Summer is here! With Summer, comes (at least for me) eye shadow that is much brighter than the typical neutrals and darks I gravitate to during the cooler months. Pastels have also been a huge trend this year, and if you don't know Pastels are notoriously difficult to work with especially in eye shadow form.

Today I want to share my top tips to get that bright colored shadow to really pop on your eyes. Using these tips, you will be able to get any eye shadow to really pop on your lids. These tips will also help your looks to last longer, which is an essential in the heat.

1. Good Primer

The first key to a nice bright look is primer! A good primer is an absolute must because it allows the shadow to adhere to the skin better and in most cases makes the pigmentation more intense. There are two ways you could go about this. A primer and a base or just a white or light colored base. A primer and skin toned base will make the existing colors more intense and bring out the true color of a shadow, whereas a white base will make bright shadows even brighter.

2. Add some Moisture 

Another tip to get your eye shadow to show up intense, is to add a little setting spray to the brush after you have shadow on it. For this tip, I typically will take the brush that I am using for shadow and pack on the eye shadow or pigment that I want to use, then spray it with my favorite setting spray (here I am using the Nyx Primer Spray) and then apply that directly to my eye. In the picture below, you can see how eye shadow applies alone and then with a spritz setting spray. You can see that adding just a little moisture really brings that color up about 10 notches.

Urban Decay Moondust Palette without any product

Urban Decay Moondust palette swatched with Nyx Primer Spray

3. Use a Flat Packing Brush and Layer

This next tip was really a game changer for me. Instead of applying your shadow with a fluffy brush, use a flat packing brush to pack on the shadow with patting motions instead of swiping the color on. Patting allows the color to build up and layer on top of each other instead of dispersing all over the eye. I personally love the Mac 247 flat shader brush ($25), but the Nyx Flat Detail brush ($8.50) is also really awesome for this.

4. Cream Eye shadow is your friend

For Bright eye shadow, cream shadows are also another secret weapon of mine. I love to use different formulas of cream eye shadows for different things. I also find the cream products can be scary because they aren't always user friendly, but there are a few products that I swear by:

Maybelline Color Tattoos - Are perfect as a light wash of color when my look doesn't call for instense pigmentation. These lock in place and do not budge. I also use these as a base when I want to layer on color for full on pigmentation. The best thing is that they retail for like $6.99 and can serve the same purpose as MAC Paint Pots, which cost like $22
Eyeshadow Pencils - I love to use eye shadow pencils as a base for most shadows that I use. Rimmel has awesome ones that lock in place and make any color placed over them really pop. I also love to use the Nyx Jumbo Pencils ($4.50) to do this too. I linked some others in the widget below.

5. When All Else Fails, Pop on some Colored Liner

For all of my ladies who are still afraid to try a full on bright look, my final tip is to start with Colored liner. Nyx Vivid Brights Eyeliner (Post) is perfect for the lash line. Bright eyeliner allows anyone to take a neutral look and add a fun pop of color. I also love the kohl pencils like the Nyx Electro liners (Post) and to add into the waterline and that lower lash line to add color under the eye for that same pop of color effect.

6. Blend it out and use multiple shades for dimension

Typically, when I am doing a bright eye shadow look, I not only use several layers of shadow, but I also like to use multiple tones of a color to create dimension. Typically for a basic purple eye shadow look, I like to use at least 4 different tones of purple so that the colors blend together and also build upon each other, which adds intensity to the look.

Share some of your favorite eye shadow tips below!