Eyeliner

Pencil – The most commonly used eyeliner, always, always, always (did I mention, always?) test pencil liners on your hand. You need to make sure they arent scratchy on the skin and the colour is vibrant. How hard do you have to push down to draw? What kind of pigment (intensity of colour) does it have? Is it really dry and scratchy on the skin? Now think of these answers and your precious eyes.
Your eyes are really sensitive so go for creamy, softer pencils that don’t require you to push down hard on your eye area or hurt when you draw the pencil across your lid. Also, check that it doesn’t smudge too much on your hand. Eyeliner half way down your face is not an attractive look… Panda eyes anyone?
Here’s another thing to think about. Is the pencil easy to sharpen? Don’t end up with an eyeliner graveyard in your bottom bathroom drawer, filled with oddly shaped or oversized pencils that don’t fit into a pencil sharpener. Eye pencils should be sharpened every time you use them. Depending on the look, The Makeup Muse likes to use a stiff angled brush over the top of the pencil to soften the line a little.
Eye pencils come in an amazing array of colours and textures and are a great way to experiment with colour. Try neutral eye shadows with a brightly coloured liner like teal green or violet for an eye-popping effect.

Muse Pick: Urban Decay Eye Pencils (around) $25 (eBay)

Liquid – Ahhh, the hardest of them all to master, grasshopper! Some brands have a great applicator with a stiff brush that makes it that little bit easier to apply. Don’t try to pull off drawing a single line of liquid eyeliner – not even makeup artists do this! Instead, apply small lines or dashes as close to the lash line as possible, while making sure your eyelid is pulled taut towards your temple with your finger. Liquid liner is great for ‘the flick’ where the liner is flicked out at the outer corner of the lashes.

Cake/Shadow – Did you know that most of your eye shadows can be used as eyeliner? Well, they can! Good quality, strong pigmented shadows can be turned into liquid form simply by adding a few drops of water or transformer. You can use your favourite shadow or get specifically designed ‘cake’ shadows/liners for this purpose.

If you’re using a shadow, a good technique to use is to scrape some out of the palette to add the liquid, rather than straight onto the entire shadow. That’s because some shadows aren’t designed to be mixed with water and can lose their texture. So, just add water to that little bit you’ve scooped out so you don’t spoil your pretty shadows. Add just a drop or two and wet your stiff angled brush or push brush. Dip into the shadow or cake and move the brush around to coat the end with product. Do a few test lines on the back of your hand to make sure you have the right consistency, which should be quite wet but with good intensity. Remember, that’s the measure of colour. Pow! Then, use your brush just like you’d use the liquid eyeliner.

Muse Pick: Face Atelier Transforming Gel $32 (www.themakeupmuseshop.com.au)

Eye Shadows

Eye shadows come in so many textures and colours that it can be hard to decide which ones to pick! If you’ve ever checked out the M.A.C counter at Myer, you’ll know what we’re talking about. Cast your peepers over the ‘Colours’ section of the site to get an idea of which colours might suit you. Try to look for shadows with good pigmentation or intensity to ensure the colour lasts and doesn’t look washed out by the end of your day or night.

Dry shadows – Dry shadows can be loose or pressed. Use a medium-headed brush to sweep colour over the eyelid as a base colour. A smaller brush is good to pat the shadow into eyelid and creates a good intensity of colour. When smoking out colours (that’s makeup artist speak for creating that smouldering smokey eye), try to use a domed contour bush. This will make it much easier to blend and ensure the right amout of coverage. See ‘brushes’ for more info.

Muse Pick: Face Atelier Eye Shadow $24 (Makeup Artists & Co)
Muse Pick: $ 72 Colour Palette (eBay)

Cream/paint shadows – Great as a base, cream or paint shadows give the other shadows you use something to stick to. The only downside is that they can crease up on the eyelid over the course of the day. Use a synthetic brush to apply cream or paint shadows or simply use the pad of your finger to smooth them on.

Muse Pick: Yaby Paints US$110 for a palette (Cameraready Cosmetics)

Lashes

Where would we be without the powerful, fluttering effect of lashes luciously coated with mascara? Making every girl’s eyes ‘pop’, mascara is one of those products that really is a personal choice. You have to try different mascaras to see if they do what you want them to do. Think luxuriously thick, elegantly long or lashes curled to perfection.

Waterproof mascaras are great for special events (or swimming when there are hotties around!) but they tend to be more difficult to remove. So for everyday wear you might want to stick to a non waterproof version. Different mascaras claim to do different things, like lengthen, thicken, prime and, some, all of the above! Generally, black will make your eyes stand out the most but if you’re quite fair and prefer a more natural look then brown may be the better choice for you.
Apply mascara to your top lashes from underneath by zigzagging back and forth as close to the lash line as possible and then pulling up and out. For a more dramatic look, coat the topside of your upper lashes as well in the same way. Depending on the look you’re after, you may want to coat the bottom lashes – do this very gently, just touching the lashes with the mascara wand.

And the number one mascara rule? Curl your lashes before whipping out your wand. For those who don’t curl their lashes, start. Pronto!

Muse Pick: Maybelline Great Lash Mascara $13 (Priceline)
Muse Pick: Face Atelier Sculpt Mascara $34 (www.themakeupmuseshop.com.au)

Eye Primer

Once you see what eye shadow primer can do, you will be addicted! (My name is The Makeup Muse and I’m a Primer-holic.) Apply primer after you have concealed the eyes (some can be used as a concealer as well). Pat into the lid and blend out. Wait a moment for it to dry and then apply your eye shadow as normal. The primer will give the eye an even, finished canvas for shadows to be applied. It also gives the shadows something to stick to, preventing them from moving and spreading shadow everywhere, or creating creases around the eye socket.

Muse Pick: Urban Decay Eye Shadow Primer Potion $20-$30 (eBay)