How To Do Eyeliner That Doesn’t Look Like A 5 Year Old Did It.

Eyeliner is one of those things that can be so downright frustrating to do that a lot of women just say “Screw it!” and skip it altogether. Whether you can’t get both sides even, or you just struggle with technique: Here are some tips on how to do eyeliner that doesn’t look like a 5 year old did it.

Decide which type of eyeliner works best for you

There are three common types. Liquid (the ones that seem like they would be easiest to use but are really are tiny demons disguised as pens and bottles), Gel (intimidating little pots that require the use of an eyeliner brush), and pencil (the easiest to use but nearly impossible to get a sharp, defined line).

Try experimenting with different types and brands of eyeliner, and choose the lesser these three evils. I prefer gel, specifically Anastasia Waterproof Creme Color, and Maybelline also makes a great gel liner that comes with a brush!

Symmetry

Have you ever been finishing up your eyeliner, feeling really good about how it turned out, and then take a step away from the mirror only to realize that although both sides look awesome, they also look completely different from each other? SO FRUSTRATING. I know for me, it makes me want to flip tables.

Instead of making it progressively thicker to try and even them out; try this instead…

A great tip for getting even eyeliner every time is to map out your liner with eyeshadow first. Just take and angled or eyeliner brush and do your liner as you normally would, except use a brown or black shadow. You can just rub it away if you mess up. Once you’re satisfied with the way it looks, you can go over it with your regular eyeliner! Never rub your eyes raw applying and reapplying ever again!

Bumpiness

Honestly, the reality of eyeliner is that it’s just going to be bumpy sometimes. Here are some tips to help your eyeliner go on smoothly, and how you can fix it if it comes out looking like you did it while driving down a dirt road.

• Rest your elbow on a table. It makes a world of difference.
• Use the length of  the brush to your advantage. It’s instinct to want to use the point of the brush to do your liner, because it seems more precise. Using the length of the brush, however, will give you a straighter, smoother line. It practically does the work for you.  Hold the brush parallel to your eye. Like this:

• Relax your eye. If your eyelid is all squinched up crazy looking your eyeliner will skip and look crazy too. Relax your muscles and tilt your head back so that you’re looking down into the mirror. This will pull your eyelid taut and make it easier for you to get a straight smooth line. Try not to get distracted looking up your own nose.
• Make sure you have the right amount of product on your brush. If you have too much, it will be hard to control, but if you don’t have enough, your brush won’t glide over your skin and could skip. It takes a lot of practice to know the magic ratio, but it’s worth figuring out.

If you do mess it up:

Go back over it with eyeshadow on a brush to even out the bumps!

Tightline

Tightlining is one of those weird things that is a pain in the butt to do, and looks mildly uncomfortable, but makes a huge difference in the way your liner looks. Tightlining means you’re filling in the gaps between your lashes, making them look thicker and fuller. It makes any eyeliner you put on look better because there is no “gap” between your liner and your eye.

Start by taking a stiff brush and loading it up with black or brown eyeshadow. Then you’re going to press the brush down into yur lashes until it meets skin. Without lifting the brush off your skin, gently wiggle it to work the shadow into your lashes. Do this all across the length or your lashes.

Then, you’re going to repeat the last step, except this time, from below, going underneath your lashes. Yes it looks like turture, but once you get used to it, it’s no biggie. You could also do this with a pencil.

Left side, tightlined. Right side, bare.

This is a great way to do liner for those of you who don’t have very much lid space.

And that’s it! May the eyeliner odds be ever in your favor! A tutorial for this subtle pink and brown eye look is here! Do you have any questions? Leave them in the comments below!