Eye

A few sweeps of a cosmetic brush can transform your eyes from businesslike to flirtatious, from sexy to demure. With a combination of eye liner, eye shadow and mascara, you can transform your look in a few minutes.

Before you begin to add colour to your eye area, you could dab on a little concealer to cover any dark shadows under your eyes. You can also add a primer to your eyelids to help your eye shadow glide on smoothly and stay in place for longer.

Eye liners can be used to add definition to your eyes. You can either use an eye pencil or liquid liner, depending on your preference. Liquid liners tend to give a darker, heavier line around the eye.

Coloured eye shadows can help create dramatic effects around the eye area. You can use multiple shades of the same colour or contrasting colours to achieve different looks. The shades that you use around your eyes will depend partly on your natural colouring and partly on the results that you want to achieve.

Eye makeup brushes are shaped in a way that enables you to apply colour accurately and then blend shades together to create dazzling effects.

The final touch to enhance your eye area is to apply mascara to your eye lashes. There are a variety of formulations on the market that offer benefits in addition to colouring your lashes. You will need to decide whether you want to lengthen or thicken your eye lashes. Lengthening and thickening formulations contain ingredients that nourish and nurture your eye lashes, encouraging growth or giving the impression of fullness. Alternatively, you may be more concerned that the formulation is waterproof or will not clump when you apply it. If you find that your mascara clumps on application, you can use an eye lash comb to separate the individual lashes.

Mascara comes in a range of shades. While black tends to be the most popular option, brown/black can be more complementary for individuals with pale skin. If you have blue eyes, you could opt for a blue, plum or burgundy shade to enhance your natural eye colour.

When it comes to the end of the night and you want to take your eye makeup off, it is well worth using a specially formulated cleanser. Eye makeup is designed to stay in place despite constant blinking or tears. Your cleanser must have enough power to break down stubborn eye makeup while being gentle enough not to aggravate the sensitive eye area.