As a professional makeup artist, 100% of the women who sit in my chair tell me the thing they want more than anything else is to have eyes that pop! Even women who don’t typically wear makeup will make that request. Of course, I’m never surprised by their request and I simply smile and nod as if I’ve never heard it before.
The eyes are the focal point of the face and when they look bright and open, it’s very appealing. Not only can bright eyes make you appear more attractive, but they can also make you appear younger.
I love highlighting the eyes. Even if you are someone who doesn’t typically like to wear makeup, wearing minimal eye makeup and utilizing some quick and easy tips that I will share with you can really make your eyes pop! For example, did you know pressing eyeliner and/or matte eyeshadow into the lashline (base of upper eyelid) can make your lashes appear thicker? Makeup artist do this trick all the time, to create the illusion of thicker lashes. See for yourself.
Lift your eyes at the lashline and using an angled brush, press a matte eyeshadow or an eyeliner (should match your eyelash color) into the base of the lashes. Gel liners also work really well and generally won’t smudge.
Define your brows. Fill them in with eyebrow pencil/shadow (apply with an angled brush). Note: choose two shades of eyebrow pencils/eyeshadow (one close to the color of your hair and another 1-2 shades lighter). Use the darker pencil/eyeshadow to make short hair-like strokes from the beginning of the eyebrow to the arch. After the arch, switch to your lighter pencil/eyeshadow. With soft strokes, finish the ends of the brow; use eyebrow brush or empty mascara wand to soften the pencil/shadow (will soften any noticeable lines). You can even follow-up with brow gel (also clear mascara will work) to keep the brows in place.
Curl your eyelashes. This will make the eyes appear lifted and the lashes appear fuller and thicker. Eyelash curling tip: Make sure your lashes are completely free of mascara. Start at the base of your lashes and make sure to get all lashes in the eyelash curler. Hold for 3 seconds. Don’t hold any longer or it will crimp the lashes instead of curling them. Curl the lashes in 3 sections: at the base, middle of the lash, then the tip of the lash to get a natural curl. To separate the lashes, follow with your favorite mascara.
Apply mascara. There are some really great mascaras on the market. For those of you who don’t want to appear as if you are wearing mascara, but want the benefits, don’t fret, as there are clear mascaras on the market that hold the curl really well. Some mascara suggestions are: ELF lash and brow clear mascara, Maybelline Falsies, L’Oreal Voluminous mascara, Lancome Definicil, and Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill.
Line your lashline. I recommend lining with waterproof eyeliner, a liquid eyeliner or gel liner. For those of you with oily eyelids, to prevent under eye smudging, try this tip: after applying the eyeliner, apply a matte black eyeshadow or whichever color coincides with your eyeliner, apply on top of the eyeliner (apply with an angled brush) and set with a translucent face powder, under the eyes. Tip: if you have small eyes, don’t completely line the top and bottom lashes, as the eyes will appear closed.
Add eyeshadow primer and/or eyeshadow base. These products will allow your eyeshadow to last all day. Primer and eyeshadow base suggestions: Urban Decay Primer Potion is fantastic! Lorac eye primer. MAC Paint Pots are incredible! NYX Jumbo Eye pencils.
After you apply your eyeshadow primer and/or eyeshadow base, follow-up with your eyeshadow(s) of choice. Here’s a guide to help you choose YOUR best eyeshadow colors, based on your eye color:
- Warm blue eyes are blue-green. They may have flecks of light green or yellow in them. They look great with blue-green colors (like turquoise) and fuschia eyeshadow.
- Cool blue eyes are vibrant blue. They may have flecks of white in the iris. Use complementing colors such as oranges and corals. Other colors such as ash, taupe, gray, heather, slate and lilac are also favorable.
- Warm green eyes have slightly more yellow in them. They are enhanced by green shadows with a yellow, chartreuse color. Tip: green is a fall trend color, so are navy and plum which also look great.
- Cool green eyes have more blue or brown in them. They are enhanced by green shadows that contain blue or brown. They are also enhanced with contrasting pinks, as well as taupe, plum or violet. Additionally, yellow-toned beige, camel, heather, moss, and slate are favorable.
- Hazel eyes are a combination of brown, green and gold. They are best enhanced with yellow-green or brown-green shadows, as well as purple shadows.
- Warm-hazel eyes contain large amounts of yellow. They are enhanced by gold to almost pink-brown. They are intensified with deep green, gold, lavender or plum shadows.
- Gray eyes are enhanced with grays, earthy browns, plums, violets, periwinkle, navy blue, or deeper brown shadows.
- Warm brown eyes are lighter in color with a slight amount of yellow. They are enhanced by blues, teals, greens, and purples.
- Cool brown eyes have more red, black, or mahogany. They are intensified with contrasting colors such as blue and slate, as well as other colors such as cement, sable, mocha, khaki, stone, and bark.
I saved the best eye enhancing product for last ….white eyeliner. I know it sounds so ‘80’s, but there are many things you can do with a white eyeliner pencil to accentuate the eyes and make them pop. Here’s what white eyeliner can do for you: Highlight the inner corner of the eyes. Highlight the brow bone. Add to the waterline to make the eyes appear brighter.
There you have it…tips for eyes that pop every time! So, there’s no excuse to have boring, ineffective eye makeup ever again!!!! Give these tips a try and let me know how they work for you. Until next time….stay beautiful!