It's hard to believe that Hayden Panettiere (shown here at the L.A. premiere of <em>Star Trek</em>) is only 19. I'm not sure what it is about her style that's so aging, but I've always figured she was at least in her 30s. (It also doesn't help that she <em>dates</em> <a href="http://www.whosdatedwho.com/celebrities/people/dating/milo-ventimiglia.htm" target="_blank">guys in their 30s</a>, which is just... yuck.)

But nevermind—I'm all over this mega-eyeliner, which looks good whether you're 19 or 39. (Hey, Donna Karan <a href="http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.nymag.com/daily/intel/08_donnakaran_lgl.jpg&amp;imgrefurl=http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/02/peta_causes_a_ruckus_in_the_ho.html&amp;usg=__ixt5bzyJ5_RcKCpTz7lMrSmobwI=&amp;h=250&amp;w=250&amp;sz=19&amp;hl=en&amp;start=18&amp;um=1&amp;tbnid=SUwNtiDIJ1hCaM:&amp;tbnh=111&amp;tbnw=111&amp;prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddonna%2Bkaran%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1" target="_blank">still rocks</a> a modified version of it, and she's 61!)

It's tricky to get right, though. The two big challenges are perfecting your application technique and making sure your eyeliner stays put. And <strong>you can't use just any liner</strong>. You want the best quality, blackest-black, most waterproof one that you can get your hands on. I'm still searching for the perfect one, but <a href="http://www.benefitcosmetics.com/gp/product/B001L1J1B6/sr=1-6/qid=1241233801/ref=sr_1_6/181-0827921-8068013?ie=UTF8&amp;n=164991011&amp;bcBrand=core" target="_blank">Benefit's BADgal Waterproof Liner</a> does the job.

Now get in front of a mirror, take a deep breath, gently pull the skin taut and start lining. Some people like to work from the outside corner in towards the centre, but I do the opposite—you get a better flick at the outer edges that way. (Although that's more of a '60s look, which Hayden isn't really sporting here.)

Whatever you do, don't bother with short, feathery strokes. In the words of makeup artist extraordinaire Val Garland (who I met the other week when she was in town for a YSL launch), <strong>be confident about it</strong>. Practice makes perfect—and you can always go over the line after with more liner or shadow.

If you want your eyes to really pop, you're also going to need to line the inner lash line, which is an admittedly scary thing to do but well worth trying. (Then, you'll get so used to it that you'll be like me—I just jam that pencil in there and go to town, it's so easy.) What you do is place your forefinger against your lashes and gently pull up the upper lid. Then, use a clean, freshly sharpened liner to carefully darken underneath the lashes. Repeat on the lower lid.

<em>Et voila!</em> Now go rock the look, and pray for air conditioning.