Dressing up for a night on the town used to mean reaching for a garishly bright lipstick and adding a sweep of neon blue eye shadow to your lids. Now, times have changed and so too have the rules for applying our slap. With more natural styles by day and a little glitz and glam for an evening out, makeup application has become a fine art, and a little attention to detail will go a long way toward an alluring after dark look.
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The trick to attaining the perfect party face is to dress the natural, minimal makeup style adding a little drama to draw attention to the eyes. As they say, ‘the eyes are the window to the soul’ and they are crucial to creating a striking effect without appearing overly artificial. Be it the classically elegant smokey eye or the razzle dazzle of false eyelashes, dressing our peepers is an easy way to achieve a flawless finish for a night ‘on the lash’!

Volume and Length

Nothing beats the look of a few lashings of mascara to add volume and provide instantly fuller and thicker lashes. The new Estée Lauder Double Wear Zero - Smudge Volume and Lift Mascara (£19.50) ensures you catch and coat each individual lash with the advanced Aerocapsule Micro Fibre formula.  The feather-light, aero fibre formula lifts lashes so that they instantly appear longer, thicker and more defined. The slim precision brush with a spiral-shaped bristle design thickens, darkens and lengthens the lashes to infinitely enhance the eyes, giving a multi dimensional finish. The Double Wear promise guarantees a high performance mascara that will last 15-hours and is smudge, flake and clump resistant. So whether you are out enjoying cocktails with the girls or a date night with the other half, you can guarantee your mascara will have the staying power to last (to the tune of Lionel Richie) “all night long”.
The results speak volumes!

Extravagance

For the most daring eyes, a set of false eyelashes will certainly create a flattering look. They may take a little time and patience to apply but the overall finish can be anything from classy to flashy. Eylure offer a mélange of lashes to choose from and the new Katy Perry Lashes created by Eylure in OH, MY! (£6.95) are big and beautiful and will leave you with fantastic flutterers with a fringy emphasis and a flirtatious eye catching look.

For something a little less extravagant but equally alluring, the Hed Kandi Ultimate Party Lashes by Eylure in Twisted Disco (£6.50) will add length and volume and are designed to last up to 24 hours for those wanting to dance the night away. The Naturalites Intense Lashes 148 (£5.26) are glam but subtle, enhancing the natural beauty of the eyes. A little kick in the outer corners of the lashes means you can pull off a mean cat eye look.

Smokey Eyes

The surest way to achieve a sultry and sophisticated look for a night out is with smokey eyes. Typically created using heavy black and dark charcoal colours, it seems everyone wants the look yet no one knows how to master it. Here to the rescue is the JK Smoke It Up (£13) kit available at www.jemmakidd.com, which contains everything you need to create killer, sizzling lids for any occasion. With a collection of matte and shimmer finishes and a dual ended application brush you will have mastered the look in no time. The quirky compact sliding mirror means you can even apply it on the go.

Definition

Nothing shapes and defines the eye quite like eyeliner and no girl should be without it, be it to create a subtle yet precise look during the day, or for a more dramatic definition at night. If you are planning a late one then you want to know that it is going to stay put and the new Bobbi Brown Long Wear Eye Pencil (£17.50) will do just that. The rich pigmented formula is designed to last up to 12 hours and looks smouldering. New for spring 2012, the Long Wear Eye Pencil won’t smudge or fade due to the special polymers that melt at skin temperature and its densely waterproof formula. So if you’re planning on pulling an all nighter, you can rest safe in the knowledge that your eyeliner will too! This is the one tool every girl needs in their cosmetics bag and it works wonders paired with the smokey eye kit and plenty of mascara.

High Brow

Your eyes might be saying come and get me, but if your eyebrows aren’t maintained they could be saying something completely different. The eyebrows frame your face, creating shape and structure and need prettifying as much as the lashes. Playing a major part in the overall look of the eyes, a good brow kit such as the Benefit Brow Zings Brow Shaping Kit (£22.50) has all the tools required for perfectly shaped, smooth colour matched brows. Use the tweezers to pluck those pesky stray hairs and contour the brow with the angled and pigmented wax. Then, use the blending brush and setting powder to fill any gaps and keep them arched and locked in place. The kit provides lasting colour for a naturally beautiful silhouette to frame your perfect peepers.