Q&A: Defeating mascara smudges

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Question of the Day: "What can I do to stop my mascara from smudging, especially under my eyes?"


There are several techniques you can use to keep your mascara from straying during the day. Hopefully one or more of these will do the trick!

1. Use an oil-free moisturizer/eye cream under your eyes. Oil breaks down even the most tenacious mascaras, so the less chance it has to come in contact with oil, the better chance of it staying put. 
2. Use your eyeshadow primer all over your lids AND underneath on your lower lashline. It's designed to keep your eye makeup from wandering or creasing and will help control oil if your skin is oily.
3. Lightly dust your lashes with translucent powder before applying mascara. This will not only thicken them and give you more lash volume, but will make the mascara clingier and less likely to run.
4. Be sure to set your foundation and concealer well with that same translucent powder. Many foundations and concealers contain moisturizing elements which are a bane to mascara. Setting both will keep any contact between those elements to a minimum. For a great tutorial on how to set your foundation, click here- surprise: it doesn't involve using a powder brush until the very end!
5. Use waterproof mascara. This sounds like a no-brainer, but using a "stronger" mascara will help it stay longer and will make it less likely to budge.

Do you have any other tricks that work for you? Leave them in the comments below!