9 Eyeliner Hacks That Will Make You a Pro

Eyeliner instantly makes us feel more glamorous, more tough, more ready to go out and slay in the world. If you haven’t fully dedicated yourself to this lifelong love affair, you will as soon as you check out the perfect a system of tips and tricks we have put together to make this process quick and easy.

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Where You Line Makes All the Difference

The magic of eyeliner is that you can morph your eye into what you would like it to be. These easy tricks will help you get the most out of your eye shape:

Make Eyes Look Bigger: White eyeliner will make your eyes look bigger, and make any eyeliner you wear it with pop, since it is brighter than your skin tone. An added bonus is that it will make you look more alert and well-rested. You could also use a taupe or nude liner for the same effect. Line only the top of your eye, and line the bottom in white, or line the top and bottom, but only from the center of the eye out.

Make Eyes Look Smaller: On the flipside, if you tightline your eyes (fill the waterline on top and bottom lids) in black, you will make your eyes look smaller.

Monolid Eyes: Draw a super thick line so that it will be visible, or you can use shadow as liner if you don’t want such a severe look.

Hooded Eyes: You will want to line with your eyes open, one, because it’s recommended for all eye shapes, and two, because it’s especially important for your type of eye. Also, it will allow you to draw a line while working with the eye fold. The end of the eyeliner line should extend past the fold of the eye.

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 Colors to Make Your Eyecolor Pop

We all know that jet-black liner will make any eye color pop, but what other colors will really bring out the hue of your eyes?

For Brown Eyes: Brown tones are a natural fit for brown eyes, but blue really brings out the gold flecks in your eyes. Purple is another bold yet complementary color choice, but if you want a neutral option, grey will bring out brown, while still looking demure.

For Green Eyes: Red is the direct opposite of green on the color wheel, so it will really make green eyes pop. Think burgundy, rust, warm browns, and red if you’re daring enough! Purples and bronze are also great choices for bringing out the green in your eyes.  

For Hazel Eyes: Use the tricks we mentioned for brown eyes when you want to enhance the brown in your eyes, and the green tips for enhancing the green.

For Blue Eyes: Different shades of blue will complement your eyes. As orange is opposite of blue on the color wheel, orange, copper, gold, brown, will create a bold contrast.

For Grey Eyes: Grey eyes usually have some hints of blue, green. Use the tips we shared to enhance blue or green in your eyes. For highlighting the grey, wear silver, different shades of grey, and black.

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Prime Time

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Sure, the focus is on your eyeliner, but don’t forget to prep your lids! You can use a neutral eyeshadow, primer, or concealer to prime the eye. This will make your eyes an even palette, hiding any imperfections, keeping the lids from getting oily, and lessen the severity of contrast between the eyelid and the liner.

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There’s Some Math Involved

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The face is all about angles and symmetry. The same physical guides on your eyes that you reference for your eyebrows, you use for the perfect eyeliner line. #1 is where the liner should start. #2 is the end point of your liner.  #3 is the highest point that the liner should reach.

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Burning Your Pencil Liner Will Create a Gel Liner

I learned this old yet handy trick of the trade by watching my Titi do her makeup, when I was a kid. She would take her red Maybelline eye pencil in black and melt the tip with a lighter or the stove. What resulted was an inky black line, that went on as easy as a liquid liner. It is basically like today’s gel liner. Just make sure to let the pencil cool down before applying!
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Pencil Liner First as a Guide

Liquid liner is intimidating, especially for newbies. Pencil is easier to apply, so use that to create the line you want, then trace over that with liquid liner.wp_*posts

Tools of the Trade

Girl, eyeliner is a process, a celebration, and a way of life. That means that you will need tools that you will regularly use to make that process more efficient. Some use clear tape to create the angles from which to draw on liner. Others use a stiff piece of paper to do the same, even going so far as to cut out a stencil in the shape of the liner line. A spoon is another helpful guide, or those small, sticky Post-Its. Now that you have your guide tools, you also will need the essential oops correctors. Q-Tips are a lifesaver, but many believe that using them with water, makeup remover, and/or an unsteady hand, may take off more makeup than you intended. Try primer or foundation on the cotton swab to gently blot out any mishaps.

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Don’t Pull the Skin Around Your Eye!

This might be the hardest eyeliner habit to break, but the one you will be most grateful for quitting. Pulling the skin around the eyes taut while applying eyeliner causes wrinkles in the delicate skin around the eyes, and makes for a haphazard line. Plus, it is advised to apply eyeliner with your eyes open (it helps you see how your liner will truly look when you’re done), so if you wear contacts and are pulling on your lid, your lens might pop out!

Are there any specific makeup hacks you’d like to see? Let us know in the comments.