Vanessa Romero; Photo from Glamour.com
True Blue
Ever since beauty “experts” started calling blue eye shadow tacky (clearly sometime after 1970), real women have been looking for a way to drop a hint of blue into their makeup routines. But blue eye liner can look current, and celebrities like Rihanna and Blake Lively are out to prove it. The key is to go blue on the lower lash line only while creating a bronze-hued smoky eye look on the upper lid.
To get the look, start by applying a cream shadow base on eye lids. Next, apply a cream shimmer from the lash line up to the crease. I like Julie Hewitt’s Shimmy in Cleo or Goldie ($22). Using a powder shadow in brown, bronze or gold create a “V” horizontally, with one line of the V on the lower lashes and the other line in the crease of lids.
Now it’s time to go blue; pick a hue that complements your eyes. Brown eyes look great with Turquoise liner applied to the lower lash line, like Make Up Forever’s (MUFE) Waterproof Eyeliner Pencil ($16) while blue eyes are complemented by MUFE’s Iridescent Navy Blue and green eyes pop with MUFE’s Blue With Green Highlights on the lower lash line. To finish the look, dab a touch of cream shimmer at the inner corner of the eye and blend it into the lower and upper lash line.
- Angelina Jolie’s Cat Eyes
Easy Cat Eyes
Celebs from Angelina Jolie to Taylor Swift have been rocking cat eyes of late, but this trend dates back to Audrey Hepburn, Brigette Bardot and beyond.
The easiest way to create cat eyes is to use a thin pencil liner to draw a very small line from the corner of your lower lash up towards your upper lash at an angle. Then, apply liner to the upper lash, essentially creating a triangle at the outer corner of the eye.
Now, using your liner and very precise strokes, simply finish lining the outer half of the upper and lower lash line with liner as thinly as possible.
Next, using a liquid liner, trace over the triangle you created, using small strokes, and apply to the upper lash line sparingly (if you wipe the liquid liner brush or applicator off with a tissue before using it, you’ll lessen the chances of making a mess with too much liner). Drying time is a must, so take 60 seconds to meditate — or curse yourself for being so adventurous with your makeup — while the liner dries.
More Eye Liner Tips & Tricks
-Always pull the skin taut with the one hand while applying eye liner with the other hand.
-Put away the black liner and opt for a dark brown liner instead which can me more flattering and more forgiving of small mistakes.
-Put eye makeup on before the rest of your makeup and use a Q-tip with eye makeup remover to clean up smudges. Once you’ve perfected your eyes, apply foundation, tint and or powder.
-Unless you are aiming for a dramatic look, liner should only be applied from the center of the lash line to the outer most corner of the lower lash line.
-To enlarge eyes, apply a dot of brown or black liner at the outer corner of eyes and a dot of iridescent crayon liner in white, gold, or silver at the innermost corner of eyes. Don’t smudge the outer eye liner; do smudge the inner eye liner.
