Monday How-to: Back to basics: Eyes.

 So what's this eye makeup business all about? I keep throwing makeup terms at you guys, but haven't taken the time to explain to you exactly what I'm talking about when I say "lashline", "waterline", or "tightline", or how to blend eyeshadows and layer them to create makeup looks.


So let's get back to basics. Your lashlines (pic 1) are the outer line of your eyes, at the base of your lashes on the top and lower lid. When you're using eyeliner on the lashlines, aim for just above (as close as possible) the upper lashes, and just below (again, as close as possible) the lower lashes. You will see me apply pencils, liquids, gels and also occasionally eyeshadow (with an angled or pencil brush) to these areas.

Next, we have the waterline, which is literally the line at the edge of your eye where the moisture starts. If you very (VERY) gently pull down on your lower eyelid, you can easily expose the waterline. I prefer to apply pencil liners here, as most other products have the potential to "bleed" into the eye from here and cause an irritation.

Last of all, the tightline. The tightline is the upper-lid version of the waterline, and it can be really tough to get the hang of. I blink a lot when I'm tightlining, and it just makes a mess of things. I try to keep tightlining for really special looks, but you might find it works really well for you. Again, pencils work better on this line.

A few tips and tricks about liners and eye shapes. If you have large eyes, like I do (my grandmother used to call my brother and I "bald frogs" when we were babies, due to our general lack of hair and massive frog-like eyes), you can line all the way to the inner corner of your eye to make them appear smaller, or play up their size by only lining 2/3 of the way from the outside in, and use a light coloured shadow on the inner corner.
Similarly, if you have quite small eyes, try to avoid lining all the way to the inner corner, as this will just make your eyes look smaller. Use the 2/3 theory above with a light shadow on the inner corner to make them appear bigger. Also, don't overcrowd small eyes with massive false lashes. It will just make your makeup look heavy and "too much".

Now... eyeshadow. Basically, there aren't any "rules" when it comes to using shadow, but there are some guidelines for basic looks that help to bring it all together.

Guideline 1: BLEND! Invest in a fluffy eyeshadow blending brush. It's the best thing in my kit.

Guideline 2: Unless you're going for a specific look (like the sunset eye shown for reference), try to keep your colours in a similar palette, starting with the lightest colour on the inner corner and up into the browbone (shown in blue and yellow on the pic), then gradually blending out to the darker colours across the middle into the outer corner (the orange/red colours in the pic). The darkest colour should sit in a c (or backwards c, depending which eye you're doing) in the outer corner, and push up along the crease (browbone) line (red in the pic).

Guideline 3: Whilst we do want to play up our natural features as much as possible, let's try to keep them looking like our natural features. One such example is cut-crease makeup on single-lidded eyes. Unless you're a total expert at it, it's going to look a bit "not-quite-right". Same deal with overdrawing lips to make them appear larger. If you don't do it perfectly right (I am hopeless at it!), your lips look odd, and your makeup look (unless you're going for the blowup doll look ) will be ruined.

So that's about all the knowledge and advice I have for you about eye makeup basics. If you have some awesome knowledge, please leave it in the comments section for everyone else to learn!