The beginning of the year can quickly turn from refreshing to exhausting. February may be the end of your post- holiday vacation gusto and the beginning of fatigue symptoms.  Breaking a sweat daily, eating well, and getting a caffeine fix may help your overall mood, but for most of us, our eyes will still give-away our sleep deprivation.

Whether you want your eyes to sparkle this Valentine’s Day or every day, enhance your eyes with these effortless beauty tips.

To get rejuvenated and youthful-looking eyes, start with eye drops. Red eyes portray sadness, poor health, and exhaustion. Use fake tears sparingly because ingredients in vasoconstrictors can sometimes cause rebound redness when used too often.

Next, you must cover those dark circles. Dot a concealer under your eyes that is the same shade as your foundation. Light-reflective formulas with hyaluronic acid attract moisture and will keep your eyes from looking sunken. Under-eye creases bumming you out? Use a moisturizing eye primer under eyes before applying concealer. Primers have silicones that prevent make-up pigments from settling into fine lines.

If you are a minimalist when it comes to make-up, concentrate on your lashes. Apply a light layer of a shimmery eye shadow. If you have hazel or green eyes use an olive-gold shadow, bronze, metallic cocoa, or copper shade. Taupe, tan, or warm auburn shadows really make blue eyes pop and rich plums and soft lavenders accentuate expressive brown eyes. To get fuller, longer lashes, concentrate on your mascara brush. For fuller lashes, find a tapered or football-shaped brush. These create a dramatic, feathery topcoat. You can also look for a mascara that contains micro-fibers. They cling to lashes and give a false lash effect sans glue and hassle.

To take your eyes from work to play, play around with a sexy smoky eye. Start with a chocolate-colored kohl liner. Apply with the side of the pencil, not the tip, to create a smudgy, soft effect. Then, use a natural-bristle brush to apply a similar shade eye-shadow. Feather the brush right above the lash line and sweep upwards at the outer corner. Then, use a small pointed brush to contour the outer edge of your lower lashes in the same shadow. Then, set the look by adding a darker shadow over your daytime shadow to the inner and outer corners of your eyelid.

Feel free to unleash your inner flirt and bat those lashes!

 

-Emily Freeman