Eyebrows shouldn’t be overlooked. Brows frame and bring focus to the eyes. If yours are sparse, defining them can enhance your eyes dramatically: brush the hair down, draw a line along the base at the roots with an eyebrow pencil, then brush the hairs up again.

If you have deep set eyes, keep your eyebrows thinner to show them off more. If you have widely spaced eyes, make them look closer by drawing your eyebrows in nearer together, extending eyeliner beyond the inner corners of your eyes and blend in eye shadow towards the nose. Anyone over 18 should avoid wearing foundation at the outer corner of the eye where it bunches up into lines: just dust with powder instead.

Think about the structure and contour of your eyes and what imperfections you’d like to correct. For example, a prominent brow bone can be taken away by shading. Apply light shades to highlight and dark to disguise, then add color to your eyelids.

You should bear your complexion in mind when buying eye shadow. Most women forget about their skin tone, but a blue powder can look mauve over pinky skin or greenish if you have yellow tones. Don’t test shades on the back of your hand as the color is different from your eyelids. You can only get the palate shade by blanking out the lid area with a pale opaque foundation.

Always start by shaping the eye with pencil before applying eye shadow – if you make a mistake it’s easier to correct. Then use lighter tones on the inside lid near the nose and on the outer brow bone. Darker shades should lift the shape at the outside corner of the lids to make eyes look younger. Lastly, for people who can’t carry off colored eyelashes, a black coat of mascara followed by another shade like blue or purple gives a hint of color.

Blue mascara at the tips of lashes makes eyes look bigger. Define fine or pale eyebrows with a little mascara, then lightly touch them with hairspray to keep them in place. And doting highlighter at the inner corner of the eyes makes them look brighter.