Any makeup is incomplete without a little attention to the eyes. A clever eye makeup not only makes you look like a million bucks, but also eliminates problem areas like thin lashes and dark circles. Eyeliners and false eyelashes accentuate the eyes and make it fuller. Big, small, wide, or hooded, these two pieces in your makeup kit can significantly add oodles of glamor to your look.

The one common concern many face is, what goes first – eyelash or the liner. Here are simple and easy-to-follow tips that will help you with this makeup mystery:

Invest in a good quality eyeliner –- liquid or pencil. While the former gives a clean finish, and is perfect if you have steady hands for application; the latter works well for beginners and for those who find it hard to finish with a clean line. Pick from solids or colors like green, blue, brown, silver, and so on depending on the occasion.

The other must-have is a pair of false eyelashes. Many leading brands offer a variety of shapes and colors to choose from, pick one that suits you the best. These eyelashes come with glue or you can scout local stores for ready-to-use variants.

If your false eyelash is wide, cut is slowly, one lash at a time. You can do the same to trim the length of the lashes. This will ensure that the lash looks natural and blended.

Follow it up with a gentle squeeze of glue on to the width of the band behind the eyelash, and spread it evenly. Don’t forget to wipe out the runny glue.

Now, pick the lash with tweezers and place it on your eye’s lash line. Don’t worry if you have not managed to get it right. Do it again, you will get better with practice. Once you have placed it, press and hold it for a few seconds till you’re sure it won’t come off. Use a mascara and comb out the lashes gently. This will blend the natural and false eyelashes and hold them together.

To finish the look, apply a soft coat of eyeliner to fill the gaps between the false lashes. Avoid applying a thick coat as this may reveal the false eyelash band. Draw a line along the outer rim of the eyelid. Try funky eyeliners or a winged eyeliner look to draw attention away from the false lashes.

The results are best when you follow these steps after a basic eye makeup. Now you are set to dazzle with a twinkle in your eyes!

To make the most of your eye shape, pay attention to the colors you choose and the application method you rely on. Try some of these tips to get the most out of your shape:

For Asian Eyes – Use black or black/brown eye liner to create a thick line along the top lashes. Blend gently for a smoky look and then apply a thinner line under the bottom lashes.

For Wide Eyes – Apply deeper shadows to the inner half of the lid and a lighter shades on the outer half. Then blend for a subtle transition between colors.

For Close Eyes – Go the opposite of the Wide Eye folks and apply the lighter shades to the inner half of the lid and the darker shades to the outer half. Always remember to blend!

For the Four-Eyed – Use a black, perhaps shimmering, mascara to really play up your eyes and bring them out from behind the glasses. Be sure to use an eyelash curler and two coats of mascara. Allow a few seconds for the mascara to dry completely before putting the glasses back on.

No matter what your eye shape, remember to play up the color as much as possible and use proper application techniques to make the most of your eyes.

Nothing is quite as frustrating as achieving the perfect look and then watching it fade throughout the day.  From eye liner to lip stick and everything in between seems to fall victim to midday smudging or fading.

If you find that your eyeliner and/or mascara smudges or runs halfway through the day, try reducing the amount of eye cream used in the mornings by half or leave a little space between where the eye cream is applied and where the eye makeup goes.

If your blush seems to disappear throughout the day, put a very thin layer of cream blush under your finishing powder and then top it off with a powder blush.

To keep lips in place and avoid feathering, always start with a lip liner.  Apply lip color, blot, lightly dust with face powder and finish with a gloss to add extra shine and moisture.

Trying these quick and easy tips will help keep that perfectly applied face in place all the live-long day.

Stay-Put Tips for Eye Make-up:   Looking great when you walk out the door is one thing, but looking great hours later can be quite a challenge some days.  One simple trick is to apply your eyeliner and then use a fine-tip brush to dust on an eye shadow that is almost the same color over the liner.

This will help keep the eyeliner from smudging or running throughout the day and will also helps to create that very popular smoky eye look.  To keep your eye shadow from creasing, put a few drops of contact lens solution on each eye lid before applying your favorite shadow colors.  The sodium chloride in the solution helps to retain moisture making eye shadow indestructible.

