Layers of color on your eyes help define and enhance your best features.

As was discussed in my last column, it is essential to start applying makeup on clean, fresh skin if you want to create a beautiful, long-lasting look. Residue — dirt from the environment as well as oils from your own system — collects on the skin and should be removed with a cleansing product formulated for your skin type. Then use a tonic (if you have oily skin) or a moisturizer.
      Apply moisturizer in a three-dot pattern (three on each cheek, three on your forehead, two on your nose, and one on your chin) to ensure even coverage. Also apply on eyelids and over lips. Be careful not to use too much, and blend well so that your skin will be sealed and protected from the ravages of nature and pollution.
     In my last column (Pageantry Summer 2001, pg. 34), I explained in Steps 1-6 how to apply concealer, foundation, loose transparent powder, contour, blusher and cheek highlighter. Here is how to apply the rest of your makeup.

7 Eyelid Base Use your flat brush to smooth an ivory-colored powder shadow all the way from your brows to your top lashes. This shadow will even the color of your skin and absorb oiliness and perspiration that could affect your color shadows. Blend well before applying other shadows.

8 Shadow for Lid Blend a darker contour shade of powder shadow over the crease between the brow and the upper lashes to help open your eye. Use a lighter, softer shade of powder shadow on the lower part of your lid, to bring it forward..

9 Shadow Under Bottom Lashes Use a darker shadow (either the same shade as on the crease or another dark shade) under the bottom lashes. It will cause this potentially puffy area to recede in relation to the areas around it.

10 Highlighter Shadow Under Brows Use a light-colored flat matte powder shadow or an iridescent shadow to highlight the area between the brow bone and the crease. Needless to say, all of your shadows should be blended so that they melt into one another; you should never be able to tell where one shadow ends and the next begins.

11 Pencil or Eyeliner Pick up a thick, soft kohl pencil, look down, and pull down your bottom lashes before placing your pencil inside the rim of your eye. Draw a pencil line inside and all around the eye. The almost invisible line will markedly increase the apparent size of your eye.
      Alternatively, use a big outlining pencil to draw a line around the eye. Hold at an angle and keep as close as possible to the lashes. Blend your pencil line into your powder shadows with a sponge-tip applicator.

Another, more dramatic alternative is eyeliner. Wet your eyeliner brush, dip it in cake liner, and apply the liner as close as possible to the lashes.

When it comes to honing your cosmetic slight-of-hand, you'll want to start with these tips.

12 Eyebrows For a natural brow look, first brush your brows up, then color with pencil. Use a taupe pencil for fair brows (or an auburn if you have reddish highlights in your hair). Holding your pencil at an angle, apply between the hairs with short, light pencil strokes. Then take your applicator brush and brush on eyebrow set, to keep your eyebrow look in place.

13 Eyelash Curler While keeping your eye open, gently place your eyelash curler midway over your top lashes. Press for about thirty seconds and release.

14 Mascara Start with the bottom lashes, and roll your applicator up and down the curl of the lashes with a very light touch. Allow a few seconds to dry before you start on your top lashes. Start with the top of your upper lashes, rolling your wand right up the curl of your lashes before gently stroking the ends. Repeat on the inside to exaggerate the curl.

15 Lip Outline Out-line your lips with a soft pencil or a lip brush. Place a dot of liner at each peak of your Cupid�s bow and two more spots of color directly underneath at the bottom of your lower lip line. Trace your lip line between the dots with liner. Then complete lining by working color in from the corners of your mouth. (Trying to line your lips with one continuous line will make you waver!)
      Use a lip brush to stroke color onto your lips. For a fuller appearance, leave the center of your lips open and fill in with a matching gloss. Blend with your brush.

16 Colored Powder As a finishing touch, add a colorful glow to your makeup by fluffing on a colored or tinted transparent powder. Use a firmer hand over a potentially oily T-zone area to prevent breakthrough shine later. Brush over your forehead, around the jaw line, and over your eyelids and lips, using a lighter hand wherever your skin is dry.

Ilana Harkavi is president and creative director of Il-Makiage, a cosmetics company with a palette of more than 500 colors. She is a renowned makeup artist and a beauty trendsetter whose clients have included Cher, Kim Basinger, Madonna. Diana Ross and Sylvester Stallone. Harkavi also is the author of a beauty book I'll Make You Beautiful.

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