Beauty Spot: Eyeliner Line Up

Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve had our first request for a post on a particular topic!

The lovely Sophia of In The Gateaux fame sent me a message on Facebook recently asking whether I could write a post on all the different types of eyeliner out there and when it was best to use them. Although I wouldn’t say that my eyeliner application skills are up there with the makeup greats, I like a challenge, and so I agreed to give my best tips and tricks for all the various kinds of liner I know and love.

I’ve written about some of my favourite eyeliners before, so I won’t go too much into details about each individual product. Unless, of course, it’s relatively new and I want to rave about it!

Eye Pencils

After a particularly traumatic experience with a liquid eyeliner in my teens, I only used the humble Pencil Eyeliner until I built up the confidence to graduate to my liquid liner pen license. Pencils are wonderful because applying them is much like simply writing on your eyelids. This sounds pretty straightforward – unless, of course, you’ve never been particularly good at handwriting or colouring in. I’m guilty on both counts, so I tend to find that if I apply Pencil Eyeliner on my lash line, it look a bit smudgy and uneven. Pencil is relatively easy to correct though, so you can fix a multitude of sins by stylistically smudging your mistakes or removing and redoing your liner.

Pencils are great for using on your waterline (the bottom of you eye; it’s like your lower lash line). I’ve mentioned before that I tend to use pencil eyeliner on my waterline every day as I think it further defines my eyes. If you’re going to use Pencil liner on your waterline though, don’t take it the full length of your lash line! Just go from your outer eye and bring the line about 3/4 of the way along the waterline. Otherwise your eyes will look smaller and like you’re squinting – believe me on this one!

If you’re worried that using a black eye pencil will look a little harsh or you’re not used to wearing eyeliner on your waterline, don’t forget that there are other colours! I typically use Urban Decay’s 24/7 Glide On Eyeliner in Desperation as my day-wear eye pencil, as it’s a soft grey instead of a jet black and it makes my eye makeup a little less intense. You want to look refined, not as though you’ve been punched in the face by someone wielding a Crayola Crayon!

Liquid Eyeliner 

Although it can be easily be incorporated into an every day look, and despite how much I adore retro glam, I tend to only wear liquid eyeliner when I’ve got something really fancy on because it takes me FOREVER to get it just right.

The sad fact of the matter is that liquid eyeliner is one of the most unforgiving beauty products to apply. The trick with liquid eyeliner is to be precise: take it slowly, fix your mistakes as they arise, and use a REALLY good eyeshadow primer though, and you should master the art of liquid eyeliner eventually. It just takes a lot of practice.

The internet suggests a variety of ways to get the perfect cat’s eye look, but here are the steps that work for me. Please note I’m not a make-up artist and this is highly subjective, but these easy steps have seen me right over the years!

Firstly, some product info: I used my trusty Clio Kill Black Waterproof Brush Liner and prepped my eyelids with Smashboxes Photo Finish Eyeshadow Primer.

Where to start? Well, to begin with, I draw a thick line as close as I can to my lash line. Then I add a thin, small line from my outer eye up to where I want the wing of my winged eyeliner to stop, like so:

Not looking too bad, Jackson!

Then, because of my eye shape,  I simply colour in the line to meet my lash line. I know a lot of websites recommend that you draw a triangle from the tip of your thin line to meet your lash line as a guide, but I find that this makes the ‘wing’ of my winged eyeliner look a bit like a rectangle.

I’ve gone quite over the top for my mini demonstration, but this is what my dramatic eye makeup tends to look like. Focus more on the left eye than the right one; I hurriedly tried to match it up but the right side (my left eye) slightly misses the lash line and is an example of what not to do! That right eye, though? Perfection!

As I said, precision is key!

If you’re in doubt though, I’d recommend you invest in a product that acts as an eraser for your eye makeup. I have e.l.f studio’s Makeup Remover Pen and Japanese brand Canmake’s Cleansing Stick on high rotation. Neither of these products are very expensive and they will save you minutes of agonizingly trying to fix your fashion faux pas by using makeup wipes or the like.

Gel Eyeliner

I’m going to be honest: I hardly ever use gel eyeliner. I used to avoid this partially because it looked a little too much like painting. Art is something that I’m pretty useless at. In fact, my Art teacher once told me that I drew like a four year old and painted like a two year old. So there you go.

Recently I picked up a pottle of Smokin’ Gel Eyeliner by super cheap American brand KleanColor. It cost me all of $3 NZD from Postie Plus and I have to say, I’ve been impressed so far. For such an inexpensive product, it has impressive staying power and the hot pink angled brush made getting the right look a breeze. Actually, angled brushes generally make make up application much easier.

Take it from a novice: this is great starter kit!

Again, if you make a mistake, it’s reasonably easy to smudge the evidence. Don’t go too overboard though! Otherwise your thought process will end up a bit like this:

So, my top tip for applying gel eyeliner is to only use it when you’re not in a hurry – at least when you’re first starting out. Don’t be impatient. Just wait for it to dry. I don’t know, read a book or play a few rounds of Angry Birds on your phone. Then you may proceed with getting ready!

That’s my longwinded post about the application of eyeliners! Was it helpful? Do you have any tips or tricks for me?

Analiese x