THE READY-TO-WEAR LOOKS

Copper lids

What's not to love about this season's hottest eye-shadow shade - copper? We're talking shiny, newly minted 1c piece (remember those?), with a touch of been-around-the-block-a-few-times blackened or bronzed copper as contour and shading. It suits all skin tones and works for day and night.
 
The darling of the New York, Milan, Paris and London runways, it was worn at Alexander Wang's show as a very user-friendly wash of colour from brow bone to lid, as well as smudged softly as liner both top and bottom, with flesh-coloured liner on the waterline. Simply stunning. If you have blue, grey or green eyes, they will shine!
Or try applying it on the bulge of the eyelid as your focus point, over a base of blackened bronze.
 
Still too much for you? Then use it to shade your eye crease, with a soft, champagne nude on the lid and into the corner of the eye. Pair these looks with soft lashes and natural, understated brows.
 
Most runway looks were paired with played-down cheeks and lips (just a shade darker than nude), but you can up the amps on lips for nights out. Try a dark Gothic mouth for a bit of drama.
 
Our penny-wise choices: Revlon Romantic Nudes Eyes, Cheeks + Lips - use the cheek and lip shades from this gorgeous palette on your eyes too. Physicians Formula Touch of Glow Palette in Medium, Almay Intense I-Color Trio Smoky and L'Oréal Color Riche Les Ombres in Infinite Bronze/ Timeless Beige give you both the copper and dirty bronze you need. You can also multitask your bronzer for your eyes - try Palladio's gorgeous Caribbean Tan hue or one of LA Girl’s bronzing sticks.

Related: How to Make Your Eyes Really Pop by Totally Changing Their Shape

 

Nix the make-up

Well, almost. The natural, no-make-up look is still with us through the chilly season, and some brands (Miu Miu, cough) sent their girls strutting their stuff with not a stitch on their eyes. That may work for some, but we think a teensy bit of decoration just makes our peepers look even better.
 
Try a wash of soft nude-pink (for fair girls) or nude-peach (for darker girls) on the lids for a touch of warmth. Essence has a few options - a Two in One Eyeshadow Liner in Peach Perfect or the The Velvets Eyeshadow in Almost Peachy. Or you can try a nude palette to get the same look - LA Girl Nudes Beauty Brick or Revlon's PhotoReady Eyeshadow in Impressionist. Groom your brows precisely and anchor them with a brow gel. Make sure your skin is flawless and radiant.
 
Lip-wise, if you like living on the edge, just use a clear lipgloss, or go totes Gothic (like Louis Vuitton) or with a bright red (seen at Prada) - hint: applying it as a stain makes the look less intimidating. Or you can play it safe with a soft nude, pink or coral.
 

COUTURE COLOUR

Natural angels, are you prepared to tiptoe out of your comfort zone? Check out these creative, drop-dead, OTT looks. You may find a little somethin' somethin' (because a lot of somethin’ somethin' would be too much of a good thing) to give your look a bit of zing.
 
And for the rest of you exhibitionists, what can we say? You're going to luuurve this.
 

Colour me dazzled!

Before you pack away your summer eye-make-up palette, take a squizz at the technicolour lids - in pastels, metallics, bright poster paint hues - that graced the Fall/Winter catwalks. It gives you full license to get your playful on (hey, we are the Rainbow Nation, after all).
 

• The simplest versions on the catwalk featured Crayola-coloured liner (turquoise and aqua were favourites) worn simply in the crease of the eye, or as a solid cat eye - make sure it's longwearing liner so it doesn’t travel all over your lids. Product picks - royal blue: Maybelline Master Kajal in Lapis Blue, turquoise: Essence Long Lasting Pencil in Tutu, Bionike Defence Colour Eye Pencil in Vert and purple: LA Girl Glide Eye Pencil in Paradise Purple.
• If you're feeling artful, use two or three tones of bold liner, such as yellow, aqua and purple, anchored by black (as they did at Fendi) to create butterfly-bright eyes. For turquoise, yellow, purple, orange for your lids and wet to create a liner... use Beauty Treats Prism Party Eyeshadow Palette or LA Girl Beauty Brick in Neons, which give you all the posterpaint colours you need.
• You can also choose an eye shadow and stick to a monochrome theme from browbone to lid. Wet the shadow and use the stronger colour as soft liner around the entire eye. Then apply mascara.
• We love the idea of monochrome with contrasting textures, too. Orange shadow applied as a soft wash over the entire lid up to the crease, gets an infusion of vitamin C when you apply it wet as an opaque layer in bold brush strokes on the inner third of the eye (thanks for the inspiration, Mugler!)