Those with deep, dark brown eyes have the freedom to enjoy, experiment, and enliven their eyes with all most any eye shadow color.  A spectrum of shades will enhance your eye color, so have fun trying them on!

To create some extra impact, give deep purples and navy blue colors a try instead of the usual black eye liner or mascara.  Contrast is the key to making your eyes stand out, so let go of the brown eye shadows that mimic your natural eye color.  Shades of mocha and cappuccino with a bit of shimmer will really stand out against your brown eyes.

However, just because you have the option to use every color in the rainbow, doesn’t necessarily mean you should.  Brown-eyed girls should take their skin tone into consideration when choosing eye shadow colors.  Talk with a color expert to find out what colors go best with your skin tone and then experiment away with all of the shade choices available to you.

Sometimes when we finish applying our makeup, our eyes just don’t have that special “oomph” that we wanted. They look small and unappealing, even with a fantastic makeup job otherwise. We could just invest in Asian circle lenses, which make the eyes seem larger, but that isn’t really a simple solution!

The biggest cause of your eyes looking smaller than they are is actually eyeliner along your bottom lash line. If you apply a dark color all the way across, it will make your eyes seem much smaller. To remedy this, only go halfway across, starting from the outside. When you get to the middle, stop and smudge it a little on either side. Instead of smaller eyes, it will seem to make them pop! They will look larger, and you will have a pretty smokey look.

We’re not done yet though! If you take a little bit of white or silver eyeliner or powder and dab it along that area that is left over, it will help give the illusion of your eyes being opened wider as well. Putting the same white shimmer directly under your eyebrows, very lightly, will do the same thing. It’s like magic!

For the next few weeks, I am going to talk about some of the products that I use on a regular basis. they are part of my daily make up routine which usually takes me only 5-10 minutes.

Today I will discuss my favorite eyeliner. I love the Cover Girl Perfect Point Plus eye pencil. My favorite color is #210 “espresso” which is a dark brown color. I find that it is not as harsh as using a black eyeliner.

It’s an auto loading pencil, so I don’t have to use a sharpener on it. It’s easy to blend and even has a built in sponge tip on the end of it to use for soft blending, which I love. The cover to protect the top stays on well, so it travels well in my purse.

It is a water soluble eye liner, so it doesn’t always last as long as I wish it would, especially if I’m sweating really hard like working out or dancing in a hot dance floor, but I figure if I’m that sweaty then what’s the difference anyway!

It’s also very comfortable which is important to me since I am also a contact lens wearer.

Here’s a video of a girl showing how to apply false eyelashes to your eyelid. Basically she recommends putting on your eyeliner and mascara first, then applying the glue to the false eyelash. Once it is tacky (sticky), then you can apply it to your eyelid. She finishes it with another swipe of eyeliner for a finished look. Pay careful attention to the instructions she gives for using tweezers to help apply the glue to the lashes and for repositioning the lashes at the corners.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_c0LI-gr64]

Sunglasses will help you in many ways, besides the obvious of just looking good in your shades!

It’s not a good idea to apply sunscreen on your eyelids or very close to your eyes since it can cause irritation in your eyes themselves. So, you need some way to protect this very delicate skin. Eye shadow can help to block some UV rays, but in direct sunlight, you really need much more than that.

Proper UV sunglasses will actually shield the skin around your eyes from UV radiation, which is what causes most sun damage in the first place. Even more importantly, sun glasses will help prevent you from squinting in bright outdoor light which is what can give you those age-telling “crow’s feet”. Continued squinting causes more wrinkles than almost anything next to smoking, or sun damage.

Not only will sun glasses help preserve the skin around your eyes, but you can certainly take that fashion step that makes you look good wearing them!

Sometimes when applying makeup, we aren’t getting the look that we want. You need a variety of makeup brushes that will help you achieve your goal. There are fluff brushes, angled brushes, shadow brushes and even bronzer or blush brushes. Be sure to tap off any excess makeup before applying it to your skin, when using just about any brush.

Brushes with natural horsehair or other natural hair instead of artificial bristles tend to hold onto the hairs better and shed less. The tips should be soft and very flexible.

Brushes are a good investment because you will use them for many years if you take care of them and keep them clean. They will be worth their weight in gold and you will more than get your money’s worth.

A local beauty supply store, or even the grocery store may have brushes that will suit your needs.