No More Raccoon Eyes - Three Ways to Stop Eye Makeup From Running

You know what sucks?  putting on makeup and ending up with smudgy raccoon eyes, that's what.  But  I have good news…it's pretty avoidable.

First: let's get real. If you decide to wear eye makeup to a water-park or in the pool, or if you get splashed by a bus going through a giant puddle then you are just sh*t out of luck.  Most makeup will not stand up to extreme conditions, not even if it's waterproof.  It will fair better than non-waterproof makeup, but you will still probably end up less than cute.

But on a regular normal day you can avoid the raccoon look pretty easily.  You just need to learn a few tricks.

This doesn't have to be you.

Eyeshadow Primer:  Ok we all know to put eyeshadow primer on our top lids to stop creasing and whatnot, but you can use it on your bottom lids as well.  If you run a little under your lower lash line it will stop your eyeliner and/or shadow from getting greasy and migrating south.  

Even if you don't put liner or shadow under the eyes, try putting some primer there anyway because it will also keep oils at bay and stop them from breaking down mascara on your bottom lashes, which is one of the worst culprits when it comes to the unintentional smudgy look.

Sometimes if I am wearing liner in my waterline I will even run a tiny bit of primer in there.  Now this trick WORKS, your liner will not move. But technically speaking most primers are not approved for use on the waterline, so do this at your own risk.  So far my eyes have yet to fall out of my head and I haven't gone blind so I'm gonna keep doing it, but exercise caution.

Layering:  If you need help keeping liner on your waterline but you don't want to experiment putting primer in there (especially if your eyes are sensitive) you can try putting your liner on and then using a similar color powder eyeshadow on a dense eyeliner brush to set it.   That will keep it in place much longer.

Obviously long wearing waterproof liners are always a good choice, but even those need help in the waterline sometimes.  Just make sure the eyeshadow you layer over it isn't glittery.  The glitter pieces can really irritate the eyeballs.

Obviously you can do this on your top lid as well…and actually this applies as a general makeup rule, thin layers always last longer than a single thick layer.

And finally it's time to address the biggest issue (for most people anyway)

Bottom Lash Mascara:  The first thing most people will tell you if you complain that your bottom lash mascara runs is "try waterproof" and they aren't really wrong.  If your bottom mascara is running because you're crying or you're locked out in the rain or something then waterproof is probably going to help a little. 

For those who have the issue of an oily eye area though, waterproof isn't gonna cut it.  Waterproof is not oil proof, so what happens is the oil in your skin breaks down the waterproof mascara and then it gets stuck to your face, and because it is in fact waterproof it's a total b*tch to get off.  

The answer for you oily folks is tubing mascara!  Tubing mascara is a weird little formulation that forms plastic-y tubes around your eyelashes.  They won't smudge off from oily skin, and they can withstand a few tear drops as well so they really work well for the bottom lashes.  And when you want to take it off, you can just wash with warm water and they come off like little funny worm hairs and it's kinda strange and fun.  

By nature tubing mascara does not add volume, so I am not a fan of it for top eyelashes.  But for the bottom lash line that is actually awesome because it is virtually impossible to get them clumpy and spidery looking.  So you get natural but defined bottom eyelashes that won't run.  Perfect!

As always you can try just one of these tricks, or all of these tricks combined and see what works best for you, and if you have any tricks that you love to stop your eye makeup from running, let me know in the comments!

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