Post Its For Makeup

Have you ever attempted to recreate a makeup look that you really loved but the results were a total fail? Or you admire those perfect cat eyes but couldn’t draw a straight line if your life depended on it?

Well, you don’t have to be a professional makeup artist to achieve professional results. You just might need a helping hand from items as simple as Post-Its…

Post Its For Makeup

I created a new category called Tips & Tricks (in the Beauty section of the menu) so check out my previous posts for practical beauty/makeup tips.

Post Its! They were an integral part of my makeup kit when I first started doing makeup. With time and practice, I no longer need them, however I recommend them to anyone struggling to achieve sharp/straight lines and accuracy, especially when it comes to eye makeup. Different size post-its come in handy for many different tricks.

You may have seen tape being used as a guide for straight lines on the eyes but I find tape to be too harsh for the sensitive eye area. The adhesive on post-its however is quite gentle so it doesn’t tug at the skin as hard as tape does.

I designed the below charts to show you how you can utilize post-its during makeup application, as well as extra pointers listed at the end of the post.

EYESHADOW LINE

One of the hardest looks to achieve is a sharp eyeshadow line. Between trying to get the placement of color and the blending right, the look can easily turn into an unexpected mess. Use of small rectangular post-its is a great trick to achieve perfect eyeshadow lines every time.

• Place a post-it starting at the outer corner of your eye going up towards the end of your brow. Adjust the angle of the line depending on your preference
• Repeat the same process on the other eye making sure both post-its are positioned evenly
• Proceed to apply your eyeshadow as you normally would, blending the colors well and concentrating the bulk of the color where the post-it meets the skin
• When you’re happy with the result, peel off the post-it to reveal your perfect line

Create sharp eyeshadow lines with post its

NOTE: You can also use an eyeliner to create a cat eye over your shadow work (before you peel the post-it off). Just like the next tip…

WINGED LINER

The most feared part of eye makeup is no doubt the dreaded winged liner. As stunning as it looks, it can go from a ‘polite line’ to ‘total panda’ within seconds. You can use post-its to achieve the perfect winged liner every single time.

• Place a small rectangular post-it starting from the outer corner of the eye going up towards the end of the brow
• Starting from the outer corner of your eye, draw a line right along the edge of the post-it using your pencil, gel or liquid eye liner. How far up you take this line will determine how thick your winged liner will be
• Once done, draw another line starting from the end of this line coming back towards your lash line

Perfect cat eye with post its

NOTE: You can adjust the angle and the length of your line depending on your preference.

CAT EYE FLICK STENCIL

If the above winged liner trick is still taking some practice to get right, then this fool-proof method will have you drawing perfect flicks within seconds.

Take 2 small rectangular post-its and stick them together (adhesive to adhesive). With a pair of small pointy scissors, cut a triangle as short or as long as you like, depending on the size of the cat eye you prefer.

DIY Cat Eye Stencils

Once you’re happy with your cut out, peel the post-its away from each other. You now have the same size and shape stencil for each eye.

• Place the post-its on the outer corner of each eye adjusting the angle to your liking
• Fill in the triangle cut out with your eyeliner
• Peel off the post-its to reveal a perfect flick
• You can now extend this flick by drawing a line towards your inner eye corner or leave it as is

Perfect cat eye flick with DIY post it stencils 

NOTE: You can fill in the stencil with your choice of eyeshadow, if you prefer a softer look

SHADOW SHIELDS

I think we all experienced the frustrating mess of having dark eyeshadow fall over our perfectly made up face; then trying to clean it and making an even bigger mess.

Well, you can use post-its as shadow shields to catch all the fall out from your eyeshadow application. For this, I prefer the standard square sized post-its.

Place them right under your lower lash line and proceed with your shadow application. The post-its will catch all the fall out leaving your skin perfectly clean once you peel them off.

Post Its as shadow shields to prevent eyeshadow fall out

ALSO: This trick is great for loose pigment or glitter application too. No more mess.

AND SOME EXTRAS

The beauty of makeup is that creativity goes as far as your imagination. Along with the main tips and tricks I mentioned above, you can also utilize post-its for the following:

• If you haven’t used post its as shadow shields during glitter application and you had a lot of glitter fall out, you can use the adhesive side of post-its to collect the glitter from your skin. This will clean all the glitter away without disturbing the makeup underneath.
• If you prefer sharp contour lines, you can place larger size post-its along the cheekbones or even sides of the nose to achieve perfectly sharp lines. Once you have your guide, make sure to blend, blend, blend to achieve a more natural look.

And here we are beauties, I hope you enjoyed this post. If you try any of the post-it tricks, or if you have any tips and tricks of your own, please share them in the comments.