New York City–based makeup artist Laura Mercier perks up models at early-morning photo shoots by rimming their inner, upper lash lines with navy. “It make the whites of their eyes seem brighter,” she says. White is the liner color of choice for singer Katy Perry, 24, who’s learned it’s not easy to get shut-eye when you’re promoting a hit album (One of the Boys) and spending nights on a tour bus. She swipes it onto her inner, lower lids. The white helps offset redness, she says; “catnaps help too.
Do a Ponytail Face-Lift
Caffeinate Your Eyes
Leigh Lezark, 24, globe-trotting deejay for the Misshapes, has a special A.M. ritual when she’s worked till dawn: She dips cotton pads in brewed espresso and presses them beneath her eyes. “It eliminates all the darkness and puff,” she says. Caffeine is a vasoconstrictor, so it shrinks blood vessels and minimizes dark circles. Its diuretic effect also helps reduce swelling, which is why it’s so popular in eye creams.
Take a Cold (and Hot) Shower
Alternating blasts revive Jayne Sandman, 29, associate publisher of Capitol File magazine, when she’s done the D.C. party circuit five nights in a row. Says Dr. Fusco, who recommends this to overworked patients: “The temperature change revs circulation and brings back color—it’s like CPR for the skin.”
Dancing With the Stars pro Karina Smirnoff, 30, spikes ice-cube trays with her Russian mom’s special cocktail (not vodka!) to prep for sunrise rehearsals. She just adds a drop of lemon juice and olive oil to each square, and later runs a frozen cube over her face. The cold reduces swelling, the lemon’s citric acid tightens and the olive oil adds moisture.
Spoon!
When she’s been working nonstop, Kate Somerville, 38, founder of a skin-care line, chills teaspoons in the hotel-room mini fridge and rests them on her eyes: “It reduces puffiness and redness.”
Banish Dark Circles
One mistake women often make: “They miss the shady spot at the inner corner of the eye,” says Matthew Nigara, an NYC makeup pro. A dab of highlighter there brightens the whole area.
