4 Ways To Make Your Eyes Appear More Awake

One of the most important things for me when applying my make-up is that I make myself look as awake as possible. I suffer quite badly with dark circles under my eyes and you can also see my veins quite clearly. I absolutely hate it. No matter how much sleep I get or how much I stay hydrated, my dark circles will never seem to shift. But with make-up it gives me that option of hiding away the darkness and bringing some light to around my eye area, making me more awake and less like a zombie. 

One of the first things I like to do and one that happens to be the second step into my actual make-up routine is to apply some concealer under my eyes. When you suffer with dark circles or just want to look more awake, I believe it's really important that you find a concealer, that not only covers any area's you want to stay hidden, but one that also helps to lighten and brighten the dark area. 

When picking a concealer to use under the eyes, if possible go for one that is one or two shades lighter than your foundation colour. This will really help to brighten up that under eye area and bring some light to these areas against your actual skin tone. A great affordable concealer that does this exact trick is the 'Seventeen Stay Time Concealer ' in the shade 'Extra Fair'. This concealer from Seventeen is priced at only £4.49 and gives a good medium coverage. It really helps to brighten up your under eye area. It's perfect for those with fair skin, as it doesn't have any warm undertones to it. A full review of this concealer can be found here on my blog.

For me this is one thing I absolutely have to do, because it really does make such a different to how your eyes look. I love highlighting as a whole. But highlighting the inner corner of your eye works wonders for those with dull and dark under eye circles. Again, just like the concealer, you are going to want to take a shade that is lighter than your actual skin tone. I would recommend something with a hint of shimmer and with a pearl like colour running through it. This will really help to brighten those eyes and create a really pretty pop of colour too.

I like to use my trusty 'Naked Basics' palette to do this. The shade I use is the very lightest one from the palette called 'Venus'. This is a pearly white colour that has hints of shimmer running through it. It is very pigmented and so worth the money. When applied to the inner corner of the eye, this shade really does last a long time and doesn't wipe away very quickly at all. A high staying power is the sort of quality you want to aim to for and perhaps to think about when you are deciding what shadow to use in this area. This is because our eyes have a tendency to be quite watery, particular in the inner corner as it is so close to the actual eye.

This is a new idea I have been trying out recently. It is so simple and involves hardly any effort. All you need to do is grab a white eye liner pencil and literally run it across your waterline. The white from the pencil will help to lighten up the eye area by enhancing the natural white colour of your eye and help to minimize any darkness.

Although, this is one way that I have found is only an instant and not long lasting thing to try when brightening the eyes. Because of where you are applying the pencil along the waterline, you will find that the pencil will rub off quite easily over time. I think using a white pencil this way is great for those days when you just want to be quick. Also perhaps for when you have done a complete eye make-up look and you want to bring more of your natural eye colour out through the usual of the pencil.

Let's be honest here, no make-up look is complete without mascara! For making your eyes appear more awake, mascara is a necessity. Mascara not only helps your eyelashes look thicker, darker and longer, but is also really helps to make your eyes look awake and really helps to open them up. I find the best mascaras to do this exact job is ones that prevent your lashes from clumping together and instead create a feather like effect. A mascara that also creates curl to your lashes will help to open your eyes and prevent them from looking smaller if they were instead kept to their usual state. You also want something that will help to create volume and create that big eye effect, which will help to finish off that fully awakened look. 

The mascara I reach to for daily to achieve all these three things is the 'Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara' in 'Intense Black'. This mascara is brilliant for achieving that feather effect to your lashes, giving them a slight curl and creating bags of volume. I'm in love with the look this mascara creates!

If you decide to stay away from black mascara for any reason, such as it's too dark for your natural colour lash if you have lighter hair or you feel it makes your eye circles more dark, then you can always opt for a mascara that suits your preferences, like brown or a more toned down black. 

How do you make your eyes appear more awake? How do you combat dark circles? 

Lauren x