How to: Eyeliner

A question I get asked very often is how do I apply eye liner. The easiest answer I can give anyone is practice a lot. Get a cheap eye liner and practice by applying then removing. Repeat until you get the hang of it.

When I started trying out eye liners, I bought a Collection (2000) eye liner and sat down for a good 2 hours just applying different thicknesses and ways. Along my make up journey I have found, for myself, that applying eye liner with my eye open and looking down slightly in a mirror is the most effective method. Below are mini tutorials for two of the quickest ways I have found to do eye liner. One using freehand, and one using tape and finishing off with concealer.

For this tutorial I’ll be using a gel liner and a nail art brush, as they’re thin and can pick up product smoothly. For me, gel is smooth, easy to remove, usually water proof and if you want to blend out to create a smoky look or drag the eye liner across the eye it’s easiest with this type of liner. It’s very versatile for your unique looks and also can be used in the waterline and to tightline.

Eye liner done with tape and gel liner.
Eye liner done with tape and gel liner.

Give them both a go and let me know how you get on!

Method 1: Freehand.

This method does take time to practice, but it is the quickest way to do eye liner. This is how I learnt to do eye liner.

I found the easiest way to create the basic line shape to then customise, such as turn it into a cat eye, smudge to create a smoky look, is to create three dots, one on the inner corner, one on the middle, and one on the outer edge of your eye, and join the dots.

Or alternatively, you can start the opposite way which is how I do my eye liner now.

Firstly, I start off with the wing. I draw the line going to the angle that the tail of my brow ends. I’ve drawn a blue line to help show what I mean.

How to eyeliner tutorial
Then, draw a line coming from that in a triangle and carefully connect that line to the middle of your lid following the natural curve of your eye.

Eyeliner Tutorial
Keep following your lid until you get to a point you want to close your eyeliner off. remember to go thinner as you draw along. Fill in the liner you have drawn.

Eyeliner how to eye liner tutorial

This is when you can get a bit creative. If you want to make it into a cat eye you can do so by drawing a smaller triangle in the inner corner of your eye and connecting it to your lower lash line. Be sure to use a very thin brush, or a liner that dries quickly for this part as one blink or twitch can mess it all up.

If you do any mistakes, you can conceal them up or use a cotton bud dipped in remover or primer to wipe the excess away and make edges sharper.

Now you can add even more features to make it your own look. Below I have added a black kohl eyeliner to my waterline, and smudged it down to my lower lash line to add balance and make it look less harsh.

cat eyeliner tutorial
Now I added a dark grey eye shadow and a hint of  black to add further balance to my upper lid. This softens the eye and completes the look.
P1020162 P1020166
Method 2: Tape.

Tape allows you to create a defined line if you don’t have the steadiest of hands. The trickiest part of creating liner with tape is aligning and creating an even look on both sides, but after a few tries you’ll nail it. Again, practice is the key to creating any make up look.

When using tape always make the tape less tacky by applying it to the back of your hand. This will make it easier to remove from your face and won’t remove any make up you have applied to your face this far.

I have found looking down into a mirror then looking up and straight ahead pressing the tape to your face is the most successful method to applying the tape to your eye area. This stops any air pockets and applies it flat to the eye area. Aim for the tape to angle towards your eyebrow tail, just like the first method.

eye liner tutorial using tapeTape eyeliner tutorialTape eye liner tutorialAfter you’ve stuck the tape, you can start drawing.

Now you can be as heavy handed as you want, and the line will be super straight. Gel is the most effective for this method. Liquid liner can be a little runny and messy if it touches the tape, and a kohl / pencil is too dense.

Start off by drawing a single line, following the tape. You can draw on the tape as well to be sure you have actually drawn on your skin. Remember to again angle it towards your brow.

Gel liner tutorial

Once youve done that, draw a line curving around your natural eye shape until you get the look you desire. If you’re unsure on how to do that, look at method 1.

How to do eyeliner

If you’re happy with the line you’ve created, now it’s time to remove the tape. Look down into your mirror so it doesn’t snag.

Tape how to eyeliner

You may find it doesn’t make a precise line. Don’t panic! This can be easily rectified. Take some primer or concealer and a small flat brush, and just sweep along the liner towards your brow. this will make it sharp again and elongate and sharpen the point of your liner.

Liner and tape tutorialP1020180

 

Add some liner to your top and lower lash line, and you’re done! Any questions please ask below, hopefully this has been helpful to you all.

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s