To make your eyes look bigger we want to create openness with our lashes and eyeliner, while creating dimension and balance with our eye shadow and brows.

Rule #1: Lashes are a minimum requirement to opening up your eyes.

Getting your lashes right is half the battle. Those of you who were blessed with lusciously long, perfectly curled natural lashes you can skip these next few lines but before you do, just know that the rest of us do not like you. 

Now, for those of us with regular or sub-par lashes, curlers and lash growing treatments are your best friend.

I don't have these to sell personally, but Tweezerman makes a nice eyelash curler and my go-to lash treatment to recommend is the Rodan & Fields Lash Boost, while I don't typically recommend their skincare, I am quite impressed by the lash boost. It's awesome.

If you are someone who likes to keep with natural products, try 100% pure organic castor oil. It takes a little time and diligence but this will transform your lashes also!

Okay, next up is actually getting your mascara on!

This.

is.

a.

must.

When it comes to mascara, technique is everything. Most people are able to get the base of their lashes fairly effectively--my only advice here is to give your brush a little wiggle when you shimmy up your lash to ensure you get every hair coated.

Before you finish though, take the tip of your brush and hit the tips of your lashes. The tip of the tips are usually forgotten, especially in the inner and outer corners. 

If you struggle getting in the inner corner lash line, try this:

Look in the mirror and keep your eyes fixed on this inner corner. Without averting your gaze, slowly turn your head to the side (for left inner rim, turn right and for the right inner rim, turn your head left).

Rotate until you find your sweet spot.

You will find this gives you better access to the area so you can coat it without feeling like you are going to squint, poke yourself, and make a mess.

Raising your brows and tilting your chin slightly up will also help when applying mascara to your top lashes.

For lower lashes, tilt chin down slightly and remember to blink. You can also play around with rotating your head position while keeping your eyes fixed in the mirror to access the inner and outer corners here as well. 

Rule #2: Using eyeliner strategically.

You want to keep the lower waterline light and the upper line only as defined as your eye can handle.

You want to ensure for the top eyeliner that it is fullest in the outer corner, and tappers as you move inward. If your eyelids easily get lost, you might want to skip upper liner or refrain to tight line only (upper waterline). As seen in the images below.

When gaining access to this area, keep your chin up and brows raised. You will want to keep your gaze a little lower in the mirror to refrain from spazzing when you get this close to your eye. 

Rule #3: If you're adding eye shadow, there is a two-shade minimum. 

Your goal is to create dimension with your shadow and to do so, you need a light and a medium shade. You want to be sure that the brow bone, tear duct, and center lid are light and bright but do not neglect the crease color!

This is a huge mistake.

If your entire lid is light, you are averting focus from your eyeballs to your lids-- so slow your roll tiny eyes, this is not the goal. 

When applying your crease color, you want to keep your chin tilted slight up, and brows raised. Play around with your chin position until you are able to see where your bone area is--once you've located it--starting at the lower outer section you want to start applying your medium shade, working your way in and then blending up and out.

Never start with a loaded brush in the middle of the crease area or too high above its base point.

Rule #4: Concealer Matters. 

As a final note, don't neglect under eye concealer. Dark under eyes are distracting and can appear to swallow up your eyes.

Keep them covered. 

Rule #5: Brows are leverage. Use them wisely.

Eyebrows frame the face, I'm not going to get into detail here about shape but, again, it's all about proportions.

Your brows will make it or break it depending on your specific eye shape.

If you have straight brows, they will close your eye up. If they are too short and sticking out it will give you a weird pulled look, if they are too long they will droop your eyes down, if they are curved like a rainbow, you will look surprised and your eyes will look disproportionately tall but not attractively drawn out.

You want the inner front of your brow to start low, slowly moving up until you hit the high point of your brow also known as the arch. From this point, you need to drop your tail.

To avoid most mistakes, check your arch position.

As a rule of thumb if you are unsure whether or not your arch is in the right spot, take something straight and look straight in the mirror, your arch should line up with the outer edge of your iris (the colored part of your eye).

If it doesn't, it's in the wrong spot and is likely giving you an odd facial expression. 

In review,

1. Lashes are a must. If you're in the market, be sure to check out my favorite mascara, XLXL that volumizes and separates for lash-perfection.

2. Use liner strategically and with caution.

To get the perfect nude inner rim, try this automatic Nude Waterline Liner.

3. Shadow is for creating dimension, not just "brightening".

4. Concealer keeps the focus away from your lack of sleep. 

5. Brows will make you or break you.