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The last thing any woman wants is smeared eye makeup showing up in pictures taken at a wedding, an office or a dinner party. Smeared makeup can cause a woman to look like she has a black eye or is psychotic. Even if you can avoid crying or rubbing your eyes, a couple of rounds on the dance floor can cause your eye makeup to smear. Proper application of makeup will help it last longer and keep eye makeup from smearing under your eyes.

Use concealer under your eyes in a shade that matches your skin tone. Alternatively, apply an eye primer or powder. This helps eyeliner and mascara stay on all day and prevents smearing. The powder also catches drops that may fall and will allow you to brush off the drops.

Put an eye base on your eyelids to prevent eyeshadow from creasing, smearing and dropping off onto your face. Eye bases come in various shades.

Apply eyeliner. If you are using a traditional pencil eyeliner, draw the line as usual, then apply a similar color eyeshadow on top of it to set it.

Remove excess mascara from the wand by gently swiping the brush against a clean paper towel. Apply the mascara from the base of the lash upward. If you only apply mascara to the tips of your eyelashes, it weighs them down and may cause them to smear.

Add eyeshadow by sweeping it across the eyelid. The eye base that you applied should be dry to the touch before you apply the eyeshadow. The eye base sets the eyeshadow, which allows it to last for hours without smearing.

Dust a light coat of powder underneath each eye.

Tip

Use a waterproof eyeliner pencil or a gel liner. Use eye cream sparingly, and keep it away from eyelashes.