Make-up: All About Eyes

Before applying eye make-up, you must first understand the shape of your eyes and how to compliment them. Each has their own application method

almond-shaped eyes

Apply lighter shade from lash to brow. Medium shade on lid. Dark shadow on outer third of lid. Generous coats of mascara for lashes, comb well.

close-set eyes

Close-set eyes are often due to a slender nose. To create the illusion of width, apply colour wide. Start shadow well away from eye's inner corner blending up and out with the more intense shade at outer limits. Line the outer half of the eye and then apply light shadow to inner corner. Blend. Apply Mascara on outer lashes only.

deep-set eyes

Use light shade from lash to brow, slightly darker above the crease on brow bone. Use eye pencil or liner on both top and bottom of the eye, smudge to soften. Generous coats of mascara for all lashes, comb well.

round eyes

To make them appear more almond-shaped, use light-toned shadow all over top lid, darker in entire crease. Line top and bottom lid, extend liner out and up at end. Mascara for top lashes only, more on outer half.

wide-set eyes

Apply a light to medium shade from lash to brow. Place darker shadow shade near eye's inner corners, continuing across lid and feathering out lightly towards temples. Focus liner, mascara on inner corners.

Bottom - Apply liner as close to lashes as possible; smudge to avoid a harsh look, this helps balance shape. To make eyes look bigger or wide-set: Start mid-lid, extend liner just past the end of eye, blend upward. When using liquid liner, hold outer corner of lid taut and apply using quick short strokes.

Top - You may choose to use a pencil or liquid liner. Pencils come an assortment of sizes. The fatter the pencil, the more smudged look you'll get. Liquid liners are a little tricky, but once you get the hang of them, you may love the look as much as I do. Liquid liners will give a more dramatic, defined look. Use your best judgment on what look you want to create.

Apply liner as close to lashes as possible; smudge to avoid a harsh look, this helps balance shape. To make eyes look bigger or wide-set: Start mid-lid, extend liner just past the end of eye, blend upward. When using liquid liner, hold outer corner of lid taut and apply using quick short strokes

Eyelining Tips

* If you wear only eye make-up and wonder why at the end of the day your make-up is smudged and coming off, here's why. You need to give a base coat of foundation and powder for the eye make-up to "stick" to. Even if you don't want to wear foundation, just apply it to your eyes.

* Pencil liners tend to smudge and wear off easier

* When using liquid liner, (this is my specialty :), The first thing you should do is make sure the brush is extremely thin! If it isn't, your line will be to thick and hard to manage while putting on. It's best to buy cosmetics from stores that will take them back. CVS does this .

* Liquid liner- Wipe the excess off when you pull the brush out of the tube. I find that if you wipe it on a clean piece of plastic, then when you need to re-load the bush, use the extra that was left on the plastic. It not only saves on the liner but you can control how mush is on your brush.

* Extend the liner slightly past the corners of your eye for that cat look that's in

* I've heard that if you apply white liner to the inside bottom lid it makes your eyes look brighter. Be wary of this and don't overload the inside lid.The trick is to make it look as though you don't have any on.

* Always apply liquid liner after shadow application and allow to dry before applying mascara

* If your all out of eyeliner, take your thinnest application brush, (everyone should have a set of make-up brushes if you wear make-up!) Next, damping it slightly and gently rub across the shadow compact and apply carefully!

* Use Liquid liner on top and pencil for the bottom.

* If you have dark circles under the eyes, avoid using dark liner.

* When applying liner, apply as close to the lashes as possible

* If your eyes droop down, line them up towards the outer corner of your eye

* If pencil is freshly sharpened, soften tip by gently rolling it across the back of your hand.

To Shape brows:

Your best brow shape is your natural one. Tweeze brows no further than inner corner of eye, taper slightly toward outer end. To open "closed" eyes. Look straight ahead. Where your pupil is, arch your eyebrow higher by tweezing thiner from this point on. Tweezerman eyecare kit has everything you need for tweezing and curling. Kit comes with Eyelash Curler, Slant Tweezer, Folding Ilashcomb and Browmousse

Tweezing Tips:

*For thick or unruly brows dab a small amount of non-aerosol hairspray with fingertip or sprayed on a Q-tip and stroked through brow hair.

*To make thin brows appear thicker, first fill in sparse areas with a eye-shading pencil. Then blend and soften

*Avoid heavy foundation on brows. This can make brows appear to be orange

*When tweezing, pull hair out in the direction of growth. When waxing brow, put off strip in the opposite direction of grow.

*To avoid in-grown hairs, apply a toner or astringent directly after tweezing

* Before you pluck your eyebrows, brush them up and then sideways. This shows the natural pattern of your eyebrow and can show any unruly hair that need to come out.

* Small eyes: make your brows a little thicker by building them up just a bit on top to emphasize them. Clear out straggly hairs underneath, and arch them slightly in the outer third to give more space

* Deep-set eyes: again enlarge the space between the eyes and brows-raise the brows slightly by penciling in a little above the bone

* Close set eyes: widen the space between the brows a little by plucking, and extend the pencil line at the ends.

* Wide set eyes: pencil eyebrows a little closer to the nose, and do not extend them out at the ends

* Bug eyes: tweeze out any hairs that grow down too far over your eyes and raise the brows slightly from below

* The tail should extend at least in line with the outer corner of your eye.

* Choose an eyebrow pencil or powder in a shade slightly lighter than your natural brow color to fill in bare spots

Coat the mascara brush by twirling the mascara wand around in the tube. Do not pump it as this will cause air to get into your mascara tube and dry it out. Remove excess by either rubbing brush against bottle of with a tissue.

Begin by lightly brushing the mascara tip back and forth across the lower lashes. Then brush mascara on the upper lashes. Open eye all the way and get brush as close to your inner lid as possible. Brush upward.

Mascara Tips:

*For longer, thicker-looking lashes, apply 2-3 coats of mascara, letting mascara completely dry between each coat.

*Apply a god amount of excess powder so when you are finished applying mascara, you can dust off the excess and the droppings that landed there.

*For even longer looking lashes, carefully insert clean lashes into eyelash curler. Apply pressure in light little squeezes along the length of lashes, then apply mascara

*Replace mascara every three months

*Avoid using colored mascara on the lower lashes if you have dark circles.

*Wash old mascara brushes completely and use them as a brow tamer or to separate eye lashes before and after application

* wiggle the wand slightly from side to side as you apply

* Under eye circles: avoid pencil and shadow shades with blue or blue undertones.

* If you're over 30, it's generally best to avoid black mascara, unless your coloring is very dark.