O's Step-by-Step Guide to Dramatic Evening Eyes

Real estate agent Anne Flanagan sits down with makeup artist Sandy Linter, to learn the right way to put her eye makeup on.

ANNE'S TECHNIQUE

"I'm fearless with lipstick—I'll wear red, fuchsia, burgundy—but when I try to make up my eyes for a night out, I'm sooo tentative," says Anne. Her noncommittal technique: Dust bronzer across eyelids with a fluffy brush; gingerly line upper lids (outer half only) with a black pencil; apply one coat of mascara. While the result isn't garish or unflattering, it doesn't do Anne any favors, either. "Anne has such beautiful big blue eyes, she can play them up a lot more," says Linter.

See Linter's 8-step makeup makeover

Step 1

To prevent fading and smudging, prep the lids with either an eye primer (like Lancôme Ombre Perfecteur, $23) or a cream-to-powder shadow in a neutral shade (like Neutrogena Skin Soothing Eye Tint in Honey Shimmer, $9). Avoid putting concealer on the lids; it tends to crease.

STEP 2

Line the upper lashline with a black pencil. Beginning above the pupil, make small dashes as close to the lashes as possible until you get to the outer corner of the eye; then, starting at the inner corner, make the dashes toward the center of the lid, until the lines meet.

STEP 3

Take a Q-tip (or the domed smudge brush on one end of a liner pencil) and use it to smudge the liner up, ever so slightly, at the outer corners of the eye. This gives the shape of the eyes a lift and makes them appear both wider and farther apart.

STEP 4

Dot a creamy bronze liner pencil (like Lancôme Le Stylo Waterproof in Bronze, $25.50; Lancome-USA.com) along the crease of the lid. Blend the pencil into the hollow of the eye with an eyeshadow brush, smudging it up and out a bit toward the temple. To set and soften the color in the crease, trace a taupey bronze powder shadow on top.

STEP 5

Dust a beige powder shadow (like Sephora Colorful Mono Eye Shadow in Universal Beige, $12; Sephora.com) over the lid, up to the crease, to make eyes look brighter and more open.

STEP 6

Dot the black liner pencil under the eye, from the outer corner toward the nose, stopping at the end of the lashes. Press the liner gently into the lashline, then blend with a Q-tip.

STEP 7

Dab a light moisturizer under both eyes and gently tissue it off to remove any shadow residue that's settled there.

STEP 8

Curl the lashes and apply two coats of lengthening mascara (like CoverGirl LashBlast Length Mascara, $8; Drugstore.com).

See the final results!

The final result: Dramatic evening eyes

Want to finish off the look with a few individual false lashes? Watch this tutorial with Lauren Luke

And, every month we're letting one of you demonstrate—in front of an expert—an aspect of your beauty routine that you're unsure about. When it comes to makeup, what do you think you're not doing right? Tell us what you're doing wrong and you might be our next candidate!

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From the December 2009 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine