Before you tumble into bed after a long day- how diligent are you about removing your makeup? Don’t mumble and groan! I know, it can be the last thing you want to think about; but your health and beauty depend on it. Leaving crusty eye makeup on overnight can spur nasty infections and accelerate the aging process of your oh-so-delicate eye area. Unfortunately, a lot of beauty reviews skip the how to remove eye makeup lesson to squeeze in more of the glitz and glamor stuff. Well, I love that too. But first and foremost this site is about you taking great care of you. So…

1. Choose a product specifically designed for removing eye makeup. Anything else can be too harsh for the fragile skin surrounding your eyes. Try Bare Bare Escentuals i.d. bareEyes - Eye Makeup Remover 4 oz. This is only available online, but it has everything you need to do the job.

2. Shake the bareEyes bottle until the product turns a frothy white color.

3. Apply to a cotton ball, close eyes (duh!) and remove any mascara, shadow or liner you’ve use. Keep going until the cotton ball shows no residue.

That’s it for how to remove eye makeup- easy as pie. A breeze. A walk in the park. Well, you get the picture. But here’s the bigger picture. Beauty reviews aren’t just about making you look good on the outside. Beauty reviews should focus on getting into the habit of taking really good care of yourself overall. Because when you pay good attention to health issues like how to remove eye makeup, you’ll look better and feel better.

Sincerely,

Caterina Christakos - founder of stillagirl.com - a positive place for women and girls

Like a frame around a picture, eye liner makes your eyes stand out. Really, other than mascara, it’s my favorite tool for the eyes. But my scan of beauty reviews for how to put on eye liner brings up the constant question of whether or not it’s OK to use eyeliner on the inner part of your lower lash line. You know- the part that is right next to your eyeball.

Well, I’ve always advised against it, due to the risk of infection. But there are some smoky eye looks that use this method. And a lot of the responses to beauty reviews claim that you won’t get an infection unless you’re sharing your makeup with someone who’ve infected.

Here’s my thinking. Even if you’re not worried about the risk of infection- my how to put on eye liner advice is to use eye liner below the lower lash line. Using it inside/above will only make eyes appear smaller. And if you are one of the few who truly desire that effect, there are other ways to achieve it. (Line the whole perimeter of your eye, for instance.)

Either way- here are the basic steps for how to put on eye liner.

1. Choose a versatile eye liner that will allow you to achieve both fine thin lines, and fatter smudgy ones. My current fave is Bare Escentuals Liner Shadow Compact Quad IV. It comes with four shades and a brush.
2. Hold your upper lid taut with your non-dominant hand, and use your writing hand to start at the inner corner of your eye and work outward. To really make your eyes appear larger you can focus on the outer edges by starting liner in the middle and working out from there.
3. Use a similar approach on the lower lash line. If using a pencil instead of a brush, try smudging staring through those lashes.

Remember to let liquid eyeliner dry before opening your eyes. And play around to figure out which type of liner you like best.

Sincerely,

Caterina Christakos - founder of stillagirl.com- a positive place for women and girls