It doesn’t matter what “look” you are going for, natural or over-the-top-glam, eyeliner seals the deal.

Did you know that you can change the shape of your eye without the need for plastic surgery. Just keep a little eye liner handy to do the trick and draw the shape you want for your eye.

There are two types of eye liner: pencil and liquid. Which one you use is up to you. A pencil can be sharpened or dulled to give a thin or thick line, depending on how well defined you need your eyes to be. You can smudge well with your finger for a sultrier look. With a liquid pen, you have a little less control but the line is usually darker and bolder than you can achieve with a pencil. For dramatic looks, the pen flows easier.

Cat’s eye: One look that is in is the cat eye look. This has been a trend with prescription eyewear and fashion sunglasses as for years. I remember my grandma’s rinestone glasses well! With eye liner you can achieve a subtle upturn to the eye or a more dramatic one. The look plays well with natural, neutral make-up tones as well as splashes of color.

Subtle: After applying your eye make-up, grab your eye liner of choice. Begin with the upper lid, close to the lashes about halfway across the lid. Start to trace the lid line towards the outer edge of the eye. Before you lift off your pencil or pen, flick it upwards to create a swish at the end of your eye liner line. On the lower lid, begin at the middle of the lid line and move towards the outer edge of the eye.

Another low key option: You can grab the attention of everyone around you (even in the office) with this look. Instead of a tiny flick of the eye liner pencil at the edge of your upper lid, extend the line towards the outer edge of your eyebrow line. Keep it clean and even. Avoid putting any eye liner on the lower lid.

Bring on the night: How about a double line for maximum effect? Extend your eyeliner with a thicker line along the crease where the outer edges of the upper and lower lids meet. Then add a second bold stroke that extends out from the eyebrow crease straight towards the edge of the brow, leaving a small space between the two lines. Another option is to create a bolder upward line by using a thicker eye liner stroke (easy with a liquid pen) across the upper lid and then carrying it upwards to a point at the outer edge of the brow. Again, neglect the lower lid to emphasize the eye.

Well, you see that eyeliner can be used to do many different things that accent the eyes.

What eyeliner trend will you be using?

I’ve started my own online business about four times now. Not all of them worked out well, and I didn’t work well on each of them. However, the ones that I have worked on have done what I wanted them to do each time. It took concentration each time on each new idea in order to make it work, so keep that in mind and don’t just think it will be easy because you don’t have to go the office every day.

Starting an online business is one of the smartest moves you can make to invest in your future. But it takes some chutspah! Now more than ever, people are putting their ideas into practice and becoming first time entrepreneurs.

Beginning a new business in today’s world is even easier than it was ten years ago when I first started. Booming online businesses make up a huge percent of products sold in our world. It’s evident that e-commerce is here to stay.

The beauty of running an online business is that the start up costs are very low – you can even start some businesses without having to come up with any money at all. Young or old, people of all ages can create a business they love from whatever they’re passionate about. Whether it’s selling antique pieces of history, gift ideas or selling services, there’s a niche tailor made for your talents.

So who are these people who are breaking away from their ordinary routines? Who is it that walks away from their cubicles, taking control of their lives?

Many of the people who are first time entrepreneurs are moms. Whether they’re stay at home moms or currently work in an office, mothers make up a large majority of those running Internet businesses. (shocker, right?)

Baby Boomers are also throwing their hats in the ring by using their years of expertise from both life and business to start their own online business. Often, Baby Boomers are the first to get laid off or fired when a company is facing financial stress. But, guess what? They just take those years of experience and apply them to their own new business!

Another segment of the population is military personelle who come home from active duty to a lack of work. Why not turn their experience in management or skilled labor into a business? Why not, indeed!

Changing from a life of active work or being in a social environment for work, to being home all day can be quite an adjustment. Running an online business can make that adjustment a lot easier on the entrepreneur and his or her family.

So, why did you or would you start your own online business?

Tell me in the comments!

It’s May now, that means June is almost here. Are you ready for wedding season? Thankfully, I don’t have many friends who are the marrying kind, or that are traditional enough to get married in June, but you might have those kind of friends or family, so here are some ways to save money on wedding gifts this year.

So, one issue we all seem to have is that money is tight like my gramma with her money. But, there’s no getting out of gifts this year. Where can you find a cheap wedding gift and not look cheap? How much should you spend? If you’re invited to one of the wedding dinners a good rule of thumb is to spend about as much as the dinner would have cost.

This could run between $50 and $125. You’re certainly not obligated to spend that much but polite etiquette also says you should not go empty handed. How can you afford to give something special yet affordable?

Select the gift early. Go ahead and get it over with and check the gift registry. With so many weddings, especially in the spring, registry items can quickly get picked over leaving you with little to choose or gifts out of your price range.

The great thing about this day and age is that brides and grooms are adding a broad selection of gifts in all price ranges. Again, shop early for best (and cheapest) idea to save money. With the distinct possibility of going to two or three weddings in the same year even an inexpensive gift could add up!

Save money by making it yourself

Use your imagination and creativity to make or buy something that’s personalized for the newlyweds. Wedding gift baskets can be geared to their particular tastes and lifestyle. Most new brides need kitchen gadgets so a basket filled with kitchen basics, a few epicurean recipe ingredients and even a recipe book would be perfect. The groom could appreciate this more than you know and it might help a new couple save money in their first year, which can be tight for new couples anyway.

