Making up is hard to do

Nah, I'm not talking about arguing with my husband because we (seriously) rarely have big disagreements. I'm in a quandary about make up.

I've worn make up, although not heaps of it, since I was in junior high. I don't wear foundation unless we're going to something really fancy or I know I'm going to have pictures taken. It always feels gooky and thick to me. I do wear SPF 30 Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunblock on the recommendation of my dermatologist. He'd really prefer I wear something with even higher SPF but I just don't like the feel of them and I discovered that the SPF 45 stung my eyes when I perspired.

My real questions are about eye makeup. If I don't wear eye makeup my face looks completely naked. I have light/nonexistent facial hair so I (feel that I) have to wear eyebrow pencil, eye liner and mascara for my features to look normal. On a day when I'm going somewhere, I'll put a little eye shadow on too.

I've been trying to find a decent eye liner for the past few years and I'm getting really frustrated. If I use a powder one, it looks fine as I put it on and then ends up under my eyes almost right away so I look like a raccoon. If I use a creamy add-water one, putting it on is tricky and I can't get it on consistently. I tried the liquid ones but I don't like the line -- it's too definite and doesn't soften or smudge gently. I'm not trying to look like Elizabeth Taylor, just rim my eyes subtly with a fairly thin line but smudgier and softer rather than a razor-like black line.

I've been using Almay or L'Oreal mascara but lately it's depositing itself above my eyes like a bruise. Maybe the skin above my eyes is drooping but it's supposed to be waterproof mascara so I don't understand why it's rubbing off even when I'm not touching my eyes.

I don't want to look like a young girl, since I'm not, but I do want my makeup to look appropriate and tasteful. On our cruise last July, I had a makeup consultant with the girl in the perfume and makeup shop, mostly because we were getting our pictures taken that night and I knew she'd do more with my makeup than I would. I ended up buying some Smashbox powdered eyeshadow/liner that I like but it comes off very easily. I get discouraged after spending time getting my makeup to look nice and natural only to have it shift once I leave the bathroom.

I have a Sephora gift certificate that I want to use to go have another makeup consultation but I hesitate because I'll just buy stuff I think will work and then feel let down when it doesn't perform as I expect.

Any ideas? Recommendations? Hints and tips you can impart, please???