Pillar guide · Eyes
Eyes: Shadow, Liner, Mascara and Lashes
Everything that goes on the eye, what each format is for, and the palette problem nobody names.
Written by Lamyaa Aissi, professional makeup artist, Casablanca.
The eye carries most looks, and it is where the most money is wasted — on palettes bought for shades that were never going to work on the wearer.
The single most useful thing to know: the cool taupes and greyed browns that fill almost every palette sold as neutral are formulated against fair to light-medium lids. On the deeper half of the Moroccan range they do not read as depth, they read as dullness.
Four shades do ninety per cent of the work
A matte transition close to the skin tone, a deeper matte for the outer corner, one shimmer for the centre of the lid, and a dark matte for definition. Almost every wearable eye look is those four in different proportions.
Which is why a thirty-pan palette is the wrong first purchase: it asks for thirty decisions before the brush touches the eye, and four pans end up worn down while the rest stay untouched.
Liner format decides how forgiving it is
Pencil is soft and correctable and moves the fastest. Gel holds a sharp shape and survives heat, which matters at a Moroccan wedding. Liquid gives the cleanest line and the least forgiveness.
On a long night, a soft pencil on the waterline with nothing set over it is the most common failure — set it with a matching powder or expect it halfway down the cheek by midnight.
Lashes under flash
Mascara alone disappears under a photographer's flash, which is precisely when the eye is most photographed. Applied lashes are not decoration on a bridal face; they are what stops the eye vanishing in the frames that matter.
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Questions
Which eyeshadow colours suit deeper skin?
Warm ones — bronze, copper, terracotta, warm gold. They separate from the skin and read as colour. Cool taupes and greyed browns, which fill most neutral palettes, largely disappear.
How do I stop eyeliner smudging?
Set a pencil with a matching powder pressed over it, and avoid soft pencil on the waterline with nothing over it for a long event. That combination is the single most common cause of smudging.
Matte or shimmer for a beginner?
Matte first, and it is the more useful lesson. Shimmer hides a bad edge, so it teaches nothing. Matte shows every mistake, which is how you learn to blend.
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