EyE opEning bEauty
Wake up your make-up with some no-surgery eye opening tricks. We reveal what the right techniques and products can do for your peepers.
They say eyes are the window to your soul but, if your panes have become a little hazy with age, it’s time to make them sparkle again. When droopy eyelids, crow’s feet or fine lines make an appearance, there’s no need to give up your pencils and shadows and shut your eyes to the world of make-up. Quite the opposite in fact, as cosmetics for the over-forties can transform peepers to dramatic effect. “Eye make-up is practically magic - it can lift, sculpt and dramatise,” says Sandy Linter, celebrity make-up artist and co-author of new book Makeup Wakeup. “Take an extra five minutes in the morning to do your eye make-up - it will give you an extra boost all day long.” The right make-up can give you a polished look and add definition to your face, all important when you feel like things are heading south. So forget plans for Botox or facelifts and cheat your age using no-surgery make-up tricks instead. This is one eye-catching transformation you don’t want to miss.
Parade your peepers If you’re still slapping on the same make-up products used in your late-twenties, it’s time to go shopping for new essentials. Linter recommends good eye brushes, a magnifying mirror and about eight products including eye primer base, a densely pigmented black or dark brown eye pencil, powder eyeliner or gel liner, pale lid shadow, crease shadow, eyelash curler and mascara. Once you have the kit, you’re equipped for her step-by-step techniques for anti-ageing eye make-up: 1) Do your eyes before any face make-up - even concealer. Doing eyes first will make your foundation look fresher.
2) Always apply eye primer to prevent your make-up from feathering and creasing. Primer needs to go on before anything else - it preps your lids from lash line to the hollow. 3) Use a densely pigmented eye pencil in black or dark brown - this means the colour is concentrated. Test liners on the back of your hand, the pencil should glide on intensely without smearing but shouldn’t be too dry or slippery either. 150