Pencil Eyeliner

Pencil eyeliners offer a more natural approach to eye definition and are supereasy to apply. Whether you choose a smudgy rock-n-roll look or a fine, barely there line, your eyes will command attention.

Look for pencils that glide on smooth and don’t pull or tug the delicate eye area. I like gel liners that slick on seamlessly and stay put all day. For women with hooded lids or oily skin, a waterproof formula will last for hours without smudges. To ensure the most precise application, always sharpen the pencil first.

• Start by tilting your head up so you are looking down your nose into the mirror. (While you’re at it, say hello, sassy!) From this position, you can see your entire lid.
• Gently pull your eyelid taut with your ring finger at the outer corner of the eye and begin drawing the pencil along the lash line, wiggling color into the roots as you go. Now shade in any visible skin between the liner and the lashes. Lovely!
• To achieve an even softer effect, trace over the liner with an angle brush that has been dipped into a little powder eye shadow.
• For superdrama, try layering liner. I like to line the eyes with a dark color, like black or deep chocolate brown. Then I place a lighter shade, like blue or burgundy, right above the dark liner for a rich, thick lash line look.
• Feeling a touch unsteady? Breathe! Then feather on light strokes of pencil and blend ’em together with a cotton swab or an angle brush for a soft, natural-looking finish.

For a dramatic, extra-thick lash line, apply black eyeliner on the upper inside rim of the eye at the bottom base of the lashes.

Apply white and nude eyeliners to the inside rims to light up smaller eyes.

Brighten the whites of your eyes by using a deep blue pencil on the inside rims—an especially great look for women with darker skin.

Choose dark liners that contain shimmer for extra sparkle.

Article Source: Get Positively Beautiful The Ultimate Guide to Looking and Feeling Gorgeous by Carmindy

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Liquid Eyeliner

We ooh and ahh over eyes perfectly defined with liquid liner, yet most of us shy away from trying it out ourselves. Shake off the intimidation, ladies! Every woman can wear liquid liner to create an enchanting, entrancing glance.

Today’s liquid liner formulas go on smooth and keep flaking at bay, and many are waterproof for lasting wear. Black is the classic color choice but far from the only option. For added zing, try teal, eggplant, shimmering brown, silver, or bronze. Look for liners featuring a small, tapered brush and a shorter handle—they’re much easier to control than the longer, skinny ones.

Ready to give liquid liner a go? Fantastic. Here’s my foolproof technique: get out your magnifying mirror, get up close, and give yourself a wink!

• The secret to applying liquid liner like a pro is not trying to sweep on a perfect line all at once. Begin applying liquid liner as close to the roots of the lashes as possible, starting at the inside corner of the eyes. In little connecting dashes, work your way toward the outer corners, and finish with a little sweep up at the ends. This little wing lifts the eyes and opens them up.

• Personally, I never apply liquid liner under the lower lash line; it looks too harsh. For subtle under-eye definition, sweep on a touch of powdered shadow instead by using an angle brush. I like to finish my liquid liner look with neutral shadows on the lid and crease.

• If you have a very shaky hand or are a newbie to liquid liners, try drawing the line with a pencil liner first, then trace over it with liquid liner.

• Don’t fret if the line isn’t perfect. Simply dip a small-tipped concealer brush into a little foundation, and use it as a perfecting eraser. No worries!

 

Have blonde eyelash roots you just can’t reach with mascara? Paint them with black liquid
eyeliner.

Try dipping an angle brush into liquid liner and sweeping it across the eye for a slightly thicker,
more controlled line.

Use liquid eyeliner to hide the seam on false lashes.

Here are a few tailored tips for liquid liner loveliness. If you have . . .

SMALLER EYES— keep the line thin and close to the lashes

BIGGER EYES— draw on a thicker line

DEEP-SET EYES — try your “opposites attract” shade instead of black or brown to brighten the area

ALMOND EYES— extend the line to a subtle wing at each end

HOODED EYES— always choose a waterproof formula; keep liner close to the roots of the
lashes; once applied, keep looking down until the liner is completely dry to prevent smudging

WIDE-SET EYES— start lining the eyes a bit thicker on the inside corners and then thin the lin as you work your way toward the ends; no wings, please!

