Advice On Eye Make-up Secrets

by Intrepidty

posted on 04/12/2009

It can be confusing as well as expensive to go from make-up counter to make-up counter searching for cosmetics to create glamorous eyes. To sort out the good from the bad you may like a few suggestions.

Eye Make-Up Removers

Before you apply eye products you need to start with a clean canvas. Many products available at local department store counters, drug stores or variety discount centers are sold as eye make-up removers. You can find cosmetic pads with the remover worked into them, bottled eye make-up removers in both regular and waterproof formulations and cleansing creams that will take off eye make-up perfectly.

Choosing your product might entail locating your favorite brand or manufacturer, one that you always love. Another factor night be the packaging. The products come in their own handy dispenser boxes, bottles, jars and tubes. You may like to carry the item in your purse, put in on a shelf in the bathroom or be worried if it could spill or be broken due to small children underfoot. Decorative packaging might interest you the most, or, the price could be the most important factor for you.

Cleansing products also sometimes cross over. There are make-up remover cloths meant for the entire face that will also take off the eye make-up very nicely. This idea might interest you.

Eye-Liners

How do you get glamorous eyes like you see on models or beauty pageant contestants? These girls may have on false lashes, liner, mascara, in other words heavy amounts of cosmetics for the temporary moment or not but you can achieve glamour eyes with reasonable amounts of make-up if you know a few tricks.

Eye-liner is one of these tricks. Eye-liner can actually enhance the whole face. By outlining the eyes, you bring the focus to the top center of the face where the eyes are located. This not only brings out your eyes it also adds dimension to the cheek and brow area, tending to slim the face and bring a greater depth to all eye colors.

On the market you will find several eye-lining products. There are kohl pencils, eye-liner pencils, eye-lining pens with felted tips, liquid eye-liners, powdered eye-liners that are applied with an angled brush, gel liners and cake types with their own fine tip brush. Applying eye-liner takes a little effort but it is a worthwhile endeavor. There are a few different ways to do this.

First, you want to have a good mirror, like in most bathrooms, or a magnified mirror from your cosmetic pouch is good, too. You also need to have a bare face, or at least the eye area. The best way to have a bare face or bare eye area is by removing all make-up with cleanser or make-up remover. Since there may be some residue with some of the products, such as a moisturizing ingredient, you will want to finish up cleansing with a tissue that has been moistened with cool water followed by a dry tissue to blot away any oily residue left over from the cleansers or removers, and then let your skin rest 15 or so minutes before applying the eye-liner of your choice.

The best eye-liners for creating a thin line would be liquid liners or those in a cake form that require moistening. Thin lines can be very dramatic because they are so precise and they also add enviable length to the appearance of the eyelashes.

Liquid eye-liner should be applied as close to the roots of the lashes as possible in a fine line to create a longer looking set of eye lashes. A more subtle line can be made from powder eyeliners applied with and angle brush and should also be applied at the root of the eyelashes. Using the powdered liner will add some length and fullness to your eyelashes before you even add mascara, while the dramatic line of the liquid really only enhances the length.

Kohl pencils are popular due to their portability, their variety of colors and their reasonable price tag. Kohl liners tend to bleed, although. To prevent bleeding of a kohl pencil that has been applied to your eyes, you will want to dust the top edge of the line with translucent face powder very carefully with a small make-up brush. It only takes a little powder to set the Kohl pencil. Dust the powder over the top of the line and then use your finger to very carefully blend the powder into the lid above until it disappears.

Eye Shadow Variety

Making up your eye gets more creative here. You can choose from such a variety of colors and these colors come in many different intensities as well. There are shadows that glitter and sparkle, there are matte shadows, there are seasonal palettes and their are shadows intended for particular age groups.

One way to acquire a collection of eye shadow to work with is by locating a variety compact. These compacts have several colors to work with, from three or four color selections to as many as one hundred. Keeping in mind that eye products should be replaced every four months the variety pack is quite a bargain. Otherwise, you could choose one to four of your good colors, or, even skip the eye shadow. Natural looking eyes look sexy too.

