How To Get Eyes That Pop in Under 5 Minutes

I have always been intimidated by make-up. Foundation, blush, bronzer, multiple types of liners… How did women figure out how to apply this stuff? Not to mention the various forms it’s all available in. Did I want liquid? Powder? Stick? It was enough to cause my sixteen year old self to run screaming from the drug store. I didn’t even begin regularly wearing mascara until my mid-twenties when I started to notice the first wrinkles settling in on my face.

In the last couple of years I have finally begun to cautiously embrace the art of make-up application, aided by my youngest sister who is a professional stylist and make-up artist. Recently, she taught me how to apply eye shadow worthy of a night out on the town and today I’m going to share her tips with you.

Start out by applying your concealer, foundation, and bronzer or whatever products you typically use as your base. Next, apply copious amounts of powder beneath your eyes. This is a trick of the trade. When applying eye shadow, particularly dark colors, you may find you have lots of dust and flakes fall underneath your eyes, which later smudge when you attempt to wipe them away. This can cause your foundation to look uneven. By applying excess powder, you will easily be able to wipe the unwanted dust away with your brush later with no messy touch ups.

At this point, you should look like this, but with waxed eye brows:

You should select three colors for your eyes: a base color for your lid, a darker color for your crease, and a lighter color as a highlighter. The more dramatic the colors you pick, the more dramatic your final look will be.

Start by using your crease color to make a sideways “V” across the crease of your eyelid as shown below. An angled brush is a great choice for this step’s application.

Next, use a flat brush to lightly dust your chosen lid color across your eyelids. Once you feel you have applied enough, use a blending brush to blend the two colors together a bit. Do this in a circular motion working your way from the outside of your eye to the inside.

If you are going for a smokier look, use more of your crease color. Once your are done blending, it is time to apply your highlight. You can apply this with your finger to your brow bone and the corners of your eyes. When you’re done, it should look something like this:

You are now ready to dust off the loose powder applied at the beginning with a brush and hopefully any unwanted eye shadow will easily wipe away with it. Apply your mascara and voila! You’re done!

If you’re going for a subtler, daytime look, use softer, more neutral tones or, if glitter isn’t your thing, try matte shadows.

The entire application takes less than five minutes. Do you have any great make-up tips to share? I could still use a lot of help.

Amber Doty is the managing editor of Go Mighty, as well as a slightly eccentric wife and mother of two. Her interests include eating meals she had no hand in preparing, making formerly professional business meetings awkward, and perfecting the emotional outburst.  One day she hopes to travel to all seven continents, but for now she lives in North Carolina happily equidistant from the mountains and the beach. You can read more from Amber on her blog, The Daily Doty.