This is what my eye makeup looks like right now. I have on a bit of concealer, some neutral shimmer shadow, mascara and of course, eyeliner. If I want to add a little va-va-boom to my day, all I have to do is wear matte lipstick, preferably in red or another deep shade. If I wanted to channel a doe-eyed sixties flower child I'd wear beige or peach gloss. If I was on my way to preschool pick-up, I'd wear some chapstick and be done with it. I'll leave the rest of my face to your imagination, but I think you get my point: The cat eye is more versatile than you think.

CAT EYE THE EASY WAY

1. Prep the eye area: If you're like me and are blessed with dark undereye circles use a concealer (I like Laura Mercier Secret Concealer) to even out the eye area to your liking. (Who doesn't have undereye circles?) (That's a rhetorical question by the way, please don't tell me if you don't have them. I DON'T WANT TO KNOW.) I also like to use a primer on the lid -- it's not as tricky as you think, and I find that it makes makeup application so much easier, plus your handiwork lasts longer. I'm currently loving MAC Paint Pot in Painterly -- it's really a shadow, but it works incredibly well as a primer. I then swept some beige shadow with a bit of shimmer over the entire lid (all the way to the brow -- there's no science or trickery involved) and I was ready to draw.

2. Draw the line: I recommend using a gel based liner and a brush. I think it's the easiest way to do it, a felt tip eyeliner would be next easiest and liquid liner would be my last choice. I can't do the cat eye with a pencil, so I don't recommend it. I'm wearing MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack in the picture above, which happens to be my favorite right now, but I've loved felt "markers" in the past. The Fluidline is incredibly easy to use - you just pat the brush on and it leaves a beautiful line behind! You look like a pro and it takes no skill at all.

Now, to the drawing. Don't be nervous. You don't have to draw the line in one perfectly executed swoop. I certainly don't. Instead, I start by patting the brush as close to my lashline as possible, doing my best to deposit color between the lashes to create the illusion of fuller lashes. I start the line right where my lashes naturally begin and make the line thicker as I get closer to the outer corner of the eye.

Remember, you don't have to draw the line in one move -- start by patting the brush as closely to your lashes as possible. Take a look in the mirror. Do you want a more dramatic look? Then build on the line little by little, making it thicker as you get to the outer corner of the eye. Once you're happy with the thickness, you can do the little sweep at the end. It will be very thin at first, and you can fill in the difference once you're happy with the angle. Where to do the flick? Wherever you wish! You probably don't want to go past the brow bone, but there are no rules in make-up. Experiment!

3. Finish: Clean up with a Q-Tip and put on some mascara. That's it! Go out into the world you vixen, you. (Just don't forget to do the other eye before you do.)

Roxanna is a BeautyHacks CE. When she's not here she can be found blogging at Miguelina and Everyday Treats.

I was skeptical when Cover Girl offered to let me to try their new Exact Eyelights Shadow and liner collection - it’s an eye makeup kit that promises to brighten your eyes. “Eye-brightening” is quite a claim to make, so just I had to try it out on my very very brown eyes. Did the product deliver?

First impression: The eyeshadow comes with a real, honest-to-goodness brush. I’m not a fan of those sponge applicators (though the package also includes one) and I thought that including the brush was a nice touch.

Application: The colors in the brown palette are very neutral and tasteful - a  light base for the lid, a coppery gold for the inside of the eye (I’ve said it before, gold is a neutral for brown-eyed girls), a grey for the crease and a darker grey to outline the eye. I was a little confused by the grey - I never would have thought to use grey shadow to enhance my brown eyes, since most magazines recommend using blue or some other obviously contrasting color.

The application instructions were easy to follow and I applied a generous amount of grey to the crease of my eyes. I skipped using the darker grey as a liner for two reasons: One, I had a perfectly good eyeliner pencil to try and, two, black-grey powder would just accentuate the dark circles under my eyes.

(The liner is nice - basically a black liner, not much to say there.)

The verdict: The result is perfectly pretty and tasteful. I was surprised at how pretty the grey shadow looked with my brown eyes. It’s not a dramatic effect at all - but since I don’t spend my days getting photographed for the cover of Allure, a pretty, subtle look fits my needs perfectly. I don’t think the product lives up to the eye-brightening claim, but I think it’s perfect for brown-eyed women looking for fool-proof color.

