"An eye opener for the Duchess of Cambridge"

Kate's eye makeup has come under fire in the months leading up to and following her wedding to Prince William. Some love it and some hate it. However, I find myself on the fence.

I can understand why Kate might choose to wear the eye makeup that she does, it probably shows better on television and for pictures. Also, defining the eye in general just helps a face look better. You could have blush etc. on, but with no mascara, eyeliner or eyeshadow, a person could look tired or even ill!

Ultimately, in this case I think Kate should keep doing what makes her feel confident and comfortable, especially since her life is now so public and so involved. And it's not as if her makeup is completely unattractive - or at least it isn't to most, it seems. A seasoned makeup artist might have some complaints or suggestions for another look, but to most of us we would only give her a second look if we passed her on the street because we thought she was an attractive individual (and a royal Duchess), but for no reasons to the contrary.

Here is an interesting article by Kate Shapland on the subject, of the Telegraph:

"She's got the wardrobe sussed, the hair sorted and the royal touch polished. But there is still one tiny thing the Duchess of Cambridge hasn't quite nailed: her eye makeup. Sorry, it's said now - I've outed the elephant in the room. Kate needs to revisit her eye and brow makeup, because at the moment it's too dark, too heavy and too ageing.

No one really noticed it until the wedding - everyone was too busy eyeballing her clothes. But suddenly there it was: a study in black - eyes heavily rimmed with khol and black mascara, brows painted doll-brown - and all contrasting clumsily against the perfect white dress. She did it herself, apparently, for the wedding, having said to have had pilot tuition from professional makeup artist Arabella Preston. Preston's expertise is wedding makeup, so she would have rightly encouraged Kate not to stray too far from her usual look (the golden rule of wedding makeup), just to augment it for the cameras.

In pictures: The Duchess of Cambridge's Canada tour style

Which in this case is where things went wrong, because that meant layering on more dark eye and brow liner - neither of which are camera friendly at any age, and it's a rut Kate has got stuck into, whether Dragon Boat racing in Canada or working a state dinner.

The trick to making makeup work for the camera, so a face looks good in photographs, is to achieve soft definition for features. It's about striking a balance between enough contour to highlight, but not so much that a face looks over-done. And it takes skill.

Makeup artists build contour around eyes - and fill gaps in brows - with shadow because it's much softer than liner but still defines. They build a base with neutral fleshy-pinks on the lids, then add shape and photogenic clarity with darker shadows (grey, khaki, taupe or blue), pushing pigment into creases of the lids and across lash-line to enhance.

In pictures: Kate Middleton - a very royal style icon

The only time a pencil comes out is to trace the lower inside lash-line to make eyes seem bigger and whites cleaner, and then it's white, not black, which has the opposite effect.

Kate's current makeup isn't even very manageable - surely the key to it all for her? Even if she used a non-smudge liquid khol to create cat's eye flicks and touched up her brows with a brown shadow it would all be softer, more youthful and simpler to look after.

Kate Moss 'owns' the liner look in rock chick black, and royal blue may be an obvious no-no. But there is a whole rainbow of khol colours waiting for the Duchess. It's eye time she discovered them.

The best khols for Kate:

• MAC Superslick Liquid Eyeliner - comes in nine shades including Defiance & Devices (khaki), Smokey Heir (violet) and Nocturnal (dove grey). £15, maccosmetics.co.uk.

• Bobbi Brown Long Wear Gel Eyeliner - applied with a mini brush from a pot and comes in 14 shades including an incredible emerald green, Ivy Shimmer Ink. £15.50, bobbibrown.co.uk."

Source: http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/beauty/Article/TMG8620344/479/An-eye-opener-for-the-Duchess-of-Cambridge.html