Beauty Picks

Turn around, bright eyes

MANILA, Philippines - If there’s one makeup item I don’t think I’ll ever be able to live without, it’s concealer. It would probably take a fire to get me to leave the house without it on, and even then, I think I’d still manage to find 30 seconds to put it on before attempting to haul my desktop computer down the stairs. Mostly because when I’m not wearing any, I look like I should be an extra in a zombie flick. As a zombie. Because I look undead. On the rare occasions I didn’t bother putting it on, I’d get asked every other second if I was feeling well. (Later on, I maximized this special power by not wearing concealer when I wanted to look sick, then I’d have an excuse to skip out early. Oops.)

It’s the curse of all of us with deep-set eyes, and it only seems to be getting worse as I age. I hadn’t yet discovered under-eye concealer when I was a mostly sleep-deprived college student, and yet I looked a lot fresher then than I do these days. Every morning, I gawk at the state of my eyes in my mirror — I’m starting to develop tiny wrinkles in the inner and outer corners of my eyes, my dark circles are exponentially darker; I look as exhausted as I probably am.

This is why I’m starting to get truly obsessed with eye cream. I’m not going to delude myself into believing that it’ll magically make me look like a teenager again, but when I do remember to put it on after a long night of whatever it is 20-somethings do on the weekends, I wake up a few hours later looking like I actually had a good night’s sleep instead of six (or so) shots of tequila.

The latest to hit my shelf, Lancôme Advanced Génifique Yeux Youth Activating Eye Cream, is specifically designed to target the signs of fatigue: dryness, dullness, darkness, and lack of puffiness (some puffiness can actually be good; sunken eyes are just so Crypt-Keeper). Elastomers in the formula help blur out fine lines and wrinkles; micro-particles and silica resin microspheres diffuse light to illuminate the typically dark eye area, making them look more rested. The lightweight cream gives eight hours of hydration, making eyes feel as fresh as they look. Hey, if you can’t get your eight hours of sleep, fake it ‘til you make it, right?

Eyes aflutter

I have serious eyelash envy. Not that mine are bad — I’ve seen lashes less, well, existent than mine for sure — but when I see a woman with lashes that need no curling or mascara (they look like they have eyeliner on when they apply mascara; I hate them with a passion), when I see someone who actually has substantial lower lashes (because my lower lashes are, like, 10 microscopic strands), I’m overpowered with intense lash lust.

I’ve had lash extensions before, and while I loved the way they looked when they were first attached to my actual lashes, I started to hate them after a couple of days or so. They weighed my eyelids down, I couldn’t sleep on my stomach or stuff my face into a pillow because the ends would poke into the skin on my lash line, and as my actual lashes grew out, they started to droop, and then they’d fall out — with my real lashes still attached. And it’s never really recommended to wear much eye makeup when you have extensions attached, which is torture for someone who likes to play with makeup (and loves a sexy smoky eye) as much as I do. So, after trying out lash extensions twice (because I didn’t learn the first time around), I swore to never sway from mascara again. (After all, for functions that require major eyelash action, there are always falsies.)

Freshly popped into my kit: L’Oréal Paris False Lash Butterfly Mascara. The first thing you’ll notice about it, if you’re a mascara nerd (which I am), is that the wand is rather oddly shaped. It’s asymmetrical; the inner corner of the applicator end (the part that typically ends up coating your outermost lashes) has longer bristles. I’ve always had trouble applying mascara on my outer lashes with a standard brush, having to apply it in little strokes from the inner corners and moving outwards to really coat every last strand, but this brush manages to get them all in one go. The formula holds a curl; crucial for Asian lashes, which tend to grow straight.

Unfortunately, you’re going to have to wait until July to get your hands on a tube, but hey, something to look forward to!