How to Apply Liquid Eyeliner

Posted on December 31st, 2008 by Elaine

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If you’re after a dramatic look for a romantic night out, putting on some liquid eyeliner is a good idea. Unfortunately, most women don’t know how to properly apply it. Instead of looking glamorous, they end up looking like a wide-eyed raccoon, or someone with a bad black eye. If you’re afraid you’re going to mess up your sophisticated look, don’t worry: Here’s how to apply liquid eyeliner properly.

What You’ll Need:

Liquid eyeliner (Pick a brand that suits your skin best, and which doesn’t irritate your eyes and the area around it)
Black mascara
Cotton swabs
Eye makeup remover
Mirror

Procedure

Pick an eyeliner that suits your eye color. If you’ve got light eyes, gilded bronzes, browns, and plums are great choices, but if you’re dark eyed, you can pull off a drastic black backdrop. Your eyeliner should also match and complement your eye shadow’s color.
Get a mirror, preferably one that you can get very close to, and which is resting on a flat surface, like a desk, dresser or table. A cosmetic magnifying mirror also works well. Face the mirror, with your head turned at an angle.
Rest one elbow on the flat surface. This arm will be your drawing arm, the one you’ll use to apply the liner with. Prop the mirror upwards, or angle it in such as way that you can see both your hand near the face and your eye.
Using your other hand, pull your eyelid taut at the outside corner. Then, take a deep breath, releasing it slowly. This is the same technique marksmen use to keep their hands steady while shooting.
Start a quarter of the way inwards, drawing a thin line, all the way towards the eyelid’s outer corner. The line should be as close to your lashes as much as possible. If the line isn’t perfectly straight, don’t worry. You can tend to that later.
As soon as you reach your eye’s outer corner, draw the liner outwards, and slightly going up , creating a mini-wing tip. This might seem unnatural, but the problem is if you follow the lid’s natural downward curve, your eyes will appear droopy.
If you’re having trouble perfecting the wing tip, try making a checkmark motion using the liner. Afterwards, do a few small diagonal strokes backwards, towards your lashes, thickening up the line.
If you see smudges or crooked spots, get a q-tip or cotton swab, dip it in makeup remover, and roll it at the back of your hand, to prevent it from dripping all over your makeup. Trace it above the wriggly-lined areas.
Apply at least two to three coats of mascara.
Repeat the procedure on the other eye.

A Few Tips

Don’t share your eyeliner with other people. This makes you susceptible to infections and can transmit bacteria. If you do have to share, swipe the liner’s tip with a bit of rubbing alcohol or makeup remover, then rinse off with clean water.
Replace your liquid eyeliner once every six months , to avoid bacteria build-up.
Pick an eyeliner that dries quickly, to avoid smudges.
If your eyes often water, find a hypoallergenic eyeliner. Another tactic is to apply skin-colored loose eye shadow under the bottom lashes, before putting on the eyeliner. This allows the eyeliner to stay on better.
Use a pencil liner for the bottom of your eyes, instead of the liquid liner. It gives a better look.
Try not to line the inside of your eyelids. This causes infections, and you can accidentally put makeup in your eye.

Smoky eyes look sophisticated, but if you don’t know how to apply liquid eyeliner properly, this can turn out disastrous. Follow the steps above to achieve a glamorous and classy look.