Our eye makeup needs to up its game now face masks are an essential accessory...

I think it’s safe to say 2020 has not been a good year for lipstick. It’s been the year we’ve reluctantly adopted face masks, then hustled to work out how to wear them without losing our foundation to the fabric.

Nope. This year is all about the eyes. With half our face obscured by our masks, users have been taking to social media to share how they’ve tackled #maskmakeup and – you guessed it – maximalist eyeshadow, crisp winged liner and lashings of mascara all feature heavily.

Where to buy face masks in the UK that are just as pretty as Kate Middleton’s, if your stash needs an update

Already, Bobbi Brown has seen a 63% boom in the sales of its eyeshadows compared to this time last year. Mascara is up 55%, liners have increased by 23% and brow products have jumped by 55%. Basically, from the bridge of our nose up to our hairline, it’s all systems go. The other half of our face? Forget about it. Once you’ve melted your chin makeup with your own breath, there’s not a lot of point in focusing your attention there.

So starting from the top down, here’s how can we maximise the makeup opportunities we do have.

Brows

The minimalists will be pleased to hear a new low-key trend has been making its way up the ranks. The baby brow, favoured by the likes of Hailey Bieber, Bella Hadid and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, sees you keeping upkeep to a minimum (if there’s a really rogue hair, grab him. If not, leave your brows be). Then, brush the lot slightly up and outward and set with a gel. It’s a slightly wilder way of wearing our brows than perhaps we’re used to (far less trimming and plucking required), but it pretty much suits the situation we’re currently in.

For a bit more oomf, the shadow brow employs a speedy hack to make brows appear naturally fuller, thicker and more defined. It involves shading some shadow on the skin behind your brows to give the illusion of more hairs and is a trick used by top makeup artists to add dimension to the brows of their celeb clients who have over-plucked.

The ‘shadow brow’ is the makeup artist’s secret to faking fuller arches and here’s how to do it

And for a full-on fluffed-out brow, the plume brow makes the most of gloriously grown out hairs. The key is to feather them out with a brow spoolie, paying as much attention to the direction your brushing your brow hairs in as you would your mascara (straight up from the start of your brow to the centre, then diagonally up toward your temple at the tail-end). For any sparse patches, fill in with a brow pencil. And if you want to add more definition, you can tint them, too.

Plume brows are *the* trend of isolation that suit literally everyone… here’s how to get the look

Eyeshadow

You could play it safe with a standard neutral or you could offset a drab face mask by trying something a bit more experimental. You could start by swapping textures and trading in your matte shadow for a glossy finish. You could amp up the glitz with daytime glitter, or you could give a more out-there shade a spin. Peaches and pinks are big this summer, but olive greens and sky blues work equally well. To maximise the look, check out our guide to matching your makeup to your eye shape.

Some dedicated ‘grammers have even taken to replicating the pattern from their face mask on their eye lids (gingham, anyone?) But if that sounds a bit much, you can’t go wrong with a smoky eye or ultra sharp cut crease. Here’s our edit of the best eyeshadow palettes to create the look.

Eyeliner

Given our eyes are the centre of attention, a winged liner can help emphasise they’re shape. And if you’re doing a liner, you might as well do the slickest, foxiest liner going, to thicken the look of lashes and give your eyes a feline shape. Just as well we have tips from Charlotte Tilbury herself, on how to nail it so you don’t end up with wobbly flicks.

Graphic liner, is another way to go. Why stick to one line, when you could do three, and zig-zag them, and layer them on top of a sparkly pink shadow for a fierce, flame-looking eye? Sounds crazy, looks phenomenal.

Or you could mix up the colour. White eyeliner is a huge trend for summer and a favourite amongst Rihanna, Jodie Comer and Sophie Turner. But you could go all out with rainbow liner (trust us, it looks incredible), or you could stick to something more subtle with a tiny pop of colour, just in the inner corner.

Eyelashes

And of course, full, fluttery lashes finish things off nicely. With close-contact face treatments starting up again soon, eyelash extensions are an easy way to fan out your lashes, add length and fullness and look like Bambi for approximately three to four weeks. If not, layer up the mascara however you like it for clumped up, spidery, defined or delicate looking lashes. These are our favourites.