*Sparkling* Summer Eyes

Natural Glow

*Sparkling* Summer Eyes

Looking for some spice to your summer look? Changing up your look in small ways can make a big difference in your overall appearance and your confidence. A slight change that you can make today is eye make-up. Let’s make your beautiful eyes stand out!

The trick to having gorgeous eyes is not over-doing the make-up. You have to walk a fine line between accentuating the eyes God has given you without looking like a clown. Select eye shadow colors that pull out your natural features. For example, if you are a brunette, shades of light pink and brown will pull out your hair color while pulling out the hue in your lips. If you are a blonde, shades of brown are an excellent choice. They bring notice to our eyes and highlight your hair.

The color of your eyes also, obviously, makes a difference in the choice of eye shadow you select. Try blending more neutral colors (light pinks, peach, brown, light grays) with shades that match or contrast your eyes (blues or greens). The trick is to blend the colors, not mix them. You can buy proper eye shadow brushes at Target for a decent price.

Many women like “smoky eyes” for a night out. I will show you how to create this look using the blending technique and the less-is-more technique.

 Proper tools are most helpful in the blending process. Here is a lash comb and two different brushes. The two brushes are different only in their brush size. The larger brush will help with the first few steps in blending (such as the initial color). The smaller brush helps in blending more subtle colors.

To begin, brush your lashes and brows with the lash comb.

Next, apply your mascara. Some women will suggest doing this step after you have applied your eye shadow. Either way works. For me, I prefer to apply my mascara first so that I can wash off any mascara that accidentally gets applied to my skin.

Now it’s time to apply the eye shadow. The JoyGirl posing for this article has blue/green eyes. I’ve selected the obvious colors needed for smoky eyes as well as some brown shades to pull out her natural features.

First I’ve applied a beige shadow to her upper lid as well as the inside corner of her eye. To open her eyes even more, I’ve sprinkled just a bit of this light shimmer just underneath her lower lashes. I’ve used the larger shadow brush for this step.

Using a bit darker brown shade, I’ve applied shadow gently to the center of her lid moving up and across the skin between her lid and brow. This was done again with the larger brush in a back and forth motion.

Now, comes the smoky colors. I applied a light grey in the middle to outer corner of her eye. Gradually blending that light grey into a dark grey, I made my way from the middle to outer corner of her eye to the very outer corner of her eye. Using your darkest hue for the outer corner of your eye makes your eyes really stand out. They go from noticeable to striking. The grays are applied using the smaller shadow brush.
Finally I apply the lighter grey shade to the middle to outer edge of the skin between her lid and brow. This is done very lightly. I then use a Q-tip to gently smooth out the colors.

Remember, the trick to having striking eyes is not over-doing the make-up. Accentuate the beautiful eyes God has given you! You are unmistakable beautiful and God’s perfect creation. With or without make-up, God finds you beautiful. If make-up is not your thing, that's OK, too. Some people just prefer the completely natural look. If you are using make-up, use it tastefully. If not, you can still appreciate what God has given you and be content. True beauty comes from within!

Do you have a hygiene or make-up question for JOY? Email us at: joyfilledgirls@hotmail.com.