MAKE-UP FOR MONOLIDS

Because of the way your eye is contoured, everything seems to be running or touching and transferring all the time. Combat that and make sure all your products stay in place with a fierce eye primer like Bobbi Brown’s Long-wear Eye Base, which is tinted to neutralise uneven skin tone for a flawless foundation.

You may be well-rested and wrinkle-free, but to prevent mascara transfer and panda eyes, “bake” your under-eye area using a thick coating of translucent loose setting powder over a non-creasing concealer, your best bet for budge-proof make-up. Let it sit for a minute or two before you dust it off. Bonus: do your eyeshadow while it’s setting and the loose powder will protect your under-eye from eyeshadow fallout. Go for a beauty blogger favourite like Armani’s Micro-fil Loose Powder – it’s consistency ensures it won't settle into fine lines.

Standard make-up tutorials will be confusing to you monolid mamas. You can’t start with shadow in your crease — you don’t have one. To get the smokey-eye look, apply eyeshadow in a vertical gradient wash upwards: use your base or transition colour all over the lid, then add a second, darker tone halfway up the lid and finish with the darkest hue near the lash line. Blend. It’s actually much easier than a traditional smokey eye.

Try faking a crease by covering your entire lid in shadow and then drawing a crescent slightly above where your crease should be using concealer (a brush should help with precision). Fill in the crescent with a contrasting colour. This will create the illusion of more deeply set eyes.

Since any eyeliner applied along the lash line will disappear the minute you open your eyes, go ahead and line your waterline in pencil, which will make your eyes look more open. If you must line above, set gel or pen with a dark eyeshadow so it doesn’t smudge.

To prevent the aforementioned disappearing act, do your shadow with your eyes open and looking ahead or up. Your lash line may be a write-off, but you can still add a cat-eye flick at the ends.

Whether you bake or not, waterproof mascara is non-negotiable. Tried-and-tested monolid-friendly formulas include Lancome’s Hypnôse and Dior Beauty’s Diorshow.