20 Steps to Amazing Eyeliner

Eyeliner is the only eye product you’re going to wear, start with clean dry eyelids, devoid of any product or make up remover residue.

2. Oily eyelids can cause your eyeliner to smudge, crease or transfer. To avoid this,

blot the eyelid with a loose or pressed powder to ‘mattify’ the skin.

3. If adding eyeliner to your existing make up, apply over eye shadow and

before mascara.

4. Tools are the trick of the trade; you can’t get a precise application if you’re

working with splayed brushes, your eyeliner will have feathered edges and

looked crooked and uneven.

5. Try these eyeliner brushes by jane iredale: Angle Liner/Brow, Angle Eyeliner, Eye

Liner/Brow, Angle Definer, Smudge & Detail Brushes.

6. If using an eye pencil to line your eyes, make sure your pencil is sharpened; you

won’t achieve a fine and precise line with a blunt pencil.

7. Assess the shape of your eye and determine what will be the most flattering eye

lining technique for you. Consider thickness of the eyeliner as well as placement.

Will you line the top lid, the bottom lid or both?

8. As a general rule, the thickness and the intensity of the eyeliner should correlate

with the size of your eyelid, the larger the eyelid area, the thicker the line can

afford to be.

9. Consider the texture of the eyeliner. Eyeliner typically comes in a pencil, a liquid

form, a gel base or cream.

10. For a smooth fine line, a gel or cream applied with a brush or liquid liner is best. These

tools allow for precise application and allow you to reach close to the lash line.

11. You can also achieve a liquid liner effect using any colour eye shadow and

angled brush. Add a spritz of D2O Hydration Spray to your brush and create a

liquid liner effect.

12. If you want to achieve a more smoky and diffused look, you can use an eye

shadow, eye pencil or gel liner and smudge with a soft brush before the product

has had time to set. The jane iredale Mini Dome Brush and Chisel Brush help to

achieve this look.

13. When creating the traditional liquid liner look, tilt your head back slightly so you

can see your lid, this will ensure you reach the roots of your lashes.

14. For precise lines, hold your brush or pencil on an angle, this will allow your tool to

hug the skin and glide smoothly without creating bumps. The highest or sharpest

point of the brush will always face the corner of the eye, whether it is the inner or

the outer corner. This allows the brush to hug the natural contour of the eye.

15. Start from the inner corner of your eye and line towards the centre of the lid, then

start again from the outer corner and work inwards, joining in the centre. Be sure

to get as close to the lash line as possible, avoiding any gaps between the liner

and the lash line.

16. To start, keep the line as thin as possible, then build up the thickness if necessary.

The inner corner should be thinner; the thickness can increase towards the outer

corner of the eye.

17. If the outer corners of the eyes slant downwards, simply lift the outer corners in

an upward and outward motion, this will give the eye a more lifted appearance.

18. To create the eyeliner wing or the tail, consider the following to ensure your

eyeliner is symmetrical and is in balance with the eye shape: look at the very outer

corner of the eye and the space where the top and the bottom lashes meet each

other. Draw a line extended slightly out and upwards from that corner, this will be

the guide you will use to create the tail of your eyeliner. Using the very tip of this

tail or flick, bring the eyeliner back in towards the centre of the eyelid. You may

have an empty space, which needs to be filled in with eyeliner, do this, and your

top lash line is complete!

19. Lining the lower lash line can create the illusion of a larger more open eye, or a

wider more elongated eye. Liner on a lower lash line is traditionally softer and

more diffused, as opposed to a definite liquid liner effect.

20. Kohl pencils and eye shadows help create a softer more diffused look as they can

blend easier and don’t ‘set’ as fast as gel and liquid eyeliners.