CLOSE-SET EYES— start the line slightly past the midpoint of the upper lids; work outward
and wing out at the ends

Article Source: Get Positively Beautiful The Ultimate Guide to Looking and Feeling Gorgeous by Carmindy

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The Eyes Haveit

Connection. Soulfulness. Enchantment. Our eyes speak volumes without making a sound. So, what have yours been saying lately? By this point in our little voyage together, I hope it’s a whole lotta sweet somethings!

Eyes are a fantastic feature to focus on as you shift your beauty thinking. Every color, every shape, at every age—eyes have an irresistible allure all their own. By refining your approach to eye makeup, you can supercharge your whole face. Believe it!

The most frequently asked question I hear is, “How do I make my eyes stand out?”

“Opposites attract” is my motto when enhancing eyes to look vividly alive. By choosing shadows, liners, and mascaras that contrast with your eye color, you turn up the voltage of your irises for an electrifying beauty. Whether your peepers are blue, green, brown, or hazel, using opposing makeup colors will always make them “pop.”

Now remember, there are no hard-and-fast rules; the following are only suggestions to help you sensationalize your eyes. Play with this “opposites attract” idea, and pay attention to the compliments sure to follow!

BROWN EYES
Play with deep shades of navy and sapphire smudged into the lash line for a subtle edge that is alluring but not over-the-top. When using blue eyeliner, follow with neutral lid colors like soft shimmering browns for a modern look.

Brown-eyed girls can also have fun with shades of green. Experiment with forest and emerald to discover what really sparkles on you.

BLUE EYES

Smudge on shades of chocolate brown, taupe, or bronze to make the blue really come alive. Blue shadows compete with your natural color, so play to the positive by skipping blue hues.














GREEN EYES
Try eyeliners or shadows in eggplant, purple, burgundy, lavender, or amethyst. The contrast of colors will give you the sexiest emerald stare.















HAZEL EYES
Hazel eyes look incredible when paired with green shadow. My personal favorite is a sparkling forest green applied across the lid and under the lash line. This shade deepens the brown tones while bringing up the green.













When playing up your gorgeous eyes, remember to balance your total look by toning down lip color so the eyes are the star of the show.

Feeling faint of heart? Start with a neutral eye shadow and add an “opposites attract” liner shade on the underside of the upper lash line for a slight hint of color.

Not a huge fan of eye shadow? Check out tinted mascaras. Look for dark hues of deep green, navy blue, teak brown, or rich plum. (Anything lighter will be distracting instead of alluring.)

Article Source: Get Positively Beautiful The Ultimate Guide to Looking and Feeling Gorgeous by Carmindy

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Use Makeup to Illuminate Your Beauty

Many experts say that makeup is best understood as the art of creating an illusion.

They advise us to trick the eye into seeing what is not true. Their techniques emphasize contouring a face to conform to a certain beauty standard and they push flaw-concealment as priority one.

Well, not here. Not me. No way. Because your beauty is no illusion!
Readers of The 5-Minute Face will recall how my inspiration to become a makeup artist came from watching my mother paint her canvases with watercolors. She used gentle brushstrokes, swirled in soft washes of color, and played with light to draw the eye to what was wonderful about her subject.

Ladies, today our subject is you. And Mom’s modus operandi still applies. (Thanks, Mom!)
Since reading the last chapter, I hope you’ve already started seeing your features in new ways and found a favorite or three. What you’re about to learn is how to light up your best features by using the right products in the right places. Step-by-step, I’ll show you how to illuminate your natural assets so your unique loveliness shines through. All you. All true. Positively beautiful.

As you explore each of the following chapters, set your attitude on playful adventure. You may consider your eyes your best feature, but there’s every reason to try new ways to showcase your lips, cheeks, or skin. Let your spirit be your guide. Is today a sexy-lips day or a bronzed-cheek day? Does tonight call for a moody eye or an elegantly minimalist look? Remember, it’s makeup. There are no goofs you can’t wash off, so why not go for it?

Now let’s have some fun getting your gorgeousness on!