Frame their wedding invitation. Make the frame yourself or buy one that can be personalized with their names and wedding date. Framing a favorite poem or readings from the ceremony itself is a very considerate gift.

Newlyweds are usually on a tight budget so give them a movie night out. You could spring for movie tickets and cash for the popcorn or buy them a romantic movie DVD and include a package of popcorn to pop. Put all this in a popcorn bowl along with two boxes of movie candy. How about you buy them a subscription to RedBox or Hulu.com? They can use the gift all year long for date nights.

Give a bottle of wine with a note attached that the wine will be at its prime in 10 years and it’s not to be opened until their 10th anniversary. Decorate the bottle with bows or ribbons. You could also include ingredients for a romantic dinner such as pasta and a gourmet sauce. A couple of candles would round out the gift nicely.

Usually, the thoughtful gifts, and the humorous ones will be remembered even longer than the really expensive gifts, and it might not so obvious that you were trying to save money on the 15th wedding of the season!

The lady who lived in our house before we did loved flowers. She planted roses by the porch and great big fluffy pink flowers by the shed. However, we don’t care for flowers too much around here. If I have to take care of plants, I’d like to get something out of them, like vegetables and that’s why I’m looking into a sustainability garden.

These kinds of gardens are great for adding decoration, color and interest to your patio area. A sustainability garden is full of organic plants that you can actually eat. Not only does it make your patio look better, but can be part of a nutritious meal.

Keep in mind that your “garden” can be as simple as just a handful of plants, no more than a couple square foot in space. It could also be much more intricate, with all kinds of herbs and vegetables.

Where to Plant Your Garden

There are primarily two ways to plant your garden.

You could plant your garden in the soil around your patio. In that case, you’ll want to use plants that grow big, so that their ambiance can influence the look of your patio.

Alternatively, you can choose to plant your plants only in pots. If you choose this route, you can have your plants on your actual patio.

This second method makes it easy to plant all kinds of different plants almost anywhere on your patio.

Ideally, you’ll want to keep your sustainability garden that gets sunlight but can also be protected from the rain. The plants don’t have to be in sunlight all day, they just needs to get some sunlight during the day.

Climate Matters to your sustainability garden

The climate where you live plays a big role in choosing what kinds of plants to grow.

If you’re in a climate that has a lot of rain and winds, then you’ll want to stick with very sturdy plants and vegetables like kale or potatoes.

On the other hand, if you have a calmer climate, you can choose from a wide array of plants, from mint to tomatoes, onions to lettuce.
Why Choose Organic?Figure out what kind of weather you can expect throughout the course of the year and do some research into what plants thrive in that environment.

Try to get organic seeds to grow your plants with. If you can’t find an organic seed, try just extracting the seeds from an organic plant. For example, buy an organic lemon and use the seeds from that lemon.

Organic plants grow faster, bigger and healthier than their genetically altered counterparts. They’re more sustainable, taste better and also look better on your patio.

Grow Foods That You’ll Eat

Finally, make sure you grow plants that you’ll actually eat. Mix things up. Perhaps plant some of your favorite fruits, some herbs and some veggies.

Many people find that the food they grow themselves tastes far better than food they buy at the grocery store and planting a sustainability garden is a great way to grow your own food in a small space.

Finding your Face Shape

Who knew that eyewear could make such a difference? But, it does. If you wear glasses, choosing the right frame for your face shape can show you in a strong light or just an obscure one. What type of face shape do you have?

There are actually seven of them!

1. square
2. round
3. oval
4. oblong
5. diamond
6. triangle base side down and
7.  triangle base side up.

Let’s review them.

Square: This face has pretty even dimensions all around. The face is just as wide as it is long. There is a strong forehead and an angular jaw. Your frame choice will soften the angles of the face and give it a rounder look.

Round: A round face is similar to square except it has no lines – just curves. It is actually quite full all over. You want frames that will make the face appear thinner and longer.

Oval: This is the desired face shape (if we all had a choice) because the entire face is in balanced proportions. The ideal frames will not change the perception of those proportions in any way.

Oblong: The face is longer than it is wide. The nose may actually be long as well. The idea for frames is to make the face appear shorter and wider.

Diamond: The face is narrow at the forehead and the chin with very high cheek bones. Frame choices will highlight the eyes and soften the angles of the chin, while minimizing the cheek bones.

Triangle base side down: This face is narrow at the eyes but wider at the jaw. Frames need to accent the eyes and add depth to the upper half of the face, while minimizing the jaw line.

Triangle base side up: Just the opposite of the one above, the face is narrow and angular at the chin but wider across the forehead and eyes. The idea for frames is to draw the attention to the lower half of the face while softening and minimizing the upper part.

Now that you know what shape your face is likely to be, here are a few tips about matching the frame to your face. This can save you the trouble of trying on every pair of glasses in the store to find the right one. You can narrow down your choices from the start.

* Choose colors that accent your eyes. They are the windows to the soul and the focus of your face. If you have blue eyes, consider a pair of blue frames.

* Choose a size for frames that is appropriate to your face. Don’t think of the little school boy who has glasses as big as window frames. Proportion is important if you want your eyewear to accentuate your personality.

* Contrast your frame shape with your facial shape. Round glasses on a round face just make it look, well, more round. Frames need to enhance, not detract.

Now, it’s time to shop for your face shape!