Eye Corrections, or, Fixing Your Face.

Following in the stride of my post on lip corrections, we now embark on the journey for the perfect eye. It may seem like a daunting task, but it really is simple if you know what you're doing.

First things first - there's no such thing as the perfect eye. It all depends on our own personal taste and facial structure. What may work for one person with wide-set eyes may not work for another; same goes for any other eye category. Eye shapes aside, in this post we will be discussing four different eyes and how to correct them. Note: the title headings are the eye type we're correcting, that is, for the section on narrow eyes, we are making the eyes seem further appart.

Narrow Eyes

Widening the eyes is probably the most common practice in makeup today - this is the look that most, not everyone, will be going for. Widening the eyes is a matter of drawing attention to the outer corners and leaving the inner corners open and bright.  To make the eyes appear wider:

1. Prime the eye.
2. Highlight under the brow and in the inner corner.
3. Apply your medium-neutral shade over the lid.
4. Starting in the outer corner, work your dark-neutral color into the crease about two thirds into the eye with a pencil brush. (MAC 219)
5. Blend this line upwards and outwards, working in circular motions in the outer corner of the eye. (MAC 217)
6. Apply your darkest shade to the outer corner of the eye and about a quarter of the way up the crease. (MAC 219)
7. Blend this out as before. (MAC 217)
8. Line the bottom lash line as close to the lashes as possible with your favorite black eye kohl.
9. Line the upper lashes with your favorite liquid or gel liner. Make the line as thin as possible in the inner corner and slowly decrease the thickness as you approach the outer corner.
10. Apply mascara. Focus on the outer lashes - don't apply mascara to the inner fourth of your lashes.

Wide Eyes

While this is generally not a preferred look, many women out there have very wide-set eyes. The solution is exactly the opposite of correcting narrow-set eyes - drawing attention to the inner corners while leaving the outer corners open. To make the eyes seem closer together:

1. Prime the eye.
2. Highlight under the brow
3. Apply your medium-neutral shade over the lid.
4. Starting in the middle, work your dark-neutral color into the crease, ending about one fourth from the outer corner of the eye. (MAC 219)
5. Blend this line upwards and inwards, working in circular motions in the middle and inner corner of the eye. (MAC 217)
6. Apply your darkest shade to the middle of the crease. (MAC 219)
7. Blend this out as before. (MAC 217)
8. Line the bottom lash line as close to the lashes as possible with your favorite black eye kohl, then line the inner corner of the lower water line.
9. Line the upper lashes with your favorite liquid or gel liner. Make the line thinner in the outer corner, and thicker in the middle and inner corner of the eye..
10. Apply mascara.

Small Eyes

This is generally a preferred look. This technique works by giving the illusion of moving the lash line, thus making the eyes seem bigger or smaller. To make the eyes appear bigger:

1. Prime the eye.
2. Highlight under the brow and in the inner corner.
3. Apply your medium-neutral shade over the lid.
4. Starting slightly above the outer corner, work your dark-neutral color into the crease about two thirds into the eye with a pencil brush. Draw your crease slightly higher than where it normally is. (MAC 219)
5. Blend this line upwards and outwards, working in circular motions in the outer corner of the eye. (MAC 217)
6. Apply your darkest shade slightly above the outer corner of the eye and about a quarter of the way up the crease. (MAC 219)
7. Blend this out as before. (MAC 217)
8. Line the bottom lash line as close to the lashes as possible with your favorite black eye kohl.
9. Line the lower waterline with a white eye kohl. If your eyes are slightly yellow, use a flesh-tone pencil instead of a white one.
10. Tight line the upper lash line with your black eye kohl.
11. Using your favorite black liquid or gel eyeliner, line the upper lash line as thinly as possible.
12. Apply mascara. On the bottom lashes especially, only apply color to the ends of lashes.

Large Eyes

Yet again, this probably isn't the look most of us out there will be going for. However, there are people who's eyes may need a bit of diminishing. To make the eyes appear smaller:

1. Prime the eye.
2. Highlight under the brow
3. Apply your medium-neutral shade over the lid.
4. Starting in the middle, work your dark-neutral color into the crease, ending about one fourth from the outer corner of the eye. Work the color slightly down from the crease and onto your lid.(MAC 219)
5. Blend this line into the crease using circular motions focused on the middle of the eye. (MAC 217)
6. Apply your darkest shade to the middle of the crease. (MAC 219)
7. Blend this out as before. (MAC 217)
8. Line the lower water line with your favorite black eye kohl. Make sure you fully line the inner corner and tear duct. 
9. Thickly line the upper lashes with your favorite liquid or gel liner.
10. Apply mascara.

