How to Apply Eye Makeup for Beautiful, Youthful Eyes

It is said that eyes are the windows to the soul, and so like any expressive and meaningful work of art, it needs a proper frame - not one that will take away from the art itself, but one that compliments and enhances it. With a few simple eye-makeup tips, anyone can have beautiful, youthful eyes.

The first eye makeup tip is one my mother taught me, and one that experts agree with:

Before applying eye makeup, use your foundation to cover and "prep" the lid. This will smooth out imperfections and helps to decrease those "end of the day" eye shadow creases.

If using powder eye shadow, brush facial powder over the foundation before applying the eye shadow. Not only will prepping in this way set the shadow but also it will help to match the lids to your face's skin tone.

Applying foundation and powder on and around your eyelids is a great eye makeup tip for keeping that natural look. Just smudge pencil liner lightly around the outside corners of your eyes and add mascara. No need for fancy brushes, Q-Tips work great for this effect. The eyeliner will make your eyes pop, without looking overly made-up.

The hardest part about choosing eye shadow is knowing which colors look best on you. It can be a daunting task to walk into a store and choose the perfect color from a rainbow of hues available. Unless you're a supermodel walking a Paris runway, stay away from excessive, bright colors.

Ladies Home Journal suggests not choosing the shadow color based on your eye color. Instead, choose eye shadow based on your hair color:

Creams and taupes for blonds

Browns for brunettes

Coppers or pale, cool colors for redheads.

My personal eye makeup tip is to use brown pencil eyeliner next to the lash line. Liquid liners are harder to blend, and a stark brown or black line will make small eyes appear even smaller. Start a third of the way on the upper lid from the inside corner to the outside corner, and then apply along the length of the bottom lid. When lightly smudged and softened, it creates a subtle, smoky look.

The best eye makeup tip is skin maintenance. The skin on and around the eyes is thinner that the rest of the face. Proper cleaning and moisturizing is important.

Drink plenty of fluids. Fluids taken internally help in the overall moisturizing of skin.

Use a good moisturizer after removing your makeup. While allover facial moisturizers will work, nowadays there are a number of moisturizers available that target the eye area. Because of the difference in the thickness of skin on and around the lids, eye specific moisturizers may be the way to go.

The last eye makeup tip is another one from my mother. Remove eye makeup everyday before bedtime. Not doing so will cause lashes to break and fall out. Be gentle when cleansing and never stretch the lids when doing so. Stretching the lids back towards the ears when removing eye makeup will contribute to loosening of the skin, and as we get older, our skin doesn't bounce back as well.

When it comes to eye makeup, less is more. We want to accent the windows to our souls, not mask or detract from them. With these eye makeup tips, people will see the inner you, the work of art.