I faked sleep with makeup”
I have dark under-eye circles. I’m not exaggerating. In my 20s I embraced them, smudging on liner and skipping concealer. One birthday, I looked in the mirror and realised I no longer looked Goth chic. I looked bad. No wonder: I’m an insomniac, migraine sufferer, single mom with a full-time job and a novelist. I wake up at 3.30am most days to write, and although I’m skilled at pretending to have it all together, my hollowed-out eyes tell my true story. Illuminating creams and cucumber masks failed. I needed an instant fix, so I turned to makeup artist Andrew Sotomayor. He masterfully camouflaged, blurred and brightened, and I got it – makeup is my answer. Here’s what I learnt.
1 Apply a brightening primer
This creates a lovely blurring effect and conceals sallowness.
2 Layer on concealer followed by foundation
Use a concealer a few shades lighter than your skin tone, followed by foundation that matches your complexion. “Painters whitewash walls before they add colour to erase imperfections and give the effect of light bursting from underneath,” Andrew says. Same idea here. First, he tapped the paler colour under my eyes with the pad of his ring finger. Then he tapped on the truer shade.
3 Apply concealer in a large triangle shape
“Half moons look unnatural!” he adds. He covered my under-eye area from tear duct down the nose to the nostril, then back up to the outer corner of my eye. He buffed with a concealer brush to blur fine
lines, then applied translucent powder.
4 Brighten with a shadow that mimics your skin
For my golden-brown skin, Andrew used soft copper eyeshadows on my eyelids. They seemed to make my eyes whiter, and added to my glow.
5 Skip highlighters on lids
Or anywhere within 2cm of your nose area. “The closer shimmer is to under-eye circles, the darker they’ll appear in comparison,” says Andrew. “Shift the focus away from dark circles by applying highlighter far out on the cheekbone.”
6 Amp up your brows
Give your brows and lashes extra attention. To quote the master: “Full brows and curled lashes distract the eye from your dark circles.” – Tia Williams