Highlighter is a wonderful thing. When applied correctly, it can make your cheekbones pop and give you a luminous glow. If you use it incorrectly, you look like you lost a fight with a unicorn. The key is to keep it balanced.

During the daytime, I apply shimmer only in the inner corners of my eyes to brighten them. If I wear a shimmery eye shadow as well, I make sure to define my crease with a matte shadow to create depth.

At night, I apply highlighter to the tops of my cheekbones and underneath my brows to get that lit-from-within glow, but I keep the rest of my makeup matte.

After you apply highlighter, always do the aforementioned once-over in natural light.

There are as many ways to apply mascara as there are detox recipes in a Gwyneth Paltrow cookbook, but I've found that the most foolproof method is this: "Stamp" your mascara onto the roots of your lashes, then sweep the product through to the ends using a zigzag motion. This defines your eyes and keeps your lashes from looking too heavy at the tips.

Discovering my eyebrows -- or learning how to define them -- was my biggest "aha!" makeup moment. When I add a little brow pencil, my eyes look bigger, my bold lipstick looks a million times better and, overall, my face just looks more balanced.

Twelve brow pencils and 36 brow waxes later, I've picked up a few tricks. I always use short, angled strokes to mimic the look of natural brow hair, and I start mid-arch, working my way to the "tail" of each brow. You want the outer half of your brows to be a tad darker than the inner half -- this opens up your face and your eyes.

Nothing kills a bold lipstick look like flaky lips or uneven application. Before attempting to apply lipstick, make sure your lips are exfoliated (use a lip exfoliator or lightly scrub with a warm, damp washcloth) and moisturized.

Dab off any excess balm, and use a nude lip pencil to line your lips and fill them in. This ensures that your lipstick doesn't bleed, and also creates a blank canvas so your lipstick shows up true to the color in the tube. Blot your lips again, and purse your lips around your pointer finger and pull it out to prevent annoying lipstick stains on your teeth.

Oh, and another tip: Apply your bold lipstick before your eye makeup, so you don't accidentally overdo it on eyeliner.

A smoky eye is a classic look that every girl should have in her repertoire. You don't have to go full-on Kardashian with it -- you can define your eyes in a soft, sultry way just by smudging liner close to your lash line.

If you feel confident in your skills, add in more advanced components: Apply a flesh-toned shadow over your eyelid and add a darker shadow into your crease and one-third of the way onto your lid with a small, dense brush. Take a (clean) fluffy brush and use small, circular movements to blend everything together so there aren't any harsh lines.

For the smokiest eyes, line your waterline and smudge the shadow from your crease along your bottom lash line. Finish by highlighting your brow bone and piling on mascara.