The Art Of Makeup

A series by Jim Bridges

Part 2

Last issue we discussed the proper selection and application of eyeshadow.
Once you are satisfied with your eye shadow scheme, and you have both eyes
even, you can go on to the next step: liquid eye liner applied to the top lid.

The reason we use a liquid eye liner on the top lid is to make a sharp, crisp
line. This makes the eye project. Another reason to use a liquid liner on the
top is that the skin on the lid is so delicate, if you drag a pencil across
that top lid you will stretch the lid and your going to cause early wrinkles.
The skin can't take that kind of stretching. Another reason I suggest using
liquid liner on the eye is that you apply it right to the base of the eye
lashes and it gives an illusion of having much thicker and more luxurious
eyelashes. If you try this you will be amazed at how much more eyelash it
looks like you have before you even apply your mascara.

You don't want to use liquid eyeliner under the lower lashes because a sharp
line there would give a very hard look. On the lower lid we will use a pencil
so that we can smudge it with a Q-tip and give it a very soft look. Now to do
this we start at the outside corner and you bring your eyeliner brush right at
the very base of the eyelashes. There is a little indentation at the base of
the eyelashes and if you actually let your brush rest on the eyelashes you can
just slide this across very carefully, from the outside corner to the inside
corner. You don't need to exaggerate or extend it on the outside corner. That
is a very dated Cleopatra look. Unless you are going for something that is an
exaggerated look or something that you might be doing as a character, then
don't extend it to the outside. Normally, for just a fashionable look it's
from the outside of the eye to the inside. You want the line to be thicker on
the outside of the eye, this gives an illusion of lifting the eye and giving
it more of an almond shape to the eye.

If you have no experience in working with the liquid eyeliner and you feel a
little intimidated with it, one of the best ways to practice and get a feel is
to experiment without eye makeup. If you will take just 15 minutes, twice a
week. You will be able to master this in no time at all. The best way to do
this is to just lock yourself in the bathroom and without any eye makeup,
stand very close to the mirror, hold your head back and look down, keeping the
eye open. This way you can rest that brush right on those eye lashes and slide
it across. If you make a mistake, have a damp Q-tip there, so you can
immediately correct your mistake or just take it off entirely. Even if you
have done it correctly, have a damp Q-tip there, so that you can take it off,
do it again, take it off and in a matter of 15 minutes you'll be able to do
that one eye about 20 times. It really isn't as difficult as it sounds. It
just takes practice, like everything else.

Alright, once you get that liquid eyeliner down and you feel comfortable with
that, the next step is your pencil liner to use under the lower eyelashes.
This time we start from the outside corner coming to the inside corner. You
don't need to exaggerate that line, but you do want to make that line thicker
on the outside and thinner as it goes inward. You want to bring your pencil
about three quarters of the way in and then smudge it softly with a Q-tip. You
never want to bring the line all the way across to the inside because this
closes up the eye. Rather than making the eye larger, it makes the eye
smaller.

There is a misconception that lining the inside of the eye will make the eye
look larger, when, in fact, you are making the eye look smaller. One of the
things that makes the eye look larger using the pencil liner underneath is the
contrast of the thin pink rim on the inside of the eye with your eyeliner
pencil. That's what makes the eyes open and makes them look much larger, more
expansive.

Once you have liner your eyes, apply your mascara. The best way to do this is
to stand in front of a mirror, hold you head up and look down. This way you
can use your mascara brush and get the top of the eyelashes and get the bottom
eyelashes. Your eyes will have more mascara on them and so they are going to
look a lot more luxurious without having to give yourself four or five coats
of mascara, as a lot of people do. That tends to look artificial because they
get kind of clumpy and it doesn't look natural.

You can also use the tip of the wand to go back and forth across just the tips
of lashes if you want to extend them a little more. If you want a very soft
natural look, where you don't look like your wearing a lot of mascara, use the
tip of the mascara applicator. Hold the head back and try and get that as
close to the base of the eyelash as possible. This gives the illusion of a
much thicker eyelash without bringing it all the way to the tip and that way
people don't really see that you are wearing mascara. If you want a more
glamorous look for nighttime, then you would bring the mascara all the way to
the tip and do this not more than two times, top and bottom. Otherwise you're
just "gilding the lily."

I recommend waiting to apply the pencil liner to the lower lashes after you
get your foundation on and your undereye sealer for shadows and circles. If
you don't wait until you have done this, you will then just be putting
foundation over the top of where you have applied your pencil, defeating your
whole purpose, you'll have to go back and do it again. The same thing applies
with mascara. I would wait until you have applied the undereye concealer,
because a lot of times people put their head down, they blink, etc. and you
end up getting foundation on your eyelashes so you have to go back and put on
more mascara. You will get that clumpy look again if you repeat this too many
times. So for the best results, wait to do the mascara and pencil eyeliner
until after you have completed the undereye concealer and the foundation. Now
that you have created some spectacular eyes, we're ready for our next step. We
will be doing that in our next column, so until then, this is Jim Bridges from
Hollywood!


The Jim Bridges Boutique is located at 11480 Cumpston St., N. Hollywood,
Calif., Phone: 818-761-6650. Call for an appointment, or catch Jim at one
of the many tg events around the country.


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