And.. what else could you do to make the look even more fabulous? Bedazzle it, of course! We saw a liberal sprinkling of glitter all over the catwalks, from subtle flecks dusting the tops of the cheeks to heavy metal on the lids, sparkling brow liner and everything in between. Sprinkle some glitter from Kiss Glitter Science Nail Art Kit on your cheeks, but use an eye-specific glitter on your lids, so you don't get irritation.

Related: Absolutely Gorgeous Winter Nail Designs You Need to Try Right Now

Graphic image

What would winter be without a graphic black eye look? This year's offering is just divine, and you can pick your particular favourite to suit your mood and occasion:
architecturally-precise liner with crisp edges and soaring wings (lovely Oscar de la Renta), matte black blocks of colour on the lids right up to the crease, (and if you're loving the bedazzler, extend the wing with some diamante tips) or a try a bold arch fanning up and down from the eye crease over a soft champagne lid. Or if you're not in to precision, there's always the smudged punkadelic eyes. You can even try the dot eyeliner trend which is all over our Instagram feeds.
 
Our product picks:  Maybelline Master Precise Curvy Eyeliner, and for a couple of liner finishes, the dual-purpose Palladio Fifty Fifty Dual Ended liner or Essence's 2in1 Eyeliner Pen.

If going full Gothic is not your cup of darjeeling, consider the softer option - the ever-classic smoky eye which you can master with Catrice's Glam & Smokey palette. This year's update adds more smoke to the bottom line. And for even more of a twist, add a wing, a la Givenchy. Or try a highlight by applying a bit of that bold colour over the line.

THE SUPPORTING CAST

Brow Buzz

Brows were all over the place - literally and figuratively. Natural brows were spotted all over, at times thick and at others thin, with a minimal of grooming in the form of slight brushing and a touch of liner to fill any holes. This is a look any girl can carry.
 
A styling kit would be your brows' best friend to achieve this look - Rimmel's Brow This Way Brow Sculpting Kit or Essence’s Eyebrow Stylist Set. For a quick colour touch-up and brushing try Essence Make Me Brow Eyebrow Gel Mascara or their Make Me Brow Powder.
 
Bleached brows are the opposite extreme and possibly only suited to fashion glossies and art-school students. But you could try 'real life' faking the look by brushing your brows with a cream shadow in a lighter colour to really let the focus be on your eye make-up.
 
Related: 8 Tricks You Need to Know to Get Your Eyebrows on Point
 

Lash focus

With all that natural beauty abounding, you'd think that lashes would take a backseat completely this season. They were totally absent on some shows, but other make-up designers (cue Emporio Armani and Anna Sui) turned the whole barefaced look completely on its head by adding fans of thick, long falsies, and then even adding coloured mascara on top. It's fun and wearable and great for a boogie night. Eylure Naturalites Intense Ultra Full Lashes will help you get this look.

 At Chanel, the girls got a double dose of top and bottom lashes, creating doll eyes. The best way to achieve this is with a volumizing mascara - try L’Oréal’s False Lash Superstar Mascara, Maybelline's Colossal Volum' Express Mascara or Rimmel's Volume Flash Mascara.

The most interesting mascara look was dubbed 'mess-cara' - lashings of mascara layers that clumped and globbed, giving it a punk look.
 
Related: Do You Want Big, Bold & Beautiful Lashes? Here's How.
 

 

That's it! You're all set, wink, wink!