Article Source: Get Positively Beautiful The Ultimate Guide to Looking and Feeling Gorgeous by Carmindy

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Change the Game and Win Every Time

I’ve asked you to change the way you think, to tell the naysayers to buzz off and to focus on your assets. Simply put, to change for the better. But let’s face it: change of any kind can be scary.

All fear boils down to the fear of the unknown. We hold on to negative thoughts and
counterproductive habits if for no other reason than we’re used to them. They’ve hung around for years. Good old, boring status quo. To that I say heave-ho!

Be brave enough to live life beautifully. You may not have traveled this road before; you may not know where it’s going. But trust me, it leads to a fascinating new place filled with opportunities, adventures, and unimaginable satisfaction.

Some of you might hold back your best for fear of standing out in the crowd. You might confuse confidence with arrogance. To that I must ask, why are you so comfortable underplaying yourself?

How is settling for less serving anyone?

When you tune in to what’s special about you, you turn on an inner light that brightens the way for everyone you encounter. When you switch your focus to the positive, you feel energized and kind, creating a presence that is peaceful and comforting to others.

Your feeling good and looking it radiates goodness out into the world. Beauty is magical. It’s powerful. And it only attracts more of the good stuff we want to come into the lives we share. Paying attention to beauty isn’t narcissistic, it’s downright humanitarian!

Albert Einstein once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Clearly, you picked up this book to achieve something different for yourself, not only for your looks but also for your life. So how about we end the insanity?

If we’re going to be obsessed, let’s be obsessed with being positive. Let’s focus our energies on playing up our natural beauty and appreciating the unique gifts of everyone around us.

Let’s expect different results; let’s expect the best!

You know, the only thing separating the dreamers from the achievers is action. Getting positively beautiful is an easy way to initiate change. Just take that first step, and keep on going.

It’s your life, sugar. Make it gorgeous!

Article Source: Get Positively Beautiful The Ultimate Guide to Looking and Feeling Gorgeous by Carmindy

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Embrace the Beauty Ritual

Many of us get excited at the thought of transforming our approach to beauty but stop short of doing it.

Why? Because we’ve been told that pampering ourselves is selfish. Again, the negative voices start in. Shouldn’t you be spending that time on the kids? Or hubby? Or the boss? Anyone but you?

The fact is, making time to enhance your natural beauty is your feminine privilege and can improve every aspect of your busy life. When you decide to put your best face forward, you start generating positive momentum and ride through the day on a wave of confidence. And when you’re clearly confident, others believe in you, too. Believe it!

Embrace the power of the beauty ritual, and see what happens when you greet each day feeling relaxed, balanced, and at your best. Whether it’s a bubble bath, a luxurious application of lotion, or a tender patting of powder on your nose, find a ritual that restores you, and do it to your heart’s content.

We have history on our side here. The act of applying creams and cosmetics to benefit skin and spotlight features is an ancient, spiritual art form women have been performing for thousands of years.

Check out the murals in King Tut’s tomb. Those Egyptian ladies took their sweet time perfecting their kohl-black eyes. Why shouldn’t you take a few minutes in the morning to nurture your own beauty?

Consider your beauty ritual as the one steadfast opportunity you have to breathe deeply, rid
yourself of negative thoughts, and honor your loveliness. You need never apologize for making yourself a priority, nor for taking womanly pleasure in it.

And guess what? When you let go of negativity and take a positive, playful attitude toward beauty, you’ll lighten your load and free up a lot of headspace and heart space to be more giving to others.

And you’ll be an even better mom, wife, friend, or colleague because you’ll have started the day with a strong foundation of feeling good about yourself. Nothing selfish about it!

Article Source: Get Positively Beautiful The Ultimate Guide to Looking and Feeling Gorgeous by Carmindy

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Revel in Your Fantastic Features

When I meet a woman for the first time, I automatically zoom in on her most compelling features and think of ways to enhance her unique beauty. It’s just how my “expert” eye works. I hope to impart that same technique to you!

To start seeing with Carmindy Vision, I need your agreement on a couple of things. One: There is no set standard of feminine beauty. And two: Every woman is born blessed with something she can claim as beautiful . . .

