Rebecca Todd Make Up

Suprisingly for some, there is more to eyeliner than a quick lick of black kohl along the rim of your eyelashes! I’m going to give you a few tips on choosing the right eyeliner for your chosen look and to accentuate your eye shape to the maximum.

Firstly you need to choose the right products. You will need a good black pencil -Bourjois Kohl and Contour eyeliner is good, it glides easily and creates a great base for smokey eyes. 

For a more precise line I like to use MAC fluidline in Blacktrack, or you can go for brown for a more subtle look, this is a gel eyeliner that you need an eyeliner brush to apply I like the eyeliner brush no.209 from MAC, the angled brush no.208 can work also (as seen in ‘Beware of those whos eyebrows meet’ above) its a personal preferance. You should experiment with each brush until you find which is most comfortable for you.

If you are on a budget go for Rimmel fluid precision liner. It’s a little trickier to use as it has a more liquid texure than the MAC fluidline, so it’s easier to make mistakes!

If you have small eyes you don’t want to overload them with black eyeliner as it will make them appear smaller and deep set. So if you are trying to make your eyes look bigger I would suggest a thin line of your chosen liquid liner colour accross the upper lash line. Remember practice makes perfect so the line may not be perfect the first few times but you can always blend it in with eyeshadow or go over it with the kohl pencil if it is very jagged. As you get better at it you can attempt a little flick at the outer corner to elongate your eyes.

If you are going for a very dark look make sure to bring the eyeliner right to the inner corner of your eye.

For this look you should line the inner rim of the bottom lid (it is still ok to leave this step out with small eyes- smokey eyeshadow can create a dark eye by itself), I usually do this with the MAC fluidline as it has great staying power and a very striking look or another favourable option is to use a matte black eyeshadow (MAC carbon is perfect), again, take the angled brush no 208 and gently dab it along the inner rim. I find when you use shadow as opposed to kohl or gel it stays for hours without gathering in the inner corner of your eye to create the dreaded ‘mascara goop’ in the words of Chandler Bing!

As you get better at it you can make the flick thicker and longer at the outer corner and go a little Amy Winehouse with it- well maybe we wont go quite that far…

I find the best way to do this is to line the upper lid first and then, looking straight ahead in the mirror, make a very faint mark where you want the flick to go, this is your guide line. It will also ensure the flick points in the right direction for your eye shape. When you line along your guide line you will have a shape that looks a bit like a correct mark, then take the brush from the tip of the flick to meet the line on the rim of your eye and fill it in to form a shape like this.

Eyebrows are of utmost importance when it comes to shaping your face. Eyebrows create a frame to work around.

Eyebrows should be step 6 in doing your make up (we’ll go through the steps another day) but basically they come somewhere in between foundation and eyemake up. I do the eyebrows just before I begin with the eyeshadow as I have a lovely defined frame to work within.

So how do you get the perfect brows? First of all they will need to be groomed, I favour plucking and strays should be plucked regularly. I’m not a big an of waxing as it pulls on the delicate skin around your eyes and can encourage the skin on your brow bone to droop over time. (Always thinking about the inevitable ageing process)

Next you can take a small angles brush- I like the 208 angled brow brush from MAC

Now choose a colour to suit your own hair colour, always use a colour a shade lighter than your own colour and even if you have very dark hair you should never use black as it can give you too severe a look. I like this colour 110 (pictured) for brunettes by Royal Effem-available from beauty salons around the country, or shade 088 for blondes.

First to find the point where your brow should begin hold the brush along the outside of your nostril, pointing upward the point where it touches your brow bone is where your eyebrow should start (the thickest part of the hair).

Next position the brush from the outer corner of your lips to the outer corner of your eye and it will point to the spot where your brow should end.

 To find the spot where your brow should arch - look straight ahead and align the brush from the flare of your nostril to your pupil. Where the brush touches your brow is where the arch should be.

Taking a small amount of the shadow on your brush you are aiming to fil in any gaps in the hairs with short strokes through the brows. To finish and achieve a neat defined brow, pull the brush through the brow from start to end in one fluid sweep, arching it at the point you found previously, without lifting the brush away and easing off  pressure as you reach the end of the brow to leave a natural fine point.

If you’re going for a fabulous and daring 1940’s look with flawless skin, minimal blush and eyeshadow and the clincher-brazen RED lips here’s a tip that will make it easier for you: when applying your lippie get your sharpened red liner and not only line the lip line to perfection but also fill in the rest of the lips with the pencil. The lipstick will have much better staying power on top of the liner, it won’t smudge as easy and you will achieve a gorgeous vibrant colour.

Also when you are creating these tricky-to-perfect red lips its always wise to have a foundation brush and concealer brush at hand to touch up around the edges until you get a perfect, smudge free outline.

Patience is the key with this look

And my all time icon the fabulous Gwen stefani, here’s too perfect skin and scarlet lips