Four beauty tricks that transcend trends

Trends come and go, but timeless beauty looks endure. Add these beauty tricks to your arsenal and you can feel confident that you’ll turn heads year after year.

Create sexy, smokey eyes

From Brigitte Bardot to Kim Kardashian, women (and men) love smokey eyes. This eye make-up effect is timeless because it’s sultry and dramatic without being overpowering. Celebrities have a team of makeup artists to help them get the look, but it’s easy to achieve at home.

Simply use a medium-sized round brush to apply charcoal gray eyeshadow in an arch shape, at the crease of your eye lid. Use your finger to blend the powder down to your lash line. Then use a soft black eye pencil to trace your upper lash line. Smudge the pencil line gently with your fingertip. Apply gray powder onto your lower lash line with a smaller, firm brush. Add some pale silver powder to the corners of your eye to lighten it up, before applying mascara for the finishing touch. 

Choose bold red lips

Other hues have come and gone, but bold red lips never fall out of favor. Classic beauties like Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor were famous for their red lips, but before that, the original sex symbol, Cleopatra, apparently crushed ants and carmine into a beeswax base to create her own red lips.

Make sure you choose the right red for your complexion. Lipsticks with warm orange undertones work best for tanned and olive skin, while fairer beauties will find cooler reds suit them best. Select the right shade and you can wear red lips just as well as Taylor Swift or Christina Hendricks.

Easy application of cat-eye liner

Style icon Audrey Hepburn made legions of women want Capri pants and pixie haircuts, but one of her most enduring signature looks may be her cat-eye liner. It’s been replicated by some of the world’s most iconic women, from Sophia Loren and Twiggy to Madonna and Emma Stone. Historically, creating the cat-eye liner look was very tricky. However, modern gel liners, angled brushes, and felt-tip eye markers make it easy to achieve this timeless look.

First, dust your eyelids with an eyeshadow powder in a similar color to your skin tone. The powder will help you apply the eyeliner smoothly and prevent smudging by giving the makeup something to cling to.

Hold an eye brush against the side of your nose and point it to the end of your eyebrow to find the right angle for the cat’s eye effect. That’s the line the effect should follow. Draw a dot at the tip of the wing on both eyes with an eye pencil, and ensure they’re the same angle and height. Draw lines connecting each dot to the outer corner of each eye and the center of your upper eyelash. Use the lines as a guide to draw your cat’s eyes with a gel liner, felt-tip eye marker, or angled brush.

Cat-eye liner adds definition, making your eyes appear wider and more alluring. Less is more for a timeless look. Long, thick Amy Winehouse-esque wings can seem dated. 

Enjoy effortless beach waves

No matter what the season, the easy appeal of beach waves will never die. That’s because they can make you look feminine and chic without a whole lot of effort. Simply twist sections of damp hair. The tighter the twist, the curlier your wave will be. Keep hold of each twisted section, and once you’re done, spray your hair with a sea salt spray. If you don’t own one, you can DIY by adding a handful of salt to a cup of water. Tie your twisted hair up in bun to hold it in place.

Then all you need to do is wait! Once your hair dries you can let it down and enjoy beach waves that Gisele Bundchen or Blake Lively would love.

With these timeless beauty tricks up your sleeve, you can feel confident that you’ll always look your best.

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Photos: Eva Rinaldi (2), Bob Bekian (4)