My magic wand makeup tips & tricks to brighten and whiten tired eyes!

We’ve all had those mornings where we wake up, look into the mirror and wonder why our eyes look so dang tired even if we were lucky enough to get at least 7 hours of sleep!  Sometimes it’s from allergies, boo hooing watching a sappy chick flick the night before or it’s truly from lack of restful sleep.

Most of my photo and video shoots happen very early in the morning and the first thing the talent does when they arrive on set is go straight to hair and makeup. That’s when I take out my magical Glitter Fairy wand and transform red, tired looking eyes to bright, alert and rested eyes.

The simplest thing to do is to skip the dark eye liner in the inner rim/water line and replace it with a beigy colored one. Not only will this trick help brighten eyes it also helps to open up and make smaller eyes appear bigger. I know we’ve all seen and maybe own a white eye liner but to me it’s a really dated look that is too garish & obvious to wear for normal everyday life. It could possibly work for photos or videos that are not in HD but even then you have to be careful not to overdo it as it just looks so white and obvious. The more modern and subtle way is to use a nude, peachy, beigy colored pencil. Luckily there are lots of brands making these now. They come in both matte and pearly finishes depending on what you prefer and the look you’re going for.  The three that I use the most are from Cargo (very peachy nude) and the two brand new ones from ItCosmetics that are perfectly named “Hello Bright Eyes” which come in a matte or pearl finish. They are also waterproof which is perfect to make it last longer on the waterline and are infused with antiaging ingredients too!

Other tricks that I use to make the whites of the eyes appear whiter and brighter are all products that are blue. Did you know that the whites of our eyes yellow as we age? I know, so ridic but it does make us look more haggard and just not as bright and alert as we may feel on the inside. Why blue? The slight blue tint like in the picture above of one of my fave super models, Jessica Stam uses a blue filter in the lighting to give it that slight cool undertone emphasizing her eye color as well as brightening up the whites of her eyes. Remember way back when people used the product “Bluing” in their laundry to get their whites extra white? Same tricks work in makeup too!

So here are some of my fave blue beauty products. There’s blue mascara but don’t be skurred. I’m not talking 1980’s bright blue at all! The more modern blue mascaras like the one from DiorShow are much more subtle in color plus I like to apply it as the final coat over black mascara just to the tips of the top lashes only. Again, it’s a subtle effect but it works! Another thing I like to do is use a navy eye liner to the top lash line and to the outside of the bottom lash line leaving the inner rim either unlined or using one of the beigy ones as described above. This really helps to brighten and whiten the eyes! My final tip has to do with blue tinted eye drops. This is something that works best on lighter colored eyes especially blue which are the most sensitive to light and dryness. All my clients with blue eyes experience red eyes on set from the bright hot lights. This is a product that I use very sparingly only when needed. Usually i’ll just use regular eye drops, specifically Clear Eyes which I like the best to get rid of the red. If that doesn’t work I use the blue tinted eye drops (Google to find a professional makeup artist store online as they are difficult to find in the U.S. but readily available in every pharmacy in France). This too works subtly in person to the naked eye but on camera makes a huge difference!

Thanks for reading!  XOXO, Tiffany 🙂