Eyes

Silly eighth-grade me, thinking I knew everything. I was so sure that eyeliner application would be one of those easy beauty skills to master. After all, I was a fairly artistic teen. I got Bs in both Calligraphy and Intro to Art. I mean really, how hard could it be?

Well…

Apparently, harder than I thought. To my surprise, the doodling I did all over my Pee-Chee folders did not adequately prepare me for proper eyeliner application, and my calligraphy class did not help me achieve flawlessly lined Elizabeth Taylor eyes.

Thank goodness this was before camera phones; otherwise, I’d probably have a folder filled with pictures of me looking like a hot mess in the forbidden purple Lancôme liner I covertly applied every day after I left the house.

The lines, so shaky… So uneven…

I wish I could go back and give 13-year-old Karen a few words of advice. If I could, I would tell her 1) to convince Mom to stop taking me to the $6 haircut place around the corner, because they could not cut wavy hair for sh*t; 2) I would also submit that triangle hair is completely unacceptable; and 3) I would end my future transmission with the following phrase: brace yo’self — not just for the onslaught of awkwardness that teenager-hood and puberty would bring, but also when you apply your eyeliner.

This might sound a little wackadoo, but hear me out. If you have trouble with shaky lines when you apply eyeliner, try bracing your body against something solid, like a table or wall.

Crisp, clean eye makeup requires some coordination, and propping my elbows on a table, or leaning against a wall, really helps to steady my hands.

It’s the same with photography.

When taking pics, even the slightest movement when you press the shutter button can introduce camera shake and blur.

Blurry pictures with photography, blurry lines with eyeliner.

Stand up for eye makeup!

Here’s another tip to try: if you usually apply your eye makeup while sitting down, give it a try standing up (or sitting down, if you usually stand up).

I’ve noticed that certain things are easier for me to apply, like liquid liner and false lashes, when I’m standing up. Weird, but true. 🙂

Welcome to Share a Tip Tuesdays! What’s a makeup or beauty tip you’d like to share? Eyeliner tips would be great, but if you have other makeup tips, I’d love to hear ’em, too!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

If you’re not ready to dive headfirst into plummy pools of mulberry wine on your eyes, no worries, boo-boo. It can some time to get accustomed to wearing bolder colors like purple.

What’s say we dip our toes into the deep end with something a little less daring, like this uncomplicated eye look guest starring khaki and gold? 🙂

Khakis are great gateway shades to ease the transition from neutrals to more colorful shadows.

In this look we’re about to do today (you’re ready, aren’t you?), you get a pinch of green — just enough to capture an onlooker’s attention. Don’t worry. We’re not talkin’ about a flashy disco shade like a kelly green or opulent emerald.

And with khakis, if you ever feel like you’ve gone overboard with color, you can always mix them with golds, bronzes and browns to tone them down, which is what we’re going to do now.

Okay now where the heck did I put my gold eyeliner…?

Aha! There it is. I’ll be using MAC Powerpoint Eye Pencil in Handforged, as well as a light khaki eyeshadow, a darker khaki eyeshadow and a black eyeliner.

Today, I thought I’d draw from Dior’s All-In-One Palette in Khaki Design ($59), which is new for fall, for the shadows and liner.

Now, it always pays to have the right tools for the job, and in this case I’ll be using a domed blending brush (the MAC 217), a tapered blending brush (the MAC 224), a flat eye shadow brush (the MAC 239) and an angled eye brush (the legendary MAC 266).

If you don’t have these exact same colors, shh…don’t tell anyone, but it doesn’t really matter. 🙂 Use something similar from your makeup bag, or heck, something different if you aren’t a big fan of khaki and bronze.

Let’s get started!

Apply a gold base on your lids

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As Usher so famously said, “These are my confessions.” 🙂

I have three of them today…

1. I’ve been bopping in my chair all afternoon to this song by Canadian singer, Lights

So catchy!

2. My obsession with Jeremy Renner just reached critical mass…

…and it’s all because of Jeremy Renner’s Arms.

I found out today that his (J-Ren’s) family is from Modesto, which is only about 100 miles East of here.

I’m tempted to drive out there next weekend and walk around downtown yelling, “JER-eh-MEEEEEEEE! I LUUURVE YOU!”

3. I used to be utterly dumbfounded by purple eyeshadow

I just couldn’t figure out what to do with it (this was back when I mostly wore browns and beige), and whenever I tried to wear it, blech! — I looked like the loser in a barroom brawl.

But I’ve never given up on purple, because I like it too much to throw in the towel.

In fact, just this last weekend I gave it another try, setting my sights on something easy and wearable (been burned too many times before), and this is what I came up with…

Fun! 🙂 I kinda like the way it turned out.

I’m wearing a brown matte shadow over a shimmery golden beige base with a flash of purple on the lids. I think the thin line of black liner along the upper lash line gives the look some extra depth and makes my lashes look a little thicker, while the shimmer in the inner corners opens up the eyes.

Why purple?

Well, why not? Purple shadows can really do a lot for your eye color. I think they can be super pretty with brown, hazel, green, blue and gray eyes.

I know they can be a little scary, especially if you usually stick to neutral shades, but fear not! This look here is actually pretty wearable. When the eyes are open, you mostly see the brown, but when you blink, there’s a pretty flash of purple.

Could be a good look for a casual (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) Friday.

Plus, it’s not that time consuming or difficult. No heavy duty blending, and the whole eye should take between 10-15 minutes.

First things first

Let’s pull together our ingredients for this little recipe (I’ve been watching a lot of cooking shows lately)…

Here I’m using a few different products from Urban Decay, MAC, Bobbi Brown and Dolce & Gabbana, but nothing here is irreplaceable. Please mix and match with any brands you have on hand or swap out colors that you feel better suit you.

Clockwise from the purple pan on the left: Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Flash, MAC Eyeshadow in Vex, MAC Paint Pot in Bare Study, MAC Eyeshadow in Soft Brown, Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Eye Pencil in Jet, MAC 219 Pencil Brush, MAC 239 Eye Shader Brush, MAC 217 Blending Brush, Dolce & Gabbana Blending Brush, MAC 266 Small Angle Brush

Starting with your shimmery golden beige shadow (or similar shade)…

Sometimes my lids are like a Chevron refinery (read: oily). When they are, I start by priming them. In this look, after priming, push a shimmery golden beige cream shadow like MAC Paint Pot in Bare Study on your lids and into the crease with a finger, and use your fingers to blend out the edges.

That’s RGB Nail Polish in Minty on my nails
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It took about two seconds today for my afternoon photo shoot to devolve into this…

And then this…

LOL! Yeah (I’ll spare you the other 12).

Despite all appearances, these pics do more than merely document the fact that I’m way too easily amused. They also help us segue into talking about brows. 🙂

BROWS!

They’ve been on my mind more than usual lately… First, because they’re all over the promotional pics for this year’s fall makeup campaigns, and second, because of super-spy/former makeup artist Jeremy Renner.

Yes, the new Jason Bourne (or at least, another member of the Treadstone Project).

“Brows, lashes, lips.” Jeremy advises. “Frame the face.”

Also, my friend Cindy asked me a brow-related question while we prepped homemade pasta last Saturday night.

“Where should my brows start, and where should they stop?”

Great question, Chef Cindy! It’s something I think about every day as I’m filling in my brows.

Finding your brow start point

The easiest trick I know of is to take a makeup brush (or a pen/pencil if you don’t have a brush nearby; just be careful not to poke your eye out!), look directly into a mirror, and hold the brush vertically, straight up and down, and parallel with the length of your nose, resting it in the nook where your nostril begins.

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