Eye Makeup Ideas

Basic Eye Makeup Kits
Most eye makeup assortments offer three basic shades or colors.

1. Highlighter:
The lightest shade, designed to bring out the areas it is applied to.
2. Mid Shade:
This shade should be closest to your natural skin color. It is the most subtle of the colors, but the most important.
3. Contour:
The darkest shade causes the area to recede.

Eye Makeup Ideas for Common Problems
Hooded Eyes
Stunning eyes look great.With a hooded eye, the lids look partly closed. So, to open up the eye, you can use makeup to minimize the eyelid.

Start by drawing more attention to your eyebrows. Ensure they are properly shaped and use them to entice interest upwards from the eyelid.
Cover the skin from the brow bone to the upper lash line with the highlight color.
Next apply the mid shade to most of the surface of the eyelid.
With the contour shade, brush on the outer half of the lid and up towards the brow.
Follow with a fine line of contour under the lower lashes.
This eye type really benefits from having eye makeup – either shadow or eyeliner - under the lower lashes.
When using eyeliner, also extend the line from the outer upper lashes slightly past the edge of the eye.

Droopy Eyes
As eyes age, they inevitably begin to droop. Although you can’t reverse the process, you can try the following eye makeup ideas to camouflage the problem.

Place highlighter on the area immediately under your eyebrow and completely cover the eyelid.
Apply the mid shade to the crease up towards the brow line.
Use the contour color on the outside corner of the upper lashes and brush up towards the crease slightly.
Also apply the contour shade along the entire lash line under the eye.
Other Ideas
Our article, Eye Makeup Tips, covers some other standard methods for transforming wide and close set eyes, prominent eyes, and techniques to help your eyes look big and bold. Check it out if you need more information on these types of eye makeup ideas.

Special Eye Makeup Tricks
Want to update your look or have a special evening out? The following eye makeup ideas will give you some inspiration.

Shimmer eye shadows add drama.
Curling your lashes, before applying mascara, instantly opens your eyes. Not only giving them a larger appearance, but also younger.
Set your eyebrows in place with a little hair gel and an old toothbrush.
Soften the harsh line of liquid liner with a dark eye shadow applied directly over the line and smudge it slightly.
If you get real fancy with your eye makeup, don’t overdo your lips. Pick one or the other to be particularly colorful with; otherwise you will tend to look overdone.
Utilize white eye shadow to brighten and enlarge the eye’s appearance. Simply apply it lightly around the outside of the eye, close to the lashes.
False eyelashes quickly spice up your look for a special occasion.
General Rules about Eye Makeup
Always keep your eye pencils sharp – ideally sharpen them before each use.
When short on time, simply apply the mid shade to your eyelid to give your eyes some pop.
The first spot where you place your pencil or makeup brush will get the most color.
Utilize concealer and powder over the entire eye area – under and over – to ensure a higher quality, longer-life appearance to your eye makeup.