• a large and powerful nose that is elegant and strong
• darkness under the eyes that creates a mysterious, sultry glance
• a crooked mouth that offers life and character to a smile
• a round face with large cheeks that looks warm and inviting
• a narrow face with a little chin that evokes a sweet charm

Excuse me while I enthuse. Lashes, brows, foreheads, cheeks, lips, skin! Such variety! So much to adore! Take a look! Really look at yourself and the women around you. Aren’t we spectacular?

Case in point: my paternal grandmother. Grandma Hallie wasn’t classically gorgeous, but to me she was the most beautiful woman ever because she took her best assets and worked the room with ’em. She had amazing skin and great lips, so she always rocked a red lipstick and wore silver bangles to play up her headliners. Outstanding.

Later in the book, we’ll delve deeper into how to pinpoint your feature focus and enhance the best of what only you have to offer. Right now, I need your heartfelt, hardcore commitment to believing in your own beauty.

My expertise with lipsticks and shadows will fall flat without your full-on faith in you. But with it? Honey, you’ll feel empowered, look incredible, and be unstoppable!

Article Source: Get Positively Beautiful The Ultimate Guide to Looking and Feeling Gorgeous by Carmindy

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Kick Away Corrosive Comparisons

Getting your mind made up to be beauty-positive is a fantastic first step. But staying focused on your unique attributes requires constant care, especially when the media and advertisers conspire to sabotage our efforts by inviting us to play the most time-wasting game ever: Compare and Despair.

Television and magazines bombard us with images of so-called beauty ideals that look nothing like you or me. The motive? To keep us second-guessing our own worth. We see shot after shot of celebrities who are glorified when they are “perfect” and vilified when they “let themselves go.”

We’re encouraged to judge these stars. And we do.

Comparison games create corrosive thought patterns, patterns that push us to talk negatively about ourselves and pit us against our fellow ladies. We all suffer the consequences.

Consider how many of us look at a photograph of a pretty woman—or, should I say, of a woman who fits with what society has dictated as pretty. First, we notice her beauty and appreciate it for its own sake. Then, about a half second later, that inner critic starts piping up: “I look nothing like her.

Therefore, I’m hideous.” I can almost hear the announcer right there alongside you: “Yes indeed, ladies. Another great afternoon ruined by a fun-filled round of Compare and Despair! Dedicated to keeping you in your place by knocking your spirit!”

I want off that not-so-merry-go-round. How about you?

We are society so, it is up to us to choose how we respond to what we see. The media and
marketers will only change if we change our thinking and our behavior. Thank goodness, it’s already starting to happen. For example, I applaud companies like Dove for their revolutionary Campaign for Real Beauty. Now is the perfect time to be your own beauty revolutionary, to stand up for what’s yours and to act accordingly.

Now, don’t get me wrong; admiring other women can be inspiring. As a kid, I idolized Marilyn Monroe and tried to emulate eighties supermodel Kim Alexis—both blondes with light eyes.

Coincidence? Hardly. I find most women fixate on celebs who match their coloring, as if these stars are the ultimate remix of their own features. But guess what? If you were the famous one, those same people would be talking about your beauty.

After all, the actual definition of celebrity is “one who is celebrated.” Want to be a celebrity?
Start celebrating yourself! Decide that comparing and despairing is tedious and toxic, whether the standard you’re applying is that of a fashion model or a woman at the gym.

Recognize that there will always be someone more “this” and someone less “that.” But the one with the most confidence wins every time. Resolve not to waste another minute keeping score.

You have far better ways to use that newfound time and energy.

Article Source: Get Positively Beautiful The Ultimate Guide to Looking and Feeling Gorgeous by Carmindy

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Looking Good Starts with Feeling Good: Drop the Flaw Focus Part 2

By dropping the flaw focus, you set off on a new path, one that’s freeing and wonderful.

To understand how silly it is to hold one standard of beauty and to see any variation from it as aflaw, play along with me for a moment . . .

Imagine hearing a floral expert on a home improvement show proclaiming, “Only roses are
beautiful.” Our instincts would disagree. But, hey, we might still listen. A few minutes later, some of us might believe it and consider tearing up our magnolia trees and painting our orchids to look like roses. But why stop there? Delicate violets, striking birds of paradise? Hit the trash. Elegant calla lilies, scentsational lilacs? Off you go. Heck, we might grow to resent the rose’s beauty and stop caring about flowers altogether. How absurd, right? Well, we have spent far too much time plucking away at our petals, and it has to stop.

