I thought today I’d go over a few techniques for applying eye makeup. I know many of you out there would love to wear eye makeup more often but feel overwhelmed by not knowing where to put what, so you wind up doing nothing at all out of fear of failure. Well fear no more, my darlings! I’m here to break things down nice and easy for you with a few not so secret eye makeup techniques.

I know how overwhelming and intimidating it can be to walk into the makeup department. If it’s in a department store, then perhaps you’re a little scared of the girls behind the counter — they know how to put their makeup on perfectly — and you’re afraid of looking dumb for asking questions and not knowing, right? Well don’t be scared! They’re there to help you! They want to help you! It’s their job! My advice is to approach someone that you like the looks of and seems friendly.

Bu what if you’re on your own in a drugstore? It can feel like the walls of the makeup aisles are surrounding you (there’s so many options!) and there’s no one there to help guide you around. That’s where I come in. Today I’m going to give you three basic eye makeup techniques.

• Eye shadow:

  There are many different types of eye shadows out there, but I feel for the beginner a powder eye shadow is best. They’re so much more user-friendly, they’re easier to blend, and you have much more control on how light or how dark you want them.

  Ultimately you can wear as many or as little eyeshadow as you want, but I find that just about everyone looks great with two colors. The color choice is totally up to you and your comfort zone. My suggestion? One eyeshadow color should be a light, shimmery shade that you apply all over your lid and up to your brow. This is you base color; it evens out your lid and helps to bring out your brow bone. The second color should be a little darker, a medium tone, that you apply on your lid and blend into your eye crease. That’s it! You’re now done with the eye shadow portion of this lesson.

• Eyeliner:

  Once again, there are many different types of eyeliners out there, but for the beginner I recommend using a kohl pencil liner for their easy application properties. It’s much easier to go back and correct mistakes with a pencil than anything else.

  The color should flow with your eyeshadows and also compliment your eye color. (You can never go wrong with black or brown.) For an every day look, apply the pencil on your upper lid, as close to the lash line as possible. Start on the outside and work your way inward doing tiny little dashes. Go about 3/4 of the way across your lid and blend with a Q-Tip, brush, or sometimes the pencils have a build in smudger. (The smudger looks like a little, dark, rounded-tip eraser.) Now start on the lower lash line, again from the outer corner and work your way inward with tiny little dashes about 1/2 way across and blend. You may find you need to go back and even things out a bit, and that’s OK! It’s all about blending and bringing out your eyes. Always try to keep things darker on the outside, lighter on the inside. This will help open up your eyes and make them look bigger.

• Mascara:

  This is the very last step! All you have to do is apply two coats of mascara and you’re done. Like with the eyeshadow and eye liner, the color choice of your mascara is up to you, but I everyone looks fabulous in black. If you get any mascara on your eyeshadow or underneath you eye, don’t panic… just take a clean Q-Tip and dab it on the mistake and it’ll come right off.

Well there you have it girls! It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s three steps. You can totally do this. The biggest thing for you beginners is going to be practice your eye makeup techniques. The more you do it, the more comfortable you’ll be. Never give up! Never surrender! You, too, can wear eye makeup.