When you wear glasses, eye makeup can be tricky business. You have to avoid little mascara specks on your lids and lenses, and take into consideration your eye shape and glasses shape to make your peepers pop. Needless to say, finding the right eye makeup for glasses challenges all of our makeup skills. To help out, we called upon our favorite glasses-wearing makeup artist, Bobbi Brown, to share some of her best eye makeup tips and tutorials for glasses wearers — straight from her book, Everything Eyes. Here, her top makeup tips for glasses — and the eye makeup looks to avoid.
Image via Imaxtree
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Your Basic Eye Makeup Tool Kit
In "Everything Eyes," Brown explains the challenges of makeup for glasses: "Glasses definitely make a style statement, but your eyes can get lost beneath your frames unless you adjust your makeup."
Here, she lays out the bare minimum eye makeup you need with glasses to make sure eyes stand out:
• Eye shadow that matches your hair color to fill in brows [a brow pencil works too]
• A light base color eye shadow for the entire lid — from lash line to brow bone, and a medium color for the lower lid — from lash line to crease
• Gel liner on the top lash line
• Powder liner for the lower lash line
• Two coats of waterproof mascara
Image via Ben Ritter for Bobbi Brown
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Makeup Do: Adjust Your Eyeliner to Your Frames
When you're applying makeup for glasses, Brown recommends lining both your upper and lower lash line with eyeliner. "It's important to make sure there is a balance between the definition of your frames and your eyes," she expalins. If you're wearing thicker frames like the ones pictured here, go ahead and draw a thicker line at your lash line. For thinner frames, use thinner eyeliner.
When it comes to mascara, stick to your top lashes only when wearing glasses to avoid a smeary mess. Another big helper: Waterproof mascara that won't transfer to your glasses. Try the new Lancome Definicils Waterproof High Definition Mascara , $27.50.
Image via Ben Ritter for Bobbi Brown
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Makeup Don't: Overwhelm Delicate Frames
In addition to frame thickness, take into consideration the color of your glasses. If you have pastel or nude glasses, choose similar shades for your eye makeup. "Choose softer colors for shadow, and create the definition with a dark liner and mascara instead," says Brown.
That being said, softer makeup doesn't mean no makeup for glasses-wearers. "Most women think that their glasses will hide their eyes on days when they don't feel like wearing any makeup, but in fact, they only draw more attention to them."
Image via Ben Ritter for Bobbi Brown
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Makeup Do: Color Coordinate
The color of your eye makeup shouldn't compete or clash with the color of your glasses. "If you want to do the same color as your frames on your eyelids, try a base hue that's a shade lighter, and go a few shades darker for the crease color," says Brown.