Eye Shadow Color Selection

Trial and error might be a good way to find your color comfort zone, but you might like some ideas to get you started. One thing to keep in mind is the time of the year. Even if this sounds a little klutzy it is perfectly suitable to dress with the seasons and that includes your eye make-up. So, if you aren't certain of your self, choose something for the season. Seasonal colors could be pastels for spring, bright colors for summer , earth tones for autumn and blues or frosts for winter.

Eye Shadow Application

If you are going to use eye shadow you could use an eye shadow base. It is not mandatory but it will make the shadow and eyeliner if you have used that last longer, a lot longer. If you can't really afford any more products, it is fine to skip this.

Eye shadow goes on best with sponge applicators, the kind typically on a stick and typically in the package when you buy the eye shadow. Brushes are fun to use, and sexy, but they don't really apply the shadow as readily. If you would rather use a brush to apply your eye shadow it may take two or more applications to match the color in the tray. The lighter coat of a brush applicator is good for the brow bone or inner and outer corners of the eye, if you are applying a contrast or highlight color. Put the main color across the entire lid, preferably with the sponge applicator.

Speaking of the inner and outer corners of the eyes, this is one of the eye enhancing "secrets" that you can experiment with. You will probably be pleased at the effect of adding an extra brush of color deliberately to the corners of your eyes. Experiment with frosted or pale colors on the corners, or choose a deep color. The deep color should be darker than your other shadow if you mean to create drama.

Mascara

A lot of people grab their mascara before they grab anything else when they are pressed for time. Dark, thick lashes are most popular. You could have your eyelashes dyed but this only lasts for a few months and then you have to do it again. Besides, this doesn't thicken the appearance of your lashes nearly as well as mascara can.

Checking out mascara isn't as hard as you may suppose. Basically there are two kinds, waterproof or not and three or four common colors; brown, black, brownish black and very black.

Of the waterproof type, water resistant is kinder to your lashes. Water resistant mascara, when dry, is less brittle that waterproof. Unless you are swimming, probably water resistant is the type you want if you need to look out for runny mascara.

If you choose regular mascara you may need to blot the area surrounding your eyes as mentioned earlier if you haven't already, to cut down or eliminate the mascara's bleeding throughout the day.

There are many tricks to applying mascara. You can buy lash separators in metal or plastic. You can also separate lashes with a common or dressmaker's pin. If you have a leftover baby's brush and comb set, the comb is a good for this. You can also save the wands from your old mascara, wash them is hot soapy water, rinse and save them for brushing the lashes before you apply your mascara.

To prepare the mascara for application you need to twirl the wand in the tube several times before easing it out of the tube slightly to one edge. This pressing the brush or comb to one side helps put the right amount of mascara into the bristles so you'll get the most coverage in the least coats.

Mascara can be found in self-curling types and in extra colors aside from the basics. Self-curling mascara tends to lengthen the eyelashes as well and is a nice choice. You could choose self-curling types for special occasions if you don't want to switch permanently. Other colors commonly available are blue, gray and purple.

Eyebrows

Eyebrows are best left as near natural as possible. Ways to trim hairy eyebrows, without over tweezing, include trimming them with scissors, taming them with clear mascara, shaving with a tiny brow razor and dusting with a lighter shade of brow powder or feathering with a brow pencil. This pencil should also be in a lighter shade than your natural brows.

Too trim your eyebrows with scissors you comb or brush them up as far as they will go and then carefully trim the top a smidgen. This technique might be all the enhancement you need aside of a few feather strokes from your eye brow pencil.

If you eyebrows are getting too thin, apply translucent powder with a brush or a light brown shadow. This will probably depend on your coloring. Doing this will help fill them in for you even more than pencil alone.

Wrinkles

Sexy, dramatic eyes won't be quite so sexy in a reservoir of heavy wrinkles. Surprisingly eye products other than obvious wrinkle creams have wrinkle reducing or preventing qualities to them. Ingredients in eye shadow, camouflage sticks and foundations are formulated to help moisturize the eye area, and actually help prevent future wrinkles, rather that cause them.

You can have great looking eyes. With a few simple tools and some simple instructions you will soon be as glamorous as a model or celebrity if you want.

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