Frame It

Let's start with the area around the eyes, because you wouldn't hang a beautiful picture without a beautiful frame, right? We’re talking brows and cheekbones and how with a bit of extra attention on these areas will make your eyes look perfectly framed, like they deserve.
 
When it comes to brow maintenance it's important to remember that less is more, that means no over-plucking, ladies. Between your regular wax or threading appointment neaten up your brow area with a pair of tweezers. Sparse brows with uneven colour will wash out your eye area so use a brow pencil like the one from Rimmel or powder to fill in any gaps in your hairs. If you've got light hairs consider tinting them to save you time on colouring them in every day.
 
Next let's use a bit of highlighter to add light to the eye area, which gives you a youthful glow and quite literally lights up your eyes. Sweep highlighter along your cheekbone from about in line with the middle of your eye socket out towards your hairline. We love Catrice's Brow Lifter and Highlighter. If you don’t really have the killer cheekbones you'd like just fake it with a brush of bronzer and blend it well. Next add highlighter on the brow bone, that's just under the thinnest section of your brow.
 
Related: 8 Tricks You Need to Know to Get Your Eyebrows on Point
 

Conceal It

We all know that concealer covers up blemishes and spots but did you know its other best use is for waking up tired-looking eyes? There are three key points to apply it on the eye area: the inner corners of the eye, the outer corner of the eye and underneath the eye. Try Palladio's Herbal Concealer Stick for a super smooth finish.
 
Dot some concealer in your inner corners to make your eye instantly appear bigger. Once you've applied this you can either blend a dot of white eyeliner pencil there (to make eyes look wider) or the lightest colour of your brown eye palette with your pinky (we love the matte one from Catrice) to give bigger eyes a bit more definition.
 

Get In Line

When applied correctly eyeliner can create amazing optical illusions for your eye shape. Almost every girl would love bigger eyes and winged eyeliner will elongate even the smallest of eyes. With a steady hand sweep your liquid liner along your lash line starting from the innermost corner of your eye (if you want a more subtle look start your wing in line with the very centre of your eyelid). If you're unsure of what angle to wing it at imagine an invisible line from the outer corner of your eye to the very tip of your eyebrow and draw your straight line along that.
 
Don't be afraid to break out from the usual black liner. Blue eyeliner is super on-trend, glitter liner is perfect for a night out, white liner along your lower lash line will make you look wide awake, grey will brighten your natural eye colour, and you can use a brown liner in place of your regular black one to create a more subtle smoky look. Some of our faves are Catrice Kohl Kajal in Grey-Z, Catrice Long-Lasting Eye Pencil in A Beautiful Mint and Palladio Precision Eyeliner in white.
 
One of the most common mistakes that women make with eyeliner is applying it on the inside of your eyelid or the waterline. This is a '90s trend that should've stayed back there; it makes your eyes appear way smaller, can irritate your eye and lead to redness and itchiness, plus it disappears and smudges quickly, meaning you have to constantly reapply it. We say stick to the outside of your eye when it comes to make up.
 

Lash Out

If you need to make your eyes pop and only have time for one thing make it a coat of mascara. Mascara makes eyelashes thicker, longer and causes them to curve upwards (most peoples' lashes tend to stick straight out). If you're looking to make your eyes appear bigger use a lengthening one like Rimmel's Wonder'full Wake-Me-Up mascara - a thickening one will just add more weight to your eyes. But if you're going for a night look of sexy and smoky-eyed, layer on two coats of volume boosting mascara like the one from Yardley which has a primer to add mega-weight to your lashes.
 
Once saved only for dress up parties, colourful mascara has moved into the mainstream and is becoming more every-day than every-now-and-then. If you have brown or green eyes try a purple shade, if your eyes are blue try a blue mascara for extra oomph and if you've got hazel eyes try a mascara in green. Keep the rest of your eye make up super simple to avoid looking a bit clown-ish, but if you hate having bare lids choose an eye shadow in a complementary colour e.g. red and green are complementary colours so go for shades of pink if you're wearing green mascara. A selection of some of the best coloured mascaras out there: Michelle Ori in Purple, L'Oreal Miss Manga in Turquoise, Palladio Lengthening Mascara in Brown and Michelle Ori in Green.
 
Related: Do You Want Big, Bold & Beautiful Lashes? Here's How.

Keep In Shape

Everyone's eyes are unique so there aren't any general rules for how to apply your eye make up. If you haven't already, figure out what shape your eyes are and apply your favourite products in a way that will make your specific shape pop the most!
 
Almond Eyes: This is a symmetrical oval-like shape with outer corners that sweep upwards slightly. To make the most of almond-shaped eyes you should increase the depth and intensity of them. Add the illusion of depth by highlighting the area under the brow with a shimmery highlighter and applying a medium to dark shade of eye shadow on your lids.
 
