To Eye or To Lip? That is the Question.

There is little makeup advice more typical than, “It’s either eyes or lips, not both." Of course, this rule, as the adage goes, was perhaps only made to be broken. Looking at virtually any fashion show or magazine spread, we see it often is. Even in day-to-day life, the boundaries of this “rule” are pushed by the many who choose to go for full glam for any occasion and look great doing so. Most of us, though, seem to feel most comfortable playing up one feature at a time, and many have a default feature that they prefer to emphasize. But for those who like to switch between making the eyes the focal point one day and then the lips the next (as I also do) sometimes this decisionmaking isn’t the easiest. On the whole, I’d say time and place is the most important thing in helping me decide, This is how I tend to think about it.

Workday? Go For the Power Lip: Not only is a bold lip the quickest route to a finished, polished look, a bold lip sends a powerful message of “listen to what I say because I have the authority to say it.” Additionally, darker lips, whether a classic red or a deeper neutral, tend to project an heir of maturity and pulled-togetherness.

Date Night? Smoke Out the Eyes: While it is true red is the color of passion and the pinup red lip is an icon for a reason, I have heard from both men and from women speaking about the men in their lives that men are more consciously wary of a red lip than they are subconsciously attracted to it. Sure, the striking color may light up their lady’s face, but really, they just fear messing it up and certainly don’t want it smeared all over them when they go in for a kiss. The safer bet is to let the eyes do the talking by darkening them to a sultry smolder and complement that with a sheerer lip. I do believe, however, that there are two other key things to remember about date makeup: 1.Tailor the look to the event you are going to. 2. For a date more than any other kind of occasion, wear you want and how you feel best. If this means putting on a red lip, go for it.

First Impression? Play up the Eyes But In a Subtle Way: First impressions are in a lot of cases where I do my most enhanced version of no-makeup makeup and focus on fresh-looking skin and giving a healthy flush to the cheek. For the contest between the lips versus the eyes, however, the eyes win out for me but not necessarily with a complicated look with eyeshadow. Coating the lashes with lots of lengthening mascara and wearing whatever lipcolor livens up your complexion the most and, in turn, emphasizes your eyes by brightening up their sparkle is a good approach.

Formal pictures? Keep It In Balance: In this situation,it's best to play up both features fairly evenly with each other in order to best create and maintain the look of dimension on a face on what will ultimately be a flat image. One or the other feature might stand out slightly, but maintaining an overall balance is key. This is especially true in black and white photography where too-pale or ill-defined lips can get completely blanked out and the bottom half of the face seems to blur. Or else, if the eyes are not accented but the lip is bold, then they can lose their definition along with the rest of the face's bone structure. It is all about keeping the lifelike qualities of the face, the symmetry, contours, and balance of individual features intact.

What to wear when in regards to makeup is always a personal choice. Still, I hope these tips offered some things for you to consider while making those decisions. Whatever event you are preparing for, just always remember to wear whatever makes you feel the most confident, beautiful, and shining version of yourself.