As always, follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, and visit my homepage at jaydhagberg.com.

White Christmas, or, Make Up For Ever's 00

Here's some swatches of an eye shadow that I use all the time, but almost never for what one would use a white eyeshadow for.
Make Up For Ever 00
As you can see in the photo below, I'm hitting pan on this one. However, I rarely use this one on beauty clients. "Why?" one might ask. Because it's white, that's why. And I mean white; true bone chilling white. This shade doesn't work well as a highlight color for the eyes because it's so white. Also, as you might be able to see in the photograph, it's a bit chalky, and doesn't translate well on its own.
However, this is a favorite shadow of mine in drag and theatrical makeup to set white cream makeup, such as Ben Nye's Clown White around the eyes. Many queens and performers use Ben Nye's Super White to do the same job on their eyes along with the rest of their face. This is messy business as it is a loose powder that tends to clump in eyelashes and generally get everywhere.

The merits of matte.

This is a HUGE pet peeve of mine as a make-up artist. Todays rant is brought to you by:

SHIMMER EYESHADOW



Now, I know what you’re all thinking. “He’s a queen, what could he ever have against glitter? I was under the impression he live, eats, breathes, and poops that stuff.” That may be true, however the real girls out there, especially those from the land of Caucasia, need to learn to embrace mattes, and when to and when not to indulge in those gorgeous shimmer shadows you find rampant at just about every cosmetics counter in the world. Allow me a few moments to take you through some basic concepts.

Firstly, let us discuss why we wear eyeshadow. Eyeshadow, paired with a multitude of other eye-related cosmetics, serves to define, contour, and draw attention to the eyes. Now you might think, “Hey, glitter is eye-catching; it’s SPARKLY! Doesn’t this draw attention?” To answer that question, yes, yes it does, but not for the right reasons. The aim isn’t to simply draw attention to the eyes, but to accentuate and make them appear their biggest, brightest, and most well-proportioned. 

Secondly, I want you all to stop and think next time you’re shopping for cosmetics. I know that powder in that pan looks like molten gold and sunshine and rainbows, but how will it look on you? There are several factors that one should take into account when they’re thinking about which of these colors to get. One of the most important is color. A good rule of thumb is to lean towards colors opposite the color wheel from your natural eye color, so as to accentuate your eye’s color and make them seem brighter and more vivid. RobertJonesBeauty on YouTube has a fantastic video explaining this concept here. Go watch it now. I’ll wait. 

Another important factor, and the focus of this rant, is finish. Now there are many different finishes marketed by many different brands, but they all really boil down to three: shimmer, satin, and matte. Glitter is something different all together, but for the sake of arguments, we will group it in the shimmer category. 

SHIMMER
Shimmer eyes shadows are just that; shimmery. They sparkle and glitter and are all sorts of pretty. These shades are GREAT for the lid. They add interest and dimension to the lid and high points of the eye. 

SATIN
Satin finishes sit comfortably in between shimmer and matte shades. They don’t sparkle so much as shine slightly. These shades are great on the lid, as well as used as a brow highlight.

MATTE
Oh glorious matte, how wonderful thou art. They’re just what they sound to be; matte. No sparkle. No shine. Just velvety rich color. This is the finish that you need blended into your crease. Shimmer or satin finishes will help define the crease, but when the light catches their shiny-ness, all your work will be for nothing and your eyes will turn to two un-shapley rice balls of glitter. Another point I wish to make, is how you can create a gorgeous look entirely out of matte colors, whereas an all shimmer look is hard to work. 

Thusly, I implore you to go out and get matte colors back into your collection. If you do one thing, get a good matte brown, a few shades darker than your skin tone. Blend it into the crease with a Mac 217 or similar brush and voila, instant definition! Favorites of mine include Cork and Espresso by Mac, as well as Raisin by Ben Nye. You will thank me later.

Lastly I’d like to include a formula for a great eye. It’s not so much a tutorial, because I won’t be including specific shades and colors, but it’s a set of guidelines that will never let you down. I should stress now that these are guidelines: make-up has no rules. So if you want to ignore everything I’ve just said, be my guest!

Step 1: Apply a shimmer shadow of your choice all over the lid. Pay attention to the color concepts mentioned above, but anything goes really!

Step 2: Using a matte neutral color eyeshadow blend out the edges and into the crease. Apply heavier to the outer corner and smoke out slightly in circular motions. 

Step 3: Using a satin shade no more than two shades lighter than your natural skin tone, highlight under the brow bone. Use this same shade in the inner corner of the eye.

Line, mascara, and voila! Instant wearable eye.