Cara – my bug-eyed beauty inspiration and imaginary best friend
The most common cosmetic complaint from women must surely be a desire for bigger eyes, right? From the hottest K-Pop stars to your office cubicle colleague, making your eyes look larger is a major makeup endeavour. Here then are five easy steps from yours truly to cheating your way to bigger eyes – and because I’ve made it a personal mission of mine to make facepainting a fun prospect, I promise this will be an amusing affair!
First, a very brief explanation. The following eye-popping look is a naughty little secret I’ve gleaned from going incognito and observing the fabulous folks at various cosmetics counters doing their thing on “real” women. Sure, it’s a tad theatrical, but it takes just five products and 20 minutes to pull off, tops, and the payoff is just phenomenal – your peepers will never look bigger or bolder:
RMK Ingenious Eyeshadow Base and RMK Eyeshadow Brush B
STEP 1. I’m going on the assumption you’ve got your eye cream essentials down pat. Once your lids are plump and primed, pick up a pea-sized amount of primer and dot it over and under the lid to create a clean canvas. Try RMK’s Ingenious Eyeshadow Base, a champagne cream paste which is just incredible at ironing out creases and stamping out shadows under the eye.
Yves Saint Laurent Beauté Couture Palette in #03 Afrique
STEP 2. On to the fun bit. Seize a soft shadow brush – I’m loving RMK’s revamped Eyeshadow Brush B for its superb smudging skill, although any paddle-shaped device will suffice – and swirl all of the caramel colours in your go-to neutral quad together. Buff this multidimensional nude over your entire lid; like most everything these days, a custom concoction edges out using a single shade of boring beige. Just one wash is plenty, particularly if you’re using a top taupe from Yves Saint Laurent Beauté’s new Couture Palette collection.
Shiseido Shimmering Cream Eye Color in PK 214
STEP 3. Hurry along now, I did promise you this would take 20 minutes. Right then. On to a nice highlighter; I adore Shiseido’s Shimmering Cream Eye Color for this purpose. Using clean fingers to scoop a smidgen straight from the pot, deftly dab onto the triangle-shaped wedge at the inner corners and below your brow bone.
Accenting your eyes with a touch of highlighter is one of the easiest and highest-impact trick in the beauty book: The glimmering effect as light falls on your face masks fatigue and gives the illusion of wider, bigger peepers. Useful beauty tip: If you have bone-dry skin, avoid the crepey outer corners of your lids – highlighting formulas quite literally highlight creases and crinkles.
Shiseido Luminizing Satin Eye Color Trio in BL215 Static
STEP 4. If there are two things you should take away from this tutorial, this is one: Swoop on down to your nearest Shiseido cabin and demand to inspect the new Luminizing Satin Eye Color Trio in Static for yourself. There must be sorcery involved in this pan, because the trio of pale pastels are an entirely different symphony when swatched onto the skin. Use all three hues together as a translucent finishing glaze over the entire lid.
Dior Addict It-Lash Fabulous Impact Vibrant Colour in 279 It-Blue
STEP 5. Now for the coup de grâce (and the second key takeaway). Brace yourselves, babes: Into the blue we go. Crimp your lashes, then cloak each strand with an electric cerulean courtesy of the divine Dior Addict It-Lash in It-Blue. Why blue? Only because it’s the de facto shade if you’re looking to brighten the whites of your eyes, with the entirely welcome benefit of bestowing drama in spades.
I can only speak for myself when I say this is the best blue mascara out there, bar none: The latex gel formula grabs onto fine hairs like no other, and I’ve spent an embarrassing amount of time just admiring the prickly cactus-shaped club of the wand. One coat each on the upper and lower lashes are plenty; do two if you’re plucky.
One final trick before I sign off: Nudge the wand to give an upwards “push” at the corner lashes for a lifted, doe-eyed effect. Voila! Blue bedroom eyes that will leave suitors in a saucer-eyed stupor. See? So much mirth to be made with makeup. Have fun!
Dior Addict It-Lash Fabulous Impact Vibrant Colour in 279 It-Blue, $49, is available at the Dior Backstage Studio at B2-44/46 ION Orchard and at all Dior counters. For more information, visit www.dior.com/beauty and follow the brand on Facebook.
RMK Eyeshadow Brush B, $42, and Ingenious Eyeshadow Base, $33, are available at all RMK counters. For more information, visit www.rmkrmk.com/global and follow RMK Singapore on Facebook.
Shiseido Shimmering Cream Eye Color in PK214, $32, and Luminizing Satin Eye Color Trio in BL215, $51, are available at all Shiseido counters. For more information, visit www.shiseido.com.sg and follow the brand on Facebook.
Yves Saint Laurent Beauté Couture Palette in #03 Afrique, $95, is available at all YSL Beauté counters and at the YSL Beauté store at #B2-34 Ion Orchard. For more information, visit www.ysl.com and follow the brand on Facebook and Twitter.