Now, I became curious about the other kits, so I asked other bloggers to try out the kits on their blue, green and hazel eyes. Here’s what they thought:

BLUE EYES

Blue-eyed beauty Kristen, from Jeez-o-petes, reports:

My first thought was, "Wow, these colors are really bright. Also really pretty, but subtle? Not at all." My compact has a bright teal green for the crease and a bright dark blue for the lash line. I applied as suggested, and it looks good, although, honestly, my eyes don't really look any more blue than normal -- I have better luck in that area when I go with bronze and brown. My eyes are kind of a bluish green to begin with, and eyeshadow can push them either way, but if anything, they seemed darker and more greenish after this.

However, I truly like the colors and will keep using them, just maybe not exactly as they recommend.

HAZEL EYES

Jeanne from Periodic Style tried the Hazel eyes kit and had this to say:

I'd say my hazel eyes are on the tawny side -- sort of a golden
olive-green. So when I tend to choose eyeshadows, I tend to play up the
green more than the actual hazel quality, thus I have a lot of pinks and
purples and golds in my eyeshadow arsenal. It was a little refreshing to
see that the Hazel eye shadow palette didn't have a pink or a purple in
there (I've had to ask make-up counter girls to please not instinctively
reach for the purple, and could we try something else please?). I'm not
sure that the cool mint green, the one non-neutral color in the palette,
is a color I would have picked up on my own.

I believe that any eyeshadow works with a good brush and a good primer;
the CoverGirl eyeshadow is a little lighter on the pigment than I'm used
to using, so I felt like I had to really pack it on to make it show up to
my liking. I tried using the brush that was included with the palette, but
ultimately found I had to give up and use a higher-quality brush. Still, I
like that they did include a bristle-brush instead of just the little
eyeshadow sponge-wand (which was also included).

I used the color suggestion they had on the packaging -- the lightest
shade as highlight, mint green for most of the lid, the medium brown shade
for the crease, and the dark brown as liner. While it looked all right, I
liked it best when I added the green eye pencil over the brown liner. I'm
not sure if it really brought out my eye color, since I like eyeshadows
that make my eyes greener (versus more gold), but it was a nice
nearly-neutral look that wouldn't be out of place in the office. I wore it
out to dinner and drinks, so it was a little tame for me there, but for
someone who wants something she can easily wear to work, it would be fine.

The eye pencil in Majestic Jade is my favorite piece of the set -- it's a
little bit greener than my eyes, but almost the same color. I really like
the soft consistency, the fact that it's a twist-up crayon liner versus a
pencil I have to sharpen, and the longevity. I wore it alone (no primer,
no shadow, not even mascara) through a long Saturday of ballet class,
shopping, the movies, and stomping all over the city, and it lasted all
day with minimal smudging or smearing. I'd definitely be interested in
taking a look at the other colors besides Majestic Jade (is there a plum?
Because that would be awesome).

GREEN EYES

Kelly of Mocha Momma tried the Exact Eyelights on her green eyes. Here’s her report:

The eyeliner is nice because it doesn't require a sharpener, but I have to go over the lid several times to get it as dark as I want (and I'm not usually heavy handed with the stuff) so that's a bit of a drawback. I like the shadow but NOT the way the package suggests. I tried it according to the instructions on the back and it looked like I had pink-eye. TOO much pink especially where they say to put it in the corner of your eye. It's just not a look I'd ever try again. Instead, I use the pinks as an above the brow bone color and it works. Clearly, the mixing of this shadow doesn't work well. This, by the way, is coming from a woman who has worked for YEARS on accentuating her eyes. They're my best feature and I've tried a lot of colors, brushes, application styles, etc...

Hmm, it seems that the answer to "does Cover Girl get it right?" is ... it depends. You have to play around with the colors in the kit to make them work for you. Of course, that's hardly surprising - the number one rule of makeup application is play with and experiment. 

What about you? What color are your eyes, and what color shadow works for you? I'd love to hear from you!

Roxanna loves being a brown-eyed girl. She blogs at Miguelina.

“I bet a nightly bath will cure you of that.”

“A nightly bath? How do you even have time for that?”

