Talk to me eyes

“The eyes are the window to your soul.”

TALK TO MY

Ey

Compiled by Kerry-Ann Scrase

This year's 'accessory of the year' has to be the mask. Thanks to the coronavirus, people all over the world are wearing masks. With the mouth totally obscured, people are now, more than ever, being forced to use their eyes to communicate. From a make-up point of view this has meant lipsticks have gone into hiding and eye make-up has been thrust into the spotlight.

Experts estimate that 55-80 % of our communication is non-verbal and facial expressions are one of the most important nonverbal channels for communication with the eyes often referred to as the windows to the soul. The expressiveness of one's eyes reveals much about one's emotions – happiness is evident through smile or laughter lines that appear in the corners of the eyes, anger through frown lines and surprise by raised eyebrows.

Making the most of these 'windows' during these mask-wearing times is therefore really important and the change in emphasis can be seen as the sales of lipsticks has dropped versus a boom in eye products including eyeshadows, mascara, eyeliners and eyebrow products.

The humble eyebrow has been getting more attention for some time now. According to South Africa's brow Queen, Unaiza, who recently opened her new flagship store Uniq Brows in Sandton City, eyebrow grooming is currently one of the world's fastest growing beauty treatments.

It is no surprise that eyebrows are one of a person's most prominent facial features, given the many functions they perform. They help accentuate the eyes, shape the face, and play a powerful role in communication. Beautifullygroomed eyebrows can also make you look more youthful. The right eyebrow shape can frame and flatter your eyes. The wrong one can make you appear aged, tired, or angry.

When it comes to accentuating the eyes when wearing a mask, some old and some new trends have emerged over the past few months.

Eyebrow shading is a quick and easy way to naturally fuller, thicker and more defined eyebrows. It involves shading some shadow on the skin behind your brows to give the illusion of more hairs. You may also consider dying your eyebrows.

Microblading is similar to shading but a more permanent solution for creating fuller more defined eyebrows is microblading. This beauty technique has grown in popularity over the past number of years, however it is even more of a trend now. This semi-permanent tattoo technique is used to create the illusion of extra brow hairs, thus a full and youthful brow. The brow area is cleaned, numbed, and then a microblading pen with a needle is used to create hair strokes.

The full-on fluffed-out brow makes the most of gloriously grown out hairs. The key is to feather them out with a brow straight up from the start of your brow to the centre, then diagonally up toward your temple at the tailend. Sparse patches can be filled in with brow pencil.

When it comes to eyeshadow – anything (except normal) goes. Even if you prefer to stick to your standard neutral shades, going a bit darker than you normally would is recommended to really accentuate the eyes.

However, if you are feeling brave you can experiment with pops of vibrant colour and even some appliques. You can go ultra-glam with rhinestones and glittery accents or more feminine and whimsical with small silk flowers and feathers.

Dramatic winged eyeliner paired with full, fluttery lashes adds the perfect finish to the eyes, whether you choose to go with falsies when going out or getting eyelash extensions for a more permanent look.

A lick of white eyeliner can also create the illusion of bigger eyes.