Eye-popping products: The best new eye makeup buys to try now

The best new eye makeup buys to try now

Flatter and flutter: Gentle new eye makeup launches Image:MAC

The first makeup caveat I received — “take care not to pull the skin around your eyes”— came from a French midwife, or sage-femme, and it was indeed wise. The skin on your lids is 40% thinner than that on the rest of your face. According to New York dermatologist Dr Dennis Gross, the tissue below the eyes is naturally missing a lot of essential elements that make your skin strong. There’s very little soft tissue like fat or muscle. The skin itself covers the hollow space of the eye socket. Clearly, those windows to your soul have delicate dressing. UV exposure, smoking, and your genes are all greater influences on how well your eyes look over time but pulling at them feels instinctively wrong.

Observing professional artists, you do see some stretched skin. This is usually in pursuit of perfection at speed: smoothly blended shadows, for example, or a poker-straight line. The results look flawless in photos, but life’s too short not to use what makes you feel good. Some of us like to “put our eyes on” in the morning. A little contouring under the brow bone with a matte shadow can make eyes look more open, while some contrasting colour on the lids can make the whites brighter or the irises ‘pop’.