Let go of the past. Drop that destructive commentary stuck on repeat. It’s a tired track, and no one can dance to it!

How?

Start by trying this simple exercise. Look into a mirror and speak aloud your usual negative
thoughts, like, “Ugh. These dark circles.” Notice your whole facial expression as you say it. Now take a deep breath, concentrate on something positive in the same area, and praise it, loud and proud.

“Check out my gorgeous eyes.” What happens to your face simply from switching your focus and your words?

I’d bet my bottom dollar you immediately look happier, more relaxed. Now, does it feel a little silly at first? Maybe. But it’s a whole lot sillier to be dishing yourself a big ol’ plate of negative energy that manifests itself right smack in the middle of your face. Speaking sweetly of yourself, to yourself is more than a nicety. It’s a necessity and the most potent beauty secret I know.

Ultimately, it’s up to you to let go and take that first step toward the positive. You’re in charge of your thoughts and emotions. It’s your face, your image, and your life. Do you want it to be about your flaws or about your fabulousness?
Exactly.

Article Source: Get Positively Beautiful The Ultimate Guide to Looking and Feeling Gorgeous by Carmindy

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Looking Good Starts with Feeling Good: Drop the Flaw Focus

Sounds simple, right? But after two decades in the beauty biz, I know how difficult it is to shut out the negative messages coming at us every day.

Think for a moment about beauty “experts” who show us how to fix what they perceive is wrong with a given face. They see and point out the flaws first—expecting us to agree with the criticism— and then give instruction on how to camouflage the “issue.” We can get so caught up in obeying their authority that we start transferring other women’s “problem areas” to our own faces: suddenly we can only see dark undereye circles or thin lips. Before you know it, we feel worse than before.

We can hardly place blame on the beauty industry alone. Often the destructive cycle starts much closer to home.

No matter who you are, chances are people in your past have made negative comments about your appearance. Maybe a childhood bully yelled, “Hey, pizza face.” Or an uncle whispered, “Quite a honker of a schnoz she’s got there.” Or a controlling boyfriend hissed, “Your eyes are so tiny, no wonder you can’t drive straight.”

I’m sure you have your own painful list. Why is it that we remember the insults and forget the compliments? Beats me, but we do—especially when we’re young and forming our ideas about ourselves, and looking to others for guidance. When people close to us try to boost their selfimportance by cutting us down, the wounds go deep.

Again, it’s all about the power of words. We hold on to these negative opinions as truth. A nasty remark said in passing turns into a long-lasting insecurity. Rather than fight the insults, we agree.

What’s worse is that we take over the role of critic and turn up the volume.

I can’t tell you how many women I have worked with who, when I say, “Wow, what beautiful eyes you have,” argue that they are too small. Or if I say, “Check out your terrific complexion,” they’ll point out how big their pores are. I feel like calling the Centers for Disease Control to report an epidemic of facial dysmorphic disorder!

Even if you have been lucky enough to go through life unscathed by negative comments, you may have chosen to generate your own, perhaps as a member of the age-hating party. You may be one of those women who tracks every miniscule change, scrutinizing and agonizing. Every trip to the mirror ends in panicked dread.

It’s ridiculous. It’s also a serious misuse of our feminine power.

By focusing on what’s “wrong” with our looks, we’re—by definition—dwelling on the negative.

When we’re harsh with ourselves, we’re agreeing with those who sought to hurt us. And we’re fueling a damaging cycle that not only dulls our appearance but also darkens our days. Now I ask you, is that how we want to be? Acting as our own worst enemies?
I hear you, feisty ladies. N.O.

So, what do we say yes to instead? Being positively beautiful by celebrating our individuality and enhancing our unique assets.

Every woman has a special bloom all her own. Now is the time to take notice—starting in our own mirrors.

I realize your urge might be to fight me on this. Old habits are tough to break. But has being so tough on yourself brought you the results you want? Clearly not.

Article Source: Get Positively Beautiful The Ultimate Guide to Looking and Feeling Gorgeous by Carmindy

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