These eight great eye make up tips offer KEY basic steps that will work for everyone, regardless of personal style. 

I have had so many girlfriends confess they want to be more creative, and have some fun with eye makeup, but feel like they really don't know what they are doing.

It really can be quite simple when you know the basic application sequence.  From there, a little practice, patience and creativity will bring a lot of satisfaction, beauty confidence and yes, even fun...  

Well, for all you girlfriends out there who want to feel more confident about their eye makeup application and enjoy the creative fun in the process of putting on makeup, here are some straightforward eye make up tips.

Remember, good eye makeup application is meant to enhance your eyes, compliment your unique features and underscore your own expression of style.  

Nothing brings more sparkle to the eyes than a healthy, bright smile.  Get whiter teeth within days.

Eye Make Up Tip #1 PRIME for staying power...

Prime eye area with a foundation and follow with light dusting of loose translucent powder.  This will give any eye make up applied, some staying power.

For extra smooth application (especially helpful for middle aged and up skin) consider using a primer makeup, and then follow this with foundation.

• Eye makeup with staying power.

A.  Keep Eye Area Tidy and Free of Residual Dust and Specs.    When applying eye shadow, a lot of residual dust can land around the eye, creating unattractive results.  To avoid this try placing a flat folded tissue under the lower  lash line when brushing shadow on.
B.  Create dimension with eye shadow.  Three tones of eye shadow is ideal, but two will work.  Choose three complimentary shades; 

1. light shade- sweep with medium firm, soft haired, eye make up brush, from your upper lids lash line to the brow bone area, just past your eye lid crease.
2. medium shade- using top narrow edge of same brush, follow natural crease on upper lid, creating visual presence but blending well.
3. dark shade-using smaller eye makeup brush, with firm bristles, sweep along upper lash line blending as far as the crease and if you choose, under lower lash line, as well.

Optional:  You can switch shades 2. and 3. for a slightly different look...

DISCOVER BY EXPERIMENTING what really plays up your unique features and suits your personal style? The depth of shades being used in combination with eyeliner style will ultimately  be what determines a "look". 

• What professional makeup artists do, that you can too.

• Easy Steps to 'pro' perfect eye shadow application...

• Trying to pick the right eye shadow?

• The trick to the smoky eye...

• Eye makeup with a little star power.

Eye Make Up Tip #3 DEFINITION for impact...

Shape and define your eyes using eyeliner.  The idea here is to open your eyes ...Your lash line defines your eye shape so emphasis on the eyes begins with understanding your eye shape and using techniques in eye make up application,  to compliment that eye shape.  

"4." in the eye make up tips page diagram above, no matter the eye shape,  I recommend a well sharpened soft lead pencil to create a thin line as close to the lash line as possible, however, it really comes down to personal style preference. 

For eyeliner tips and strategies relating to eye shape, click here.

Eye Make Up Tip #4 OPEN...

Don't underestimate the eye impact power of using an eyelash curler.  

Eyelash curlers are literally miracle workers when it comes to opening the eye and making the lashes appear longer and more full.

QUICK pick Easy, budget friendly Sephora Brand Eyelash Curler Black .

 Eye Make Up Tip #5 PRECISION LASHES...

Complete your eye make up with precision mascara application. 

#1 Start at the base of your lashes and wiggle the wand slightly to have the mascara bristles grip and coat as many lashes as possible, as the wand wiggles up, towards the tips. Wiggling the wand slightly may sound strange, but it works. You may have to experiment a couple of times, but once you get the hang of it, you will maximize your lash potential.

#2 Don't put too many coats on. Doing the preceding well twice, plus reworking the outer eye corner lashes, is really enough.

#3 Be strategic in how much you apply, if you apply, to your lower lashes. Holding the wand vertically will allow more precision placement, and a stroke by stroke assessment of how much looks good to you.

#4 Definitely finish with a brush to separate lashes and remove any clumps.

• How to choose the best mascara.

Eye Make Up Tips Best Mascara Product Suggestions:

QUICK picks by the prosYour eyelashes will determine the best mascara wand/formulation in mascara, but generally...

For naturally sparse shorter lashes, a highly rated inexpensive choice is Maybelline Great Lash Mascara, Blackest Black

For naturally full longer lashes, consider L'Oreal Lash Out

For makeup mavens, award winning Lancome - Definicils Mascara # 01 Black (you can find Lancome at Sephora.com)

Eye Make Up Tip #6 BROWS will 'MAKE OR BREAK' your look...

On above diagram ,"5." gives some basic guidelines for shaping and filling using a pencil.  Of coarse every set of eyebrows are unique, but generally, try to follow your natural brow arc.  

Now in your minds eye, visualize several guide lines on your own face:

1. vertical line from side of your nostril straight up, usually is the starting point of your eyebrow.

2. A straight line from the side of your nostril, along side the outer corner of your eye, up to your brow area, will be the finishing point of your brow.  Now, if you feel the resulting brow based on the starting and ending points works, pluck the hairs that are outside of the new brow area.
Important: Don't pluck brow hair above your eyebrow.

3.  The third imaginary line, will create the shape of your brow.  Try to work with your natural brow shape and work in proportion to your face. Don't force a big arc where naturally is a fairly straight line. A straight line on subtle upward angle, that finishes in a soft arc over the outer third of the eye, is a formula that suits many. Every thing under that line is to be plucked (usually just strays).

If your brows are very fair and/ or sparse, you can successfully achieve eyebrow impact, with a good, well matched to your coloring, eye brow pencil.  Use fine, little strokes, to create the appearance of hairs.  Then use a brush to soften the lines; "5" in above diagram. 

Eye Make Up Tips Eye Brow Product Suggestions:

Your unique eyebrows and personal style will dictate the extent of your product needs, but generally, most people will definitely benefit from a good set of tweezers, a brow pencil (correcting and filling), a stiff brush for softening pencil lines and setting with powder, and brow gel for holding  and styling unruly brows (below some products by Tarte).

Eye Make Up Tip #7  CLEAN FINISH for polish...

Using a soft cotton swab, carefully remove eye shadow dust, mascara speckles etc . from the eye area. This will ensure a clean, precise and polished "maximum impact" appearance to your eye make up.

Eye Make Up Tip #8 GENTLE REMOVAL eye care...

At the end of the day, you need to be able to gently BUT effectively remove your eye make up. Make sure you use a remover that is not harsh on your skin or your eyes.  Thoroughly douse a cotton ball, place it over a closed eye for several seconds. If needed, sweep under the lower lash line.

Eye Make Up Tips #1 Eye Make Up Remover Product Suggestions:

I recommend this gentle, inexpensive eye makeup remover L'Oreal Plenitude Refreshing Eye Makeup Remover, Oil-Free. This formula does not sting the eyes and is effective on regular wear eye make up.		Lancome BI-FACIL - Double-Action Eye Makeup Remover This product is more effective in removing waterproof makeup in addition to regular wearing eye make up, plus is non- greasy, and safe for contact lens wearers.

Oh yeah, ...Eye Make Up Tips Last Suggestion:  These eye make up tips are meant to give you  a good OVERALL foundation of practical make up application knowledge that will not go out of style. Keep experimenting and you will always feel like your look is fine tuned to you and fresh.

For the latest trends in make up styles, check out Beauty Central....