasing. Set concealer with just a dusting of finely milled loose powder before layering any cream or eyeshadow products.
Bake and carve your makeup
The Instagram and YouTube famous makeup trick of “baking” has solid reasoning behind why it blurs under eyes so perfectly all day. After tapping on concealer and before setting with face powder, pack on a generous amount of loose powder ONLY under the eyes. This can be done with a damp beauty sponge or soft brush, pressing powder across the entire under eye area, including on top of concealer and up to the lower lash line.
Let the powder sit for 5-10 minutes while doing the rest of your makeup so it has time to genuinely set before dusting away any excess. This absorbs oils and locks in coverage withblurring faded creases in the process too.
Use just a whisper of powder to lightly set the rest of your base makeup so cheeks don’t appear cakey as you carve out that crease-free concealer!
Apply Eye Makeup Correctly
It’s not just complexion makeup that creases – improperly applied eyeshadows, liners and mascaras can transfer and smudge into under eye folds as well. But using the right formulas and techniques prevents eye makeup from crashing into concealer later in the day.
Look for eyeshadow primers and long wearing powder or cream shadows that claim to be transfer-resistant or crease-resistant. Tap and press shadows across the lids rather than rubbing. Always apply lighter shades first before layering on deeper colors. This prevents muddiness later on inner corners or lower lash lines when fogginess exaggerates creasing. Waterproof mascaras and eyeliners are also less likely to smudge into concealer.
Elizabeth Mott – Thank Me Later Eye Primer
- Long-Lasting Power Grip Makeup, Shine & Oil Control, Pore Minimizer, Hides Wrinkles & Fine Lines, Prevent Creasing for All-Day Eye Makeup Wear
Most importantly, keep liner and mascara off the water lines of lower lash lines! This prevents inevitable cracking and transferring for round-the-clock flawless eyes.
Touch Up Tactfully
No matter how perfectly you prep, apply, set, and bake your under eye makeup, you’ll likely need a midday touchup on those fine lines after hours of laughing, squinting, yawning etc! Keep a mini concealer and loose powder with you for quick reinforcements rather than needing to remove and redo your whole eye look.
Using the same tap-press method, lightly pat a hydrating, light reflecting concealer onto any creased areas that need smoothing without rubbing the product in or layering heavily. Immediately tap on more powder to set and blur edges before creasing recurs. This keeps eyes looking refreshed and crease free!
Remove Gently at Day’s End
Don’t underestimate how much roughly scrubbing eye makeup at the end of the day can exaggerate and worsen fine lines over time! Gently remove waterproof mascaras and liners with a dedicated remover on cotton rounds before washing with a creamy cleanser. Soak another round in toner or micellar water to sweep under eye skin, loosening the last traces of makeup without needing to aggressively rub the delicate area.
Follow with hydrating serums and eye creams to nourish overnight, prepping skin to better hold onto makeup the next day. Consistent nightly prep coupled with these application tips will have you mastering crease-free eye makeup that lasts all day from now on!
The key is being vigilant about hydration, choosing crease-resistant formulas, and applying with a gentle tapping method before reinforcing with targeted touch ups. Now you can flaunt flawless, youthful eyes for hours on end without makeup cracking into fine lines. No more conceding to creasing and faded, uneven makeup before the day is done!
