Every December, I tune into the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show for an hour of awe at the bouncy, shiny hair, crazy long legs and toned bodies that strut down the runway in gorgeous embellished lingerie and fluffy angel wings. What I always take away with me is how striking and pretty the makeup is from these shows. Particularly, I want to discuss the way the model’s eyes seem to glow as if a halo is surrounding them (like Heidi’s in the photo below).
In my desperation to mimic this look (but make it “daytime appropriate”) I searched far and wide for a product that could give my eyes a glow that says “I had 8 hours of sleep and a yummy vanilla latte this morning.” I tried Benefit’s “Eye Bright” pencil and I found it to be too matte and chalky looking.
Then, while returning the brightening pencil at Sephora, I discovered Anastasia of Beverly Hills‘ eye brightening pencil in “Sand.” This pencil is a gorgeous soft, sandy pink that glides on effortlessly. The main difference between Anastasia’s pencil and Benefit’s is that Anastasia’s is shimmery, and thus reflects light, opening up the eyes and giving the entire eye area a glow (can you tell I am obsessed with glowy-ness, if that is even a word!?).
To achieve glowy eyes, I use the pencil on the inner corner (or “inner v”) of each eye. Sometimes I use my finger to blend it out a bit underneath that immediate inner eye area. Then, I apply liner and mascara. For special occasions, I will dust an iridescent, shimmery powder on top of the pencil for extra staying power and a more intense glow.
I absolutely love this product, and use it every morning. It is gorgeous for the day (just on the inner v) and for the evening, you can use it to line just underneath your waterline for that coveted Victoria’s Secret model look.
If you have any “glowing eyes” tricks, please leave your product suggestions in the comments section!
xoxo,
-Veronika
I do this very thing with the Anastasia matte highlighter (I think it's meant for brow highlight, but whatever). Usually I press a satin finish shadow on top of it, then blend outward so there's no obvious line. Sometimes I'll also use MAC's 'fascinating' liner on the inner half of my waterline. The matte highlighter is also good to counteract shadow created by puffy eyes (because of the pinkish undertones). Love this!
Stephie- what is the fascinating liner like? Is it a white-based liner?
It is white white!! It's very soft so you don't have to be hard on your waterline (ick!).
Victoria's Secret actually sells these eyeshadows (or used to anyway) that come with little wands and looked almost like lipstick packaging. Anyway, they had a 'sand' one that was very soft and pretty, and super cheap. I would swipe a teeny bit on the inside part of my eyes and it gave a nice, alert glowy look. The only issue I had with it was that it had a bit of shimmer in it, so I only used it for evening looks.
I've been using something similar, from Origins, for years. It's called the "Eye Brightening Color Stick". Very exciting name I know, but I love it. It's actually a very frosty light blue and I use it to make my eyes look more open and brighter. Seeing as I have the disappearing eye when I smile.
What is the benefit of using a whitening pencil like this instead of a highlighter (like MAC's shell) with a light eyeshadow? Does it last longer?
I have a shimmery white eyeliner that was actually in a giveaway bag at VS awhile back. I use that on the inner V and and a thick line on my upper lid. Then I use black eyeliner and mascara as usual.
just use any white/ champagne colored eyeshadow with a bit of sparkle in it. lately, i've been using the white color at the top of my bobbi brown "bronze" shimmer brick and it's great. i also use it as a brow bone highlighter.
oh and if you don't want any shimmer in it, you might try bobbi brown 'bone'
how does heidi get her cheeks to shimmer?
try to use a highlighting powder like MAC's "silver dusk" or "porcelain pink" minzeralize skin finish. Use it only on the very tops of your cheekbones, over a soft pink blush to get that shimmery look.
thanks girl.love your blog
You know what else you can do here? Use a plain white pencil eyeliner on the inner corner v of the eyes and under the brow bone. Smear around with your finger. Then dust shimmery ivory shadow on top. This also controls how intense you want the look to be – more eyeliner for a brighter white (for nighttime) 🙂