How to look spectacular in specs...

Published Apr 25, 2014

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London - After years of experimentation, I can now apply a smoky eye with the best of them and know exactly what foundation suits my face.

But the problem comes when I run out of contact lenses and have to wear my glasses, usually reserved for nights in with the TV. Suddenly my carefully applied eye make-up looks a bit wrong.

Fortunately, a new book, Everything Eyes, by make-up guru Bobbi Brown, gives spec-specific tips for girls who wear glasses.

 

Eyebrows

Since most people who wear glasses have frames that allow at least the top of their eyebrows to be seen, keeping them neat and well-defined is key.

It’s very hard using tweezers to get a sharp line, so if you do want to remove hairs, opt for threading for a perfectly straight brow.

Bobbi recommends defining brows with a product the same colour as your hair, so your glasses don’t overpower your face.

 

 

Under and around

Bobbi says the glass in your frames can highlight under-eye discolouration and darkness — bad news for anyone who suffers from dark circles or bags.

Look for peach-toned concealers that will neutralise grey or blue and make the area look brighter without bleaching it out.

If you’re long-sighted, your lenses can magnify your eyes — while if you’re short-sighted, you may find your specs make your eyes look smaller.

Either way, you tend not to see as much of the eye socket, so the outline of the eye should be the focus of applying make-up rather than the lid. Bobbi says your eyeshadow shouldn’t compete with your glasses, so it’s best to keep things neutral.

 

 

Eyeliner

Bobbi’s golden rule is that eyeliner is key because it adds definition. Whether your eyes look big or small through your lenses, eyeliner won’t leave you looking squinty or bug-eyed.

Use a liquid liner pen to draw a solid line across the top

 

Then, to give the tops of the eyes even more definition, use a kohl liner on the top water line, just inside the eyelid.

 

On the lower water line, just inside the lid, use a liner that will open the eye up — white is too harsh, so look for a metallic cream, a pale gold or a pale metallic pink.

 

Lashes

Most glasses sit far enough from the eyes so that, even when curled, lashes shouldn’t hit the lenses, so curl them as you normally would, at the base to open up the eye. But when it comes to mascara, rather than going for a lengthening one, look for one that will thicken and give volume instead.

 

Keep the bottom lashes free of mascara as – like the glasses frame – this can cast shadows under the eye, making it look very dark. And, if your lashes do hit your lenses, Bobbi suggests a waterproof mascara that won’t smudge.

 

Face

Use a matte foundation to stop the slide of glasses down your face. To avoid your blusher clashing with the lower part of your glasses, contour your face and give it structure.

Use a powder blusher, suck in your cheeks and, working from the outside edge, sweep a bronzer or brownish pink blusher into the hollow parts.

 

Lips

The old adage says you should pick lips or eyes to emphasise. But although the eye area is defined with glasses, they can also act as a barrier, so you can get away with using a dramatic shade on your lips. – Daily Mail

* Everything Eyes by Bobbi Brown is from Chronicle Books.

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