How to Wear Makeup with Glasses

I've had glasses since I was 15 or 16 years old. I hated wearing them, so I rarely did. Years later, I came around, and started wearing them regularly. I constantly received compliments on how cute they were and how good they looked on me, but the downside to that was my makeup getting muted by them. I have contacts now, which gives me a lot more freedom, but I still give my eyes a break and wear my glasses a couple times a week. I've learned over time that you can rock an awesome eye look AND your glasses. Here are some tips and tricks to help your glass be glam.

- Big lashes

        I tend to find that the lashes are very camouflaged by glasses, so you really need to kick it up a couple notches. Find a good mascara that really lengthens, defines, and builds volume for you (I really like Badgal by Benefit: click here to read my review). If you have scarce lashes, or if you feel motivated, you can really amp things up with a pair of falsies. Be sure to curl your lashes to open the eye. The outer lashes look especially nice if they're flared out and up, even more so with glasses.

- Bold eyes

Sometimes eye makeup can look too over the top, especially for a day time look, but with glasses, you need a little more if you really want your eyes to stand out. No, you don't want something like this:

But you can get away with wearing more. For example, a medium-dark smoky eye during the day can look too overdone, but because glasses dim things a bit, it can look just glam enough.

- Colorful lips

Adding a classic, bright pop of color to your lips, like a true red, can yield the "sexy librarian" look. It can also really brighten up your face, which does great things for a glasses gal, especially if your frames are dark-colored. Generally the makeup rule is to play up either the eyes or lips, but when you're sporting glasses, you can do a little of both ;-) Just be sure that they coordinate.

- Combat dark circles and under eye bags/general puffiness

When you're drawing attention to your eyes, as we are here, pay special attention to the under eye area. Use a good moisturizer and under eye concealer. A brightening concealer works best to deflect dark circles. I also use an under eye roller by Garnier, which helps to de-puff the area.

And last but not least:

- Brighten your eyes

If you don't want to put on a lot of makeup, but you still want to look nice and enhance your face while wearing glasses, just focus on brightening your eyes. Sweep on a neutral eyeshadow all over your eyelid, then apply a highlight under the brow. One coat of mascara will enhance your lashes, then highlight the inner corners of your eyes by applying a highlight or light eyeshadow. These 3 specific things will brighten and enhance your eyes when wearing glasses (or when you're not), without looking very made up.

And there you have it! Now go rock your frames today like Madonna in a library. ;-)