Five ways to make eyes look great now that salon services are off the menu

Five ways to make eyes look great now that salon services are off the menu

01/08/2021

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Traditionally, lipstick has always been our go-to beauty treat when times get tough – but that was before Covid and face masks came along.

With the lower half of our face covered up, it’s all about the eyes right now. Instead of the “Lipstick Index”, we’re now investing in products to make our lashes look lusher and longer, and our eyes wider, fresher and more defined.

In fact, we’re all so obsessed with our eyes that it’s even prompted a change in cosmetic trends. The culprit? All those video calls we’re on.

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“With the Zoom meetings happening, everyone is looking at the eyes all the time so I’ve had an influx of patients asking about rejuvenation treatments – like upper eyelid lifts – in that area,” explains Dr Paul Nassif, cosmetic surgeon and star of Botched.

Plastic surgery might not be on the cards right now, but if you fancy giving yourself a wide-eyed look at home, then there are plenty of ways you can play up your peepers using only make-up.

From a “magic” mascara and salon-style lashes to DIY brow shaping and professional make-up artist tricks, we’ve tried and tested the latest launches promising to give professional-looking results from the comfort of your own home…

1. Lush up your lashes

If there’s one product we just can’t live without right now, it’s a great mascara. And by great, we mean one that’s a real triple threat, doing an excellent all-round job of lengthening, lifting and fattening our lashes.

An all-time favourite of ours is Eyeko Black Magic Mascara, which would normally set you back £19. Right now though, you can snap it up for as little as £10.27* here as part of the exclusive OK! Beauty Edit Box, curated by none other than reality star Billie Shepherd.

Speaking about Eyeko Black Magic, Billie tells us: “I absolutely love this mascara. It gives that really full, dramatic look. It's so good for curling and adding volume.”

Save 21% on The OK! Beauty Edit here

As well as containing a full-size tube of this fantastic lash perfector, the box contains four more of Billie’s favourites, including a deluxe sample of Harley Street Skin Care Restorative Hydro Moisturiser, worth £19.50, a travel size version of Color Wow Style On Steroids Colour-Safe Texturising Spray, worth £11, and Simple Rich Moisture Sheet Mask worth £2.99

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There’s also a full size of INC.redible Roller Baby The Original Rollerball Gloss, worth £8 – keep that on standby for Zoom calls and when we can have our lips back on show again in the real world!

2. Create your own extensions

It’s going to be a while until salons reopen, which means taking a break from professional lash extensions. However, you can recreate the look at home using Kiss Falscara starter kit, £24.99 here, a really clever kit that attaches falsies UNDER your natural lash line

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It sounds a bit strange but placing ‘wisps’ (or cluster lashes) under your lashes disguises any sort of join and creates the illusion of a salon treatment. It takes a little practice to get the hang of it but it’s easy once you know how – and let’s face it, we all need to master a new skill in lockdown!

3. Define with the cheat’s eyeliner

Want to make your eyes look sharper and your lashes look thicker? A winged eyeliner is one way to do it, but what if you’re out of practice and your results look more wobbly than sultry?

We recommend trying the foolproof “tightlining” method recommended by celebrity make-up artist Hannah Martin, where you apply liner to the upper waterline.

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“Use one hand to gently pull your lashes onto the lid, then use either a pencil like Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Liner Pencil, £2.99 here, or gel liner to paint the exposed waterline,” Hannah explains. “This ‘hidden liner’ will make the eyes look more defined and lashes look darker. It’s good for anyone with a hooded eye who feels liner on the top lash line makes their eyes look small.”

4. Laminate for less

Since brows frame your face and draw attention to your eyes, they shouldn’t be forgotten about in your beauty routine. If you’d normally head to a salon to have your arches tended to, we may just have a solution to see you through the next six weeks.

  • Lauren Pope shows off incredible results of home brow lamination treatment

Control unruly hair and give your brows model-esque and feathery results with a home lamination treatment like High Brow Brow Lamination Kit, from £40 here. The easy-to-use kit contains everything you need to straighten out and set your brow hairs into a brushed-up style for 4-6 weeks. Since the kit contains enough uses for five treatments, and a salon lamination service will set you back around £50, you’re also saving yourself some money.

Celebs like Lauren Pope and Olivia Attwood have also turned to lamination kits to see them through the lockdowns.

5. Smoke it up the easy way

Lockdown life still calls for a smoky eye sometimes – you might as well make an effort when you’re doing Zoom cocktails with pals, right?

Rather than battling with a palette bigger than the laptop you’re calling your friends on, we recommend using one of the latest creamy eyeshadow sticks, which make your eyes look bigger and sexier without fear of drop-down and smudging.

Our current favourite is Delilah Stay The Night Smooth Shadow Sticks, £36 for a set of three here. This includes the gorgeous copper-bronze shade Cinnamon Swirl we recently spotted Holly Willoughby wearing.

Just sweep your stick of choice over your lid and into the crease, using a finger to soften the edge so you don’t see a hard edge.

* £10.27 price for this box is part of 6-month beauty box subscription, on special offer for a limited time only

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