Tuesday 5 February 2013

How to: Look Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed Part 2

Bright: Eyes
Note the highlighting in the inner corners, the dark liner, defined lashes, and filled in brows

So my Post How to: Look Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed has been quite popular. Later, I was thinking about all the tips I didn't give, mostly pertaining to makeup to make a person look more alert than they actually are. I am not a morning person, so anything that makes me look like I am actually awake is a good thing. So here are a few more tips for your morning bleary eyed makeup routine.

Eye Drops
So not actually a beauty product, eye drops help make your actual eyes look brighter. You can use redness reducing eye drops which make eyes whiter by making the capillaries relax in the eye. This is only for severe cases (ie. You are hung over) because they aren't great to use all the time. Because I live in a place that is so dry, I find that even just using moisturising saline eye drops relaxes my eyes and causes the redness to go down.

Lash Curler
Super important, lash curlers open up the eyes and make you look more awake. My lashes point down and have a tendency to cover part of my eyes which makes my eyes not look as big and open as they should. I know lash curlers look a bit scary, but they are the best eye opening trick there is. Just put the lashes in between the curler and squeeze, holding the curler against the base of the lashes. Do that a couple of times and then progressively farther out along the lash all the way to the tips for maximum curl. I love the curler from Tweezerman, it is cheap and it is the best one I have found. You can also get replacement strips for it very cheaply so you don’t have to keep buying lash curlers.

Tweezerman Classic Lash Curler
Tweezerman Classic Lash Curler

Shimmering (not sparkly) Eye shadow
A light to medium shimmering eye shadow brings light to around the eye area. They make the eye area look less dry as well as deflecting light off areas that are dark or sunken. Contrary to popular belief, shimmering shadows do not make wrinkles more prominent, they actually deflect the light away from the wrinkle. A sparkly shadow with big flecks or metallic shadow however will (and will look tacky on top of it). Try the new Elizabeth Arden Eye Shadows, they just re-vamped them and they are very nice. Shimmery and are supposed to brighten and lift. So there, doubters.

Elizabeth Arden Beautiful Color Eye Shadow
Elizabeth Arden Beautiful Color Eye Shadow
Tight-line
Read my post on How to: Tight-line Your Eyeliner. Makes eyes look naturally brighter from the contrast between the whites of the eyes and the liner. Try using a very dark brown or black or try…

Navy Liner
This is an oldie but a goody. It sounds like a dated tip but a very dark navy plus black mascara, doesn't really look much different than a grey or brown when you step away. The contrast from the blue does however; make the whites of your eyes look whiter. You can either tight-line it for a subtle contrast or just use it as regular liner (or both for extra brightness!). Since it is an old trick I will show you an old favourite from Avon:

Avon Glimmersticks Waterproof Eye Liner
Avon Glimmersticks Waterproof Eye Liner in Navy
works well to tight-line and you can order online now!

Black, Waterproof or Long-wearing Mascara
Again I will harp on about maximize contrast between your eyes and your makeup. Yes, people with soften complexions shouldn't wear black because it washes them out, but you should still wear black mascara. The difference between brown, brown black, black, and very black is slight. When it is on your eyes you can’t really tell the difference. Why go with very black then? Well most browns and brown black are more like grey brown which draws out the under eye bags. Also, black makes the lashes look more defined on the face which makes you look more alert.

Why go with a waterproof or long-wearing? Well waterproof or long-wearing mascaras hold the lovely curl you just created with your eyelash curler. I don’t know what it is, but they just seem to be far superior at holding curls than regular mascara. Also with a waterproof or long-wearing, you shouldn't end up with the smudges under your eyes that can make a person look really tired. I have been using this new Covergirl Lashblast 24hr that seems to hold the curl extremely well, but any of their waterproof or water resistant seem to do the trick. As far as getting it off later goes, it does seem to come off with my cleansing oil (I will be writing a post about this in the future).

COVERGIRL LashBlast 24 Hour Mascara
COVERGIRL LashBlast 24 Hour Mascara

So do you wear waterproof or long-wearing mascara?
Do you believe me about the shimmery eye shadow?

No comments:

Post a Comment