Ask & You Shall Receive - Eyeshadow Colours for a Blonde

Elaine is looking for some tips to brighten up her eye makeup look. She's blonde, with fair skin and generally sticks to "a light brown-y colour" across her lids and she also uses clear mascara. Her problem is she wants to vamp it up for evening and wonders if we can help. She's looking for advice on colours, application and mascara.

Because she didn't say what colour eyes she has, I'm going to hedge my bets a bit here. Lilac is a shade that suits everyone apparently, and you're never going to go too far wrong with neutrals like greys, browns, taupes and creams. But that's boring! And we don't want to be boring!

So if you're a brown or green eyed blonde, then for day you're bang on trend with what'll suit you - olive greens are a great bet. Darker greens would be great for evening, and dusky pinks will also compliment both green and brown eye colours. For night time, you can vamp it up with damsons, dramatic browns and purples - again, that's very this season. If you're brown eyed, you can also wear blues, because brown and blue are complimentary, and as you're fair, what will suit you best will be a wash of paler colour as opposed heavy blocks of a dark shade. Bourjois' Suivez Mon Regard range could be good for you - it contains 13 shades of colour (including greens, browns and blues) that go on sheer and shimmery.

If you're a blue eyed blonde, then you may be surprised to know that orange will do you a lot of favours. If you're wary of bright bright orange, (and that's really a look you would want to keep for evening - or fancy dress. Or never.) then peaches, coppers and orangey browns are all your friends. And so is gold - you can wear gold no bother - so get stuck in for Christmas!

Don't just limit yourself to shadow - there are so many great products out there to experiment and have fun with - slick on some bright liquid liner for a defined splash of colour that literally takes 2 minutes. MAC's Liquidlast range is brilliant. Anna Sui does some excellent colours too, as does Barbara Daly for Tesco - even Rimmel do a few shades of liquid liner now. So try things out, put a little bit of a new colour on first, see how you like the look of it, and then build up the shade. If liquid liner proves too fiddly straight off, give one of MAC's Technikohl liners a try - no paring necessary! They're fab for novice users as they're a mechanical pencil-style liner that applies easily and can be blended on the lid if you want. They come in 9 shades, so you're bound to find one to suit.

The secret to getting your makeup looking good is boring - it's good tools, practice, patience, a firm hand and a willingness to scrap it all and start again. I have lost count of the times I've thrown my brushes down, screeched in frustration and started over. So spend time practicing and try not to rush yourself before you go out. Get yourself a couple of good eyeshadow brushes - an applicator and a blender at least. Apply your colour with an applicator brush and then blend it with the blending brush into the eye socket and the crease of the lid for a smooth finish.

Mascara application is also all about practice. As a blonde you should be looking for brown mascara as black is just too dark for you. Start off by making sure that there isn't any excess on the wand - if there is, gently remove it with a tissue. Now steady your hand and take the wand down to the root of your lashes. Zig-zag back out - this is the absolute best way to get mascara on and really minimises the number of coats you'll need. If you get smudges ignore them - rub them while they're wet and you're in for disaster. Let them dry and you can literally pick the dried mascara off your face!

Don't forget to do the lashes at the outer corner of your eyes, and once the first coat is dry, do another. Always wait for the first coat to dry and try not to do more than 2-3 coats - you're asking for clumpy trouble the more you add.

Good mascara brands to try out are Lancome, and if you don't want to spend the cash, Rimmel's new Magnif'eyes has everyone raving about it. Max Factor also do good old mascara reliables at decent prices and Estee Lauder just cannot be beaten - try their fantastic Illusionist Mascara if you're feeling flush.

And blondes out there, comment and let us know what works for you!