Create a flawless look courtesy of Dimitri James, makeup artist to Eva La Rue

“Careful shading, a hint of color, concealer and properly applied eyeliner and mascara brighten the eyes and help to disguise the signs of aging” says Dimitri James, author of Becoming Beauty and the founder of Skinn Cosmetics. “Beware of overdoing the eyes, however, as this can make you look older or too made up,” he warns. Read on for a step by step tutorial on getting your best ever eyes!

PREP AND PRIME: Sit at a table with a mirror directly in front of your face so you can rest your elbows on the table and steady your hands. Prepare the skin around your eyes with a primer. This will fill the fine lines and crow’s feet to create a super smooth surface for concealer.  Apply concealer where necessary and blend thoroughly.

LINE THOSE BABY BLUES: Follow with eye liner, a crucial step! As you age, the sharp outline of the eyes blurs. Eyeliner redefines the shape of the eyes. Smudge the eyeliner with a cotton ball and/or eye shadow to blend. Line the upper lid with black and lower lid with brown to define without aging. In general, avoid eyeliners that are lighter than your eye color and do not use white eyeliner. Unless you are a professional, white is too hard to use. Try to match your eye color intensity or choose colors that are darker than your eyes. If you are in a hurry, do not use liquid eyeliner. Simply apply eye shadow with a wet brush. Finally, set the eyeliner with face powder on a cotton ball so it will not smear. Use eye drops before you apply your makeup for brighter and younger looking eyes.

BASE COATS: If you do not need to use a concealer, apply an eyeshadow base before applying eyeshadow.  Do not apply the eye shadow directly on the eyelid. The eye shadow base helps to hide uneven skin tones, fill in lines, and prevent creasing. It creates the super smooth surface that allows shadow to glides on smoothly.

DON’T GO FOR THE GOLD: When applying eyeshadow, look down into the mirror with your eyes and tilt your head slightly back to expose the eyelids fully. Do not extend the eyeshadow below the level of your lash line. This drags down the eyes. Draw an imaginary line from the corner of your lower lash line to the outer tip of the eyebrow. No shadow should extend past this line. In general, avoid using more than three eyeshadow colors at one time. Avoid frost or shimmer on the lid or in the crease as these colors accent fine lines and make you look older. Frost and shimmer shades should only be used under the brow near the arch. James recommends Skinn’s Runway Ready Eye Shadow with collagen boost peptides and hyaluronic acid.  The moisture binding hyaluronic acid will smooth out the look of dryness on the lids so women of any age can wear the colors anywhere on their eyes without looking crepey, frosted or not!

NO MATCHY MATCHY: Do not try to match your eye shadow to your clothing colors. Find the most flattering neutral shades and stick to them. To dress up your regular eye makeup, try adding a dark gray, charcoal, navy, plum, or dark brown to the outer corner of the eyelid and blend it well. Blend your shadow by brushing over the lid with a little blush that matches the color you used on your cheeks. Be careful not to use too much pink or red around the eye area as this can make you look tired. Avoid sharp eye shadow corners, otherwise known as “bat wings,” and dark, unblended contour colors. Older women with deep-set eyes should not use dark eye shadows as these harden their look. If you have smaller eyes, a tiny bit of frost in the center of the eyelid applied over an all-matte shadow makes eyes look larger. For evening looks, try gold shimmer over matte browns or burgundies and silver shimmer over matte blues, plums, violets, and grays. For an easy, chic look, try applying bronzing powder to the eyes and cheeks instead of using eye shadow and blush. For a true monochromatic look, apply bronzing powder to your lips with a cotton swab and apply gloss over the top.

Complete your look with an application of black mascara. Use a quality lash curler to gently bend not kink your eyelashes in preparation for mascara.  Colored mascaras are typically too light to brighten the eyes. Brown and auburn shades only make the eyes look red and tired. Whereas too much eye shadow can make you look older, more mascara can help you to look younger, so be sure to use several applications. Fake eyelashes, on the other hand, add ten years to your look. If you must wear them, James explains, invest in a pair of expensive, real hair lashes attached to a fine silk thread.