Top Five Eye Liner Tips

I have been using gel eyeliner for a long time now and although I have tried many other kinds... pencil, liquid etc. Gel eyeliner is the best if you have no eyelashes and are trying to define your eye in a natural way.  Using this eyeliner also means that you can work into the water-line of your eye easily, which can really help to define your eyes that bit more.

My top 5 tips for gel eye-liners

1 Find a gel eyeliner that glides over the skin of your eyelid easily.  The eye is delicate and you don't want to pull or press too hard on the skin.  You can try a tester on the back of your hand just to see how it goes on.  Try doing a light wiggly line and imagine that it is your eye.  Avoid ones that are too dry.

2 Use the right kind of brush with a good length handle on it. Otherwise you are not going to create the best effect and it will make life difficult if you use some of the piddly brushes that just come free with your product.

3 Look after your brush that you use to put the eyeliner on.  As you are using it every day and putting it right inside your eye it needs to be clean.  I keep wet wipes with my beauty kit and clean brushes with these and once a week or so i use soap and water to thoroughly clean them.

4 When you're using your gel eyeliner make sure you always put the lid back on tightly.  You don't want it drying out.  If the eye liner is getting to the end of the pot and had dried out a bit and does not glide as easily then get the end of your make up brush and just stir the remains.

5  And finally my best of all the tips! I was rubbish when I first started wearing this kind of eyeliner.  I had such a wobbly hand!  My best tip is to just do what you can by putting the eyeliner on and then for your mistakes just get a cotton bud,  dip it into some eye-make up remover and just delicately edit away any mistakes.  Easy!

Two of my favourite Gel Eyeliners are... Elf Cream Eyeliner and Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner.

Elf is a new brand that you can buy online and is only about £4.  I think it is really good but I have to say I still love the Bobbi Brown version which is about £15.  As long as you look after the eyeliner it lasts ages!  It glides on really nicely and I find that it has a nice matt finish where as the Elf one has a shinyness to it. I also like the dark brown Bobbi Brown colour that I go for.  Whereas the Elf has black and then the next colour down for me is too light.  I also found that the Bobbi Brown eyeliner stays on for longer and the pigment of colour is much stronger.

Above you can see me before with only my Semi Permanent Eye Make Up on.  This is great on its own but I like to add eyeliner to this as it really intensifies the look. 

Here you can see how I have added eyeliner to the corners and the waterline of my eye by starting at the inner corner of my eye gradually getting thicker to the outer corner of my eye.

Please visit my website www.alopeciabeautytips.com where you can see how my story has been in the Daily Mail, GMTV with Lorraine Kelly, Marie Claire and how i have worked with the little princess trust charity and Trevor Sorbies Charity 'My New Hair'

Top 5 Tips on Applying False Eyelashes

I used to wear false eyelashes everyday, but once I got my Semi Permanent Make Up (eyebrows and eyeliner) I was a lot more confident and felt I did not need to wear them anymore.  After a break from wearing them I could not get back into the habit of fiddling about with them again every morning.  So when I found out that some people attached their eyelashes with a strong glue that lasts an entire week I just had to give it a try! 

From my years of practice before I started I made sure I had all the tools I needed...  Here are my top 5 tips on what you need!

1. Dressing table and seat with a good mirror and light – You need to be relaxed and comfortable and remember to practice a few times 1st before you plan to go anywhere in them! 

2. Strong Glue – this is the secret to eyelash application.  Some of the glues out there that come with your lashes are terrible!  Make life easier for yourself and get some super sticky glue.  I got mine from www.headcovers.com and it is called ultimate hold.  It can last up to a week!!

4. Small little scissors to trim lashes down – if you want your lashes to look natural you will probably need to trim them down so they are not too long.   Small scissors mean that you can be more delicate while trimming.  Try and cut at an angle to stop you getting a blunt edge and leave some of the lashes longer than others.

3. Eyelash applicator Tool  -  This tool is brilliant... It really helps with the positioning of the lash so you get it in the right place 1st time with out getting glue on your fingers.  I also got this from www.headcovers.com

5. Last but not least the lashes!  For a natural look get lashes with a natural growth pattern and no big gaps between the little hairs.  Here are the two that I have recently bought.  When they arrive they are quite long and I just trim them slightly at the sides and the length of the hairs. I just by the lashes from any chemist Eylure Naturalites.  I use to like the blinkies but I find these too heavy and they really weigh you lid down.

If you wear the false lashes for a week you do need to be a little careful with them when sleeping and washing your face.  Don’t burrow your head into the pillow if you can help it and try not to get your eyes too wet.  I wash my face and leave my eyes and just use a cotton bud dipped in make up remover to clean away any make up.

Have fun practicing :o)

Please visit my website www.alopeciabeautytips.com where you can see how my story has been in the Daily Mail, GMTV with Lorraine Kelly, Marie Claire and how i have worked with the little princess trust charity and Trevor Sorbies Charity 'My New Hair'