For you see, I was envisioning those movie bubble baths -- the ones with candles, rose petals, champagne, and chocolate-dipped strawberries -- how on earth would I ever find the time to do all that after a full day of, you know, LIFE? (FYI - my life involves wrangling two children under four and changing a lot of diapers. Not exactly conducive to champagne.)

My friend just shrugged. “I run the bath while I brush my teeth and get ready for bed. Then I pour whatever soap I have, get in and ten minutes later I’m out. It’s not a big deal. I get to relax and read for a bit.”

Now, I had to admit that seemed really easy. But there was one tiny, yet insurmountable problem: I need a morning shower to function.

“That sounds great, but I need to shower in the morning or I’m a zombie all day.”

“Who says I don’t take a morning shower?”

Guys, it was like a new world had opened up for me. Why not take a bath that night? Why make a big deal out of it?

So that night, I ran a bath. I pumped a bit of shower gel into the water -- I currently use Out of Africa in Lemon Verbena, but anything works, really -- and got in. I rolled a towel behind my head and dug into a two month-old issue of Vanity Fair, something I hadn’t done in, well, two months.

It was nice. Very nice.

Then I decided to step things up a bit. BasqNYC had sent me some Sweet Dreams aromatherapy oil a while back so I poured some in. I didn’t know what would happen (it’s scented with lavender and pear) but the resulting scent was so delicious I put down my magazine, closed my eyes and just enjoyed myself.

It was heaven.

At the end of my bath I was on a fragrance high, so I dabbed some Peony solid perfume from K. Hall Designs (another review item that was sent to me a while back but that I never found the time to use) and emerged from the bathroom all of fifteen minutes later as refreshed as if I’d spent two hours at a spa. And I had done all that at home, after putting the kids to bed and washing the dinner dishes. That night I slept like an angel, and the next morning I took the quickest, most refreshing shower known to man.

I’m a convert. Ladies, if you’re feeling stressed you NEED to do this for yourself. Run a bit of water and just soak for a bit. No fancy bath salts or accessories needed. Moms: Don't let your kids have all the fun.

My name is Miguelina, and I’m addicted to my nightly bath.

The depressing economy need not take a toll on your beauty routine. You don’t have to spend a fortune to look good - think of our grandmothers! Did they spend ungodly sums of money at chi-chi spas? No! Were they glamorous? Yes!  How did they do it? They took care of their beauty needs themselves, that’s how.

I don’t think of myself as particularly high maintenance, but when I think back to the number of people I have paid to assist in my grooming I realize that what I had was a beauty staff fit for a diva: A manicurist/pedicurist, hairstylist, brow waxer, bikini waxer, facialist... Ah, those were the days. But since I’m no hollywood starlet and money isn’t exactly flowing freely these days, things have changed. I’m doing a lot of these beauty tasks myself, and I have to admit it’s been fun - thanks to the great products out there. There really is no excuse to do otherwise.

I’ve found three inexpensive products that are glamorous, fun, and easy, to inspire you to look good on your own terms:

1. Glamorous

When Cover Girl sent me a sample of LashBlast Luxe mascara the first thought that came to mind was “glamorous!” From the thick pink tube to the insanely large brush this mascara is sure to bring some va-va-voom to every day. The colors all add a little shimmer (that’s the “luxe” part) and I found that the mascara did a great job thickening my lashes (but I didn’t really notice any lengthening). It truly made my eyes pop. Who needs a make-up artist when glamour costs only $8?

2. Fun

I discovered Soap & Glory while on a Target run. I was attracted by the kitschy pink and silver packaging and by the fun copy (my Clean on Me shower gel tells me that “cleanliness is essential when godliness is improbable” - ha!) but the delicious powdery citrus fragrance is what ultimately sold me. Better yet, the gel delivers loads of delicious bubbles - making every shower a treat. It’s good enough for the bubble bath!

3. Easy

I am a huge proponent of professional brow maintenance because brows are the key to a polished look, and few of us can truly master them. (Please, I beg you, go to a professional if you ever need to have your brows shaped.) But what about maintenance? If you’re like me, you’re paralyzed by the fear of overplucking so you end up looking like Frida Kahlo in between appointments. I’ve found a really easy solution: Anastasia brow stencils. Just find the shape that’s closest to your (professionally groomed) brow shape, fill in with some dark shadow and pluck any hairs that fall outside the lines. Easy peasy!

Now, you tell me: What's your newest DIY beauty find?