I have always loved the look of eyeliner but it has taken me about 17 years of makeup application to finally figure the stuff out! It’s not the easiest thing to apply, ladies. I mean, think about it. How many times have you been shopping around the mall and admired a cute handbag on some smartly dressed chick only to be shocked when upon eye contact the woman looked like an extra in Michael Jackson’s Thriller video? Unbeknownst to the poor woman she has eyeliner in various shades of black creeping down to her cheek bone and due to the super cute handbag she’s sporting she’s thinking she’s looking damn good that day! Maybe that woman is you. You know the scene. You’ve been out running errands all day and go to reapply some much-needed color to your lips when to your horror you discover that your eyeliner has melted all over your face. There’s really no coming back from that moment, is there? Kind of like the time I was chatting it up with an old friend atTarget, in the beauty aisle of course,and when I got back to my carand looked in theextremely unforgiving rearview mirror, I discovered that all of my lipstick had worn off and I was left with a very dark line around the outside of my lips. That’s right…the outside. My friend was probably wishing the whole time that she could grab some gloss from the Cover Girl display and save me from my own humiliation. I know I would have been thinking that! Very hard to come back from.

So here is this week’s beauty tip…invest in an eyeliner pencil with a smudge tip. You know, the little spongey applicator located on the opposite end of the eyeliner? I have recently discovered just how handy the smudger actually is. I’ve always used it to soften the line after applying eyeliner on my upper eye but then I just stupidly put it away, all that lovely eyeliner residue left on the sponge going to waste. Ladies, use the residue on your smudge tip to apply your eyeliner to your lower lid! I’m telling you, it leaves the loveliest hint of color without that harsh line that, let’s face it, really just ages you. And, since it is just a trace of eyeliner it stays put and doesn’t travel down your face. Even under the sweatiest of conditions. (Feel free to read my “I’m No Gardener” entryif you have any questions).

Now, for specifics. I’ve been using Clinique Quickliner for Eyes. It comes in all kinds of colors but I’m partial to Grape, which is actually more of an eggplant color. This formula is heaven on Earth, er, eyes and has some serious staying power. I literally put it on in the morning and chisel that stuff off at night. If you don’t have a chisel handy, a good face cleanser or eye makeup remover makes a good substitute.

Promise me you will give this application tip a try. Although there is the possibility that you are already privy to this information and I’m the one way behind here. Let me know and feel free to share any of your own beauty tips and tricks!

Love to all (in pursuit of beauty), Mindy