E Y E O F T H E B E H O L D E R
Believe it or not, there’s a science to beautiful eyes. We’ve got makeup artist tips and tricks to make your best asset brilliant and bewitching.
Hair & Makeup: Juno Pchelkina / Photography: Kenza Le Bas / Styling: Chloe Machin
The science of choosing colours that will enhance your eyes is based on the same principle as the artist’s colour wheel. Celebrity Makeup Artist Dale Dorning explains: “I always tend to determine eye shadow match by looking at the colour wheel and choosing the colour that sits opposite to the eye colour,” he says. “Using this technique, you can make your shadow and eye colour work for you by making the whites of the eyes whiter and making the actual eye colour stand out!”
The two colours, side by side, intensify one another instead of competing. The colour wheel is the easiest way to select eyeshadows that will make any eye colour pop!
Baby Blues
- Complement: Shades of grey, blue and turquoise
- Contrast: Shades of orange, pink, peach,violet and purple
- Smoky Eye: Charcoal, black, gold or brown
Gorgeous Green
- Complement: Shades of brown, dark green, copper and gold
- Contrast: Shades of apricot, peach and chocolate
- Smoky Eye: Deep purples, plums and metallics
Brown Eyed Girl
- Complement: Shades of green, yellow and molten brown
- Contrast: Sorbet and gelato inspired shades of purple, blue and green
- Smoky Eye: Navy blue, charcoal, khaki and olive green
Heavenly Hazel
- Complement: Shades of olive and emerald green, gold and orange
- Contrast: Shades of cinnamon, warm gold, taupe, violet, purple and grey
- Smoky Eye: Dark green, khaki, charcoal, chocolate and black
Tips & Tricks
As a general rule, lighter colours and shadows will help to open up the eyes and darker colours will diminish and make areas recede, making them perfect for creating contours. “For a barely there eye look, use your middle finger to pat a crème eye shadow in a dusty rose shade all over the lid, up to the brow bone,” says Dorning. “My other favourite is a wash of lavender all over the lid, up to the crease. Work a bronze eye pencil into the top and bottom lash line and follow with two coats of mascara.”
#Browsonfleek
A well-shaped brow can make you look younger and fresher, it can slim your face and widen your eyes. The look-of-the-moment is full and naturally defined: something that will never go out of style.
When you first took a set of tweezers in your fifteen-year-old hands and attacked your face fur, (yep, I’m talking to you) I bet you never thought that there would be an entire industry dedicated to the pursuit of brow-fection. But, praise be to the beauty gods, there is. Everyone should have their brows tended to by a consummate professional at least once. Experts design eyebrows to suit each individual face. “Techniques like tinting, threading and individual brow extensions can work beautifully if they’re used conservatively,” says Mala McAlpin of Richmond’s Lash & Brow Boudoir. “Extensions
are great for sparse or thin brows, especially while growing them back.”
Of course not everyone can spare the time or cash for a professional shaping once a month, so if you’re managing your own upkeep between salon visits, Makeup Artist Helen Samaryan has some words of advice: “Don’t overdo it. Less is more.”
For red carpet worthy brows at home, Samaryan recommends keeping in mind that every brow is different and should be defined as such. “Don’t go crazy with brow pencil!” she begs. “A little product goes a long way. Make sure you’re not overdrawing your natural eyebrow too much, as it will look unnatural and harsh. Fill in any gaps in the brow, define the shape if needed and finish by brushing the hairs into place with a little brow wax or gel.”
If you’ve applied foundation first, use a cotton tip dipped in makeup remover to ensure there’s no foundation on your brows: it can affect their colour and will stick the hairs to your face. Using a combination of pigmented wax and powder can assist in filling bare patches, adding fullness, definition and hold.
And if you’re among the #brokenhearted who have, at one time or another over-plucked their brows in the name of fashion: fear not! There are ways and means of growing them back.
“Try using a lash growth serum on your eyebrow area,” suggests Samaryan. “A few months of looking like a cave woman can bring a lifetime of gorgeous brows.”
Hair & Makeup: Loni Hale at Factor Artists / Photography: Bryan Whitely