Round Eyes: Round eyes are more rounded than almond-shaped eyes and more of the whites of the eyes are visible. Rounded eyes can benefit from a bit of elongation, which can be achieved with a winged eyeliner. When applying eye shadow use lighter shades on the inner corner of your lid and blend a darker shade in your crease.
 
Upturned Eyes: If your eyes turn up slightly at the outer corners they're perfect for a smoky look. This look will balance out your eyes, as it requires darker shades around the outer corners, which weigh that area down.
 
Downturned Eyes: To enhance symmetry in your face when your eyes turn downward at the outer corners add a small cat-eye with some liquid liner.
 
Hooded Eyes: If your eyes are hooded it means that your eyelid appears much smaller due to the excess skin below your brow. You can use a clever bit of contouring to create the illusion of more eyelid space by blending your eye shadow a bit above the crease of your eyelid. Use a flat eye shadow brush to blend a dark eye shadow into the outer corner of your crease to create even more definition.
 
Deep-Set Eyes: If your eyes sit further in your face avoid dark eye shadows and thick eyeliners, as this will make them disappear further into your face. Go for bright, shimmery shades that add light to this area and combat shadows.
 
Close-Set Eyes: If your eyes are a little close together for your liking you're going to want to use dark shades on the outside of your eyes to make them appear wider. Start by using highlighter under your brows and the inner part of your eyelid. Next use a medium-toned shadow on the rest of your lid but instead of stopping at the crease like you normally would blend it a little further outwards than the width of your eye. Use your eyeliner to draw along your lash line and extend past your lash line in a straight line to enhance the illusion of your eyes being further outwards on your face.
 
Wide-Set Eyes: The method for making wider set eyes look closer together is basically the opposite: use dark coloured make up on the inside of your eyes. You want your brows to match up so extend your eyebrow shape ever so slightly towards the middle of your face with a brow pencil using short and fine lines instead of solid colour to make it look more natural. Apply your medium shade eye shadow a bit beyond the inner crease of your eye, towards your nose, and blend well. If you want to wing your eyeliner keep the wings short and more vertical than horizontal.
 
Monolid Eyes: Monolid eyes have a flatter area between brow bone and eye lid, which means there is little to no crease and not a lot of visible eyelid. To add dimension and definition to monolids draw attention to the outer corners of your eye. This is best done with a beautiful and thick winged eyeliner or a bold, darker colour that blends into a lighter, more natural colour towards the inner corner of your eyes.

Related: Expert Tips on What to Do If You Suck at Eyeliner
 

Play With Colour

A pop of colour really brings your eyes to life, but the wrong shade could actually dull their shine. Choose tones that will complement your natural colour but don't feel restricted by that; for a bit of fun, coloured contact lenses are a quick and easy way to drastically change your look!
 
Hazel Eyes: Pastel and metallic tones will bring out the most of your naturally multi-toned eye colour. Try Catrice's Absolute Rose Palette or their Eye'Matic Pen in West White Story.
 
Brown Eyes: Brown eyes can pull off pretty much any shade but warm golds, bronze tones and salmon pinks make them stand out even more. Two of the prettiest are Essence Mono Eyeshadow in The Grammy Goes Glammy and Almay Intense i-colour in Evening Smoky.
 
Dark Brown Eyes: Go for bold shades of deep purple and rich browns to add to your natural drama, and sparkly silvers to contrast it. Two great options: LA Girl Beauty Brick in Ultra and Michelle Ori Eye Shadow in 902.
 
Blue Eyes: Go for shades of brown to make your baby blues look super bright. Corals and shimmery tones will also make your eye colour sparkle more. Our fave nude palettes are LA Girl’s Nudes (a dupe for Urban Decay Nakeds - for those who don't know) and Catrice Sand Nudes.
 
Green Eyes: Your jewel-toned eyes don't need a lot of extra sparkle so choose subtle shades of purple for every day wear, and when you want to really make them pop opt for shimmery golds and bronzes. Try Almay Intense I-Colour Party Brights and Catrice Highlighting Eyeshadow in Golden Nights.
 
Related: Think Opposites When You Want Awesome Eyes​

 

We all want to look amaazing in pictures but somehow don’t always get there. It turns out it’s surprisingly easy. If you want to up your selfie game, have a quick look at some simple tips in ‘How to Do Your Eye Makeup for Photos’.
 
For more insider secrets, meet 20-year-old makeup artist Ariel Tejada – the person responsible for Instagram's most-liked selfies. See all his tips and tricks here: ‘9 Beauty Secrets I Learned from A Kardashian-Jenner Makeup Pro’