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When we can’t see your smile, your eyes are doing the talking
A lot of us are wearing masks in public right now to help bring the pandemic under control. This also means people are looking at your eyes more than they did a few months ago. Many of you are wondering how to accentuate your eyes and show them off—the right way. Here are my tips how to make your eyes pop, especially when wearing a mask.
Getting started: brows and lashes
Big, bold eyebrows are hot right now. The trend started before the pandemic, but has taken off like crazy since then. Before I think about eye shadow, liner, or mascara, I do my brows first.
I use a brow gel that accentuates and fluffs up my brows. Since our eyes are doing a lot of the talking right now, having expressive brows helps you get your point across. Here are Cara Delevingne and Emilia Clarke showing off some serious eyebrow skills:
Next are lashes. I’m always a fan of false eyelashes, and started using falsies to accentuate my eyes with my mask. When I’m in a hurry I do my brows and eyelashes and that’s it. Though I admit my falsies are pretty fabulous, so no makeup needed.
Now we come to your eyes with eye shadow and eyeliner. If you’ve skipped false eyelashes and trying to make your eyes pop, this is where color comes into play.
Color and a little color theory.
Making your eyes pop with bold colors
The secret to making your eyes pop with eye shadow is using colors and tones on the opposite side of the color wheel from your eye color. For blue eyes, look for more orangey tones mixed with brown. Not pumpkin orange, but colors with warmer tones to bring our the blue..
Here’s a handy chart to show color palettes for different eye colors:
When you look at the image, the top row are complementary colors—colors that complement your eyes. The bottom row are the opposing colors that make your eyes pop.
Bold colors can be scary and feel intense for people, but don’t be afraid of bold colors. You’ll notice each group of bold colors is a set of three. There is a bold color, a lighter color, and a middle color. The bold and lighter colors are blended with the middle, transition color. You’re not going for a giant smear of purple across your whole lid, you’re using a palette of three colors together to make a complete look.
One pro tip is using eye primer on your lids before you put on eyeshadow (especially these bolder colors). Eye primer creates a better surface for your eyeshadow to stick to and blocks the oil from your lids from making your colors crease. Eye primer is how you keep your great bold look great all day.
Some people might not be comfortable with that kind of bold makeup style, but there are still ways to bring in strong colors even if big eyeshadow looks aren’t your thing. Tinted mascara or bold eyeliner along your waterline will bring nice attention to your eyes, with less color.
With colors out of the way, how do you pick the right makeup? Here are the insider tips on picking the right makeup—and not break the bank.
Quality matters
Makeup is one of those things where buying good quality pays off in the long run. Good makeup lasts longer, has better colors, and goes on better. Eyeshadow should be pressed and solid, not powdery. If you put some shadow on your brush and you have a little dust cloud left behind—that’s not good makeup.
You don’t have to spend a fortune, but it’s worth it to spend a little more to get something good. One of the ways to stretch your makeup budget is look for sets and packs. A nice palette that goes from every day to smoky eye to bold and beautiful, gives you all the options you need. Sometimes these sets come with a nice brush and eye primer too (bonus!). Since it is the Holiday Season, gift sets are going to pop up. Buying a great gift set for yourself because you need to update your eye shadow color sets is smart money.
Get more than you bargained for at Nordstrom Rack
When you’re trying to stretch your budget and want to get high quality products, Nordstrom Rack is a good bet. You might have gone there for great deals on hot fashion, but did you know they carry makeup as well?
Here some great makeup sets to check out:
Download Moola for deals from Nordstrom Rack to save on all of your favorite mask friendly makeup looks!
