Soft Brown Cut Crease Makeup Tutorial

A cut crease is a technique used to give eye makeup a very dramatic look.  It is called a cut crease because you "cut" the crease of the eye with a sharp line of color.  There are many different variations of cut creases using different color combinations, as well as intensities of color and sharpness.  Today I will be going for the "everyday" cut crease if you will.  The look is elegant and defining, but soft and not overdone.

I chose to stick with the theme of an everyday look and went with with a neutral lip tone, but this look can easily be glammed up to exude some serious edginess with a vibrant rouge or rich plum lipstick.

How To Get This Look

The Face

Starting with the basics: I moisturize my face with Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion and my under eye area with ELF Eye Illuminating Cream.  I prime my skin with Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer in Light and my under eye area with ELF Hydrating Under Eye Primer.  Using a Beauty Blender, I apply a mixture of Maybelline Matte and Poreless Fit Me Foundation in Soft Tan and Kat Von D Lock-It Tattoo Foundation in Light 29 to my entire face.  To highlight and conceal I use NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Vanilla in "<" shape beneath my eyes, in the middle of my forehead, down the bridge of my nose, on my chin, and on my eye lids.

To set everything I take the Real Techniques Setting Brush and take a mixture of the highlight shades Lucid and Lyric from the Kat Von D Shade and Light Contour Palette and place a generous amount over the areas that I highlighted with concealer.  I also add a generous amount to my jaw directly below my contour line in order to better define the contour.  I allow the extra powder to sit on my skin for a few minutes to "bake" before brushing off with a Morphe Brushes G23 Soft Fan Brush

With the Real Techniques Sculpting Brush I take the contour shade Sombre from the Kat Von D palette and contour beneath my cheekbones, underneath my jaw bone, along the hairline on my forehead, down my temples, and alone the parallel sides of the bridge of my nose.  After blending I apply the third blush shade from Morphe Brushes 9B Blush Palette, a bright shimmer pink, using the blush brush from the BH Cosmetics Party Girl Brush Set.  

Using the same G23 brush, I then apply the Jaclyn Hill by Becca Cosmetics Champagne Pop highlighter to the tops of my checkbones, my forehead just above my brows, and the bridge of my nose.

I shape my brows with the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Ebony, fill it in with the ABH Brow Powder in Medium Brown, and set it into place with the ABH Clear Brow Gel.

The Eyes

Lately I have been loving and using the BH Cometics Party Girl brush set to apply all my eye makeup.  More than ever when attempting a more precise application of makeup, such as what this type of look calls for, it is important to use good brushes for the accurate application of product.

First, we are going to use a medium neutral lid color. Using a flat shadow brush I take the color Cream, a pale matte, and apply it on my lid from the lash line to the crease.

Next, using the Jaclyn Hill Favorites by Morphe Brushes palette I take the color ES13,  with a tapered blending brush above the crease of my eye and start blending upward.  This is going to be our transition shade.

I then take the darkest color I will be using to create a sharp crease.  Using Lorac Unzipped palette I take the color Unspoken, a deep matte brown, with a precision pencil brush into the shape of my natural crease, making a single line of color.

Using a tapered blending brush I take the fourth horizontal color down, a medium brown, from the Morphe Brushes 35N palette and carefully blend the top of the darkest crease color into our transition color.  It is important when creating this look to blend upward towards your eyebrow.  You want to make sure you are continually blending and diffusing while still maintaining the weight of the dark line within the crease.

For those of us with hooded eyes it is easiest to keep our eyes open when applying the crease shade.  I usually also raise my eyebrows to get a definite idea of where my crease should be.

I use the color Unbridled from the Lorac Unzipped palette to define my outer corner.  I apply this directly to the outside of my cut crease to further darken this area.  Keep this color within the outside edge of the crease and not on the lid in order to maintain that "cut" look.

For this look I want a strong and defined black winged eyeliner.  This will help give the cut crease even further dimension.  I take a small angled brush to draw on my eye liner using the NYX Gel Liner in Jet Black.  I start out by getting as close to the lash line as possible and press down on the lid to create a black line.  I wing this out just a little when I reach the outer corner of my eye.  I then go back through and thicken and elongate each side until I get my desired thickness.

 I then use the color Undercover from the Lorac Unzipped palette, a matte light beige, to highlight the inner tear duct with a fluffy blending brush, and a small flat shadow brush to highlight my brow bone just below my eyebrow.  Do not take this too far into the crease or lid and keep the highlight color concentrated directly within the tear duct.

Finally, I take the Unspoken color again from the Lorac Unzipped palette and glide it below my bottom lash line using a small eye defining brush, making sure to blend into the outer corner of my eye to connect to the crease color.  To add some dimension and soften any harshness I go over this color with our original transition color, ES13.  

In order to add a little glam and sparkle to this cut crease I take the color Pistol from the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette and also run this along my lower lash line.

I use Benefit Roller Lash Mascara on my upper and lower lashes, and then place Katy Perry Feline Fierce Lashes by Eylure London over top using the Vegas Nay by Eylure London Waterproof Lash Glue.

The Lips

I keep the lips for this look neutral and simple by using ColourPop's Ultra Matte Lip in Trap, a greyed-out beige, to both line and fill in my lips.

Let Me Know!

Have you ever tried a cut crease before?  Do you often try any new makeup techniques to challenge yourself?