Optometrist, Meriek van den Berg from Follow Mellins i-Style knows a thing or two about eyes – and how to enhance them. Follow her tips for making your eyes, not your spectacles the focus.
If you’re farsighted
“Farsighted women often wear plus-power lenses and these magnify your eyes,” says Meriek. Try these tricks:
Use dark, matte eyeshadows (brown, grey or green hues) to help minimise the eyes’ appearance.
Stay away from glitter or shiny eye makeup as this can be amplified by the lenses.
Apply eyeshadow from the inner to the outer corner of the eyelid without extending it beyond the crease.
Use dark eyeliner on the edges of the eyelid to help make eyes appear smaller.
Use mascara sparingly on top eyelashes and little or none on the bottom lashes.
Be meticulous when applying makeup as mistakes will be more obvious through lenses.
If you’re nearsighted
“You have the opposite problem. Your lenses will minimise the size of your eyes,” adds Meriek. Here, your tips for creating the illusion of bigger eyes:
Avoid dark, heavy eye makeup as this can make the eyes appear smaller.
Choose lighter coloured eyeshadows with some shimmer in rose, lavender, beige, light grey or white.
When applying eyeshadow, use a lighter colour on the inner corner of the eye with a slightly darker tint in the middle of the eyelid. While working from the middle towards the outer corner, gradually darken the colour.
Apply white eyeliner on the inner corner of your eye. Alternatively, extend a bright coloured eye pencil (such as grey or brown) from the last third of the eye to the outer corner.
Add lashings of mascara to make your eyes pop.
For more eye care tips and advice visit www.mellins.co.za.
Need to get a pair of glasses? Here’s how to find the right shape for your face. Want to amp up your eye game? Here’s how!
