Eyes right

And one  of the star players in making eyes  a riveting sight is eyeliner. It can take your look from regular to ravishing in one fell swoop.

Of course many women are gifted with naturally beautiful eyes and a touch of kohl or a smear of eyeshadow can make them look ultra beautiful but for a majority of women who need to make a statement with their eyes, eyeliner is an indispensable tool.

"Eyes are by far the most important and dramatic facial feature,’’ says Grant Lloyd Berry, Cosmetics Industry Executive and CEO, Intermark, USA. "If made up well, they help you get noticed in a crowd."

Though the reverse is also true, if you follow Berry’s advice you will get noticed for all the right reasons.

Before you start, go to your eye make-up tool box and check your tools. You need to have the right ones – eyeliner, mascara, brow tint, under-eye concealer, a few suitable shades of eyeshadow, an eyelash curler, a brow shaper and a pencil sharpener to keep your eye pencils in good shape. A few ear buds will come in handy for artful blending or clean-ups. Here’s Berry’s invaluable advice.

How to select an eyeliner

"The size and shape of the eye make a huge difference when it comes to selecting an eyeliner," he says. "Trial and error is the best way to come up with the right look for you whether you have doe eyes or round eyes. An eyeliner can be used to create an astonishing variety of looks. They are the stars of the world of eye make-up – from the subtle to the dramatic to purely powerful, they can assume any role effortlessly provided you direct them expertly.

"Whatever the final look you want to achieve with an eyeliner, make sure it suits your eyes and your personality. You can use eyeliner on top and below the eyes, you can shade and blend for a smokey look, or you can opt for the half way line for an entirely personalised look. You can also line inside the eyes so the whites of the eyes are highlighted. This look works well on women with large eyes. Make-up is fun, so enjoy experimenting with different products and find out what works best for you. The proof that you have made eyeliner and your imagination work for you is when you see the appreciative way in which people react to your looks."

Eyes are precious

In the UAE, due to high levels of humidity, most women prefer to wear waterproof eyeliners through summer. But these products are very drying and can hurt the eyes. Says Berry, "While all long-lasting eyeliners contain some kind of sealing ingredients, the key is not to apply too much and also to use better quality products. There are a lot of products out there that look like the real thing, but are often cheap knock-offs and have cheaper formulations. Be very careful when selecting an eyeliner.

Berry’s advice

1. Don’t apply too much eyeliner.

2. Rest your arm on the counter before the mirror and using a smooth move, glide the product along the eye. Don’t get nervous. Remember, practice always makes perfect.

3. Bold eye make-up must be teamed with subtle lip shades and vice versa.

4. Picking a wrong shade for your eye colour can be disastrous. Stick to classics if you’re unsure.

5. It is good to experiment but do not apply a product if you are not comfortable with it.

Colour of eyes and eyeliners

When matching your eye colour to eyeshadow, look to pick up the slightly lighter colour in your eyes, as well as matching the colours of clothes you are wearing.

1. Brown and light brown eyes go with eyeliners in shades of brown, bronze, blue, green and smokey colours in brown tone.

2. Grey eyes look great with eyeliners in blue, grey and all smokey shades.

3. Green eyes look good in greens, purples and turquoise colours.

4. Black eyes look great in all shades. They work best with black eyeliners.

5. Blue eyes look great in blue, turquoise and purple shades and smokey eyeliners.

Dos and Don’ts

Dos
1. It is very important to find the right product to get comfortable using it.

2. Use only the best quality make-up. Eyes are sensitive and can react badly to inferior products.

3. Find the right degree of sharpness in an eye pencil that will give you a smooth application. If an eye pencil is too dry, it will drag the skin of your eyelid. Opt for pencils that have soft textures but will draw clean lines.

Don’ts

1. Do not over-blend or over-smudge.

2. Do not buy just any pencil sharpener. Cheap versions often  chew up your pencil.

3. There are some very good eyeliners in the medium-price range as well.  Do your homework before you buy.

Eyes on the prize

Grant Berry started out at his mother’s UK company, Madeline Mono. Armed with that experience, Grant founded Pirate Cosmetics in the US and introduced new colour palettes and formulations of his own during the early Eighties. Berry was ready to turn things up a notch; in the Nineties he introduced the industry to a new item in the lip category – the matte lipstick pencil. Under Lord & Berry, he sold in excess of 40 million pencils nationwide. Lord & Berry became synonymous with the concept of department store quality at drug store prices. At the turn of this century, Berry founded his most innovative firm yet: Intermark USA. It’s a platform for product innovation in the eye and lip categories. Styli-Style offers the ultimate collection of unique and innovative eye cosmetics, Smoky Eyes, Nano Liners, Liquid Liner 24, Flat Liner 24, Liquid Metals and a range of lip items. Berry’s eye products have won several awards in beauty magazines.