Cat Eye Can Do

I often get asked by strangers, friends, relatives, readers and viewers how I do my eyeliner or what eyeliner I actually use and how does it always look the same, but believe me, me and eyeliner have been on a love/hate journey which is most probably never ending. I thought for the sake of all the people who ask me and get an awkward shrug and a terrible response that probably doesn’t even make sense, that I would string together a blog post on how to find the right eyeliner for the type of look and finish that you want, and the tips and tricks that I used when I was starting my long term relationship with the mystery that is eyeliner.

Step 1: Which eyeliner is for you?

There’s so many eyeliners to choose from from eye-end to low-end, liquid to gel, felt tip to brush. I think the best thing to do is do a bit of research before you purchase an eyeliner, as what might work wonders for someone else, might not work for you.  I found when I first started using eyeliners that the felt-tip eyeliner pens worked best, with practise of course. As the eyeliner felt tips glide on really easily and are practically fool proof. I later went onto Gel eyeliner and really loved the finish of it as it was so intense, however my eyelids are slightly hooded so I found when my face would tend to get oily in the Summer that the eyeliner would smudge onto my eyelid, and because Gel eyeliner is really long-lasting it would be difficult to rub of quickly when I was out and about. Finally, my new love, liquid eyeliner. I’d tried liquid eyeliner a few years back and absolutely hated it, I can’t remember the exact one i used but all I can remember was that it took forever to dry and would smudge all over my eyelid.

Step 2: Try before you buy

 I’d definitely experiment with a variety of the cheaper eyeliners on the market before venturing off and investing in an eyeliner you might hate. You need to put into consideration your skin type and the shaper of your eye, the gap between your eye and eyebrow and how hooded your eyelids are. I think a lot of the time people struggle with eyeliner because their either drawing it on too think when they have hooded eyelids which really closes and darkens the eye as well as smudges allover your eyelid, which is basically eyeliner hell. I think testing out different brands and different types of eyeliner really helps, I think I’ve had an eyeliner for at least every drug store brand and a few high end brands, and to be honest I prefer a lot of the lower-end eyeliner. I just think they’re such good value for money and it’s not a huge loss if you end up not liking the product. If you’re unsure on which type of eyeliner to go for approach someone at a makeup counter and tell them what you struggle with and they might be able to actually test a few products on you whilst you’re there or give you some samples to take home before you purchase anything.

Step 3: It’s all about the technique

My first piece of advise on this is to not try and copy how other people do it, simply take note of how they do it. For example; some people apply their eyeliner with their eyes close, and some with their eyes open. Some apply it starting from the inner corner of the eye, and some start with the flick. Personally, I find that starting with the flick works best for me as I can try and level it out with the other eye to try and make them look as even as possible. Just do whatever you feel comfortable with because at the end of the day, you need your eyes in order to see and it hurts when you poke them. 

I haven’t tried any but I’ve seen that you can get eyeliner stencils from some hughstreet drug stores and offline, so if you’re really at your whits end with eyeliner maybe something like that would help? I’d also recommend having a look at youtube tutorials, one of my favourite ones which would be perfect for eyeliner newbies is one that EssieButton did, you can just click -here- to see it as I thought it was really clever and I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t thought of doing something like that when I was going through my rough patch with eyeliner. Kudo’s to Esteeé and her genus ways!

Step 4: Which liner look?

As I’ve said perviously, every eye shape is going to suit a different eyeliner style, and each eyeliner style will make your eye appear a different shape or lengthen your eye or even make them look rounder and bigger. Once again it’s all about trial and error, you’ll fail at things before you get them right. I think when you’re starting out the best thing to do is give yourself time to find and perfect the look you’re going for the best you can and don’t rush it, otherwise you will go into panic mode and automatically mess it up.  Just remember practise makes perfect, and when you see girls with perfected eyeliner, it’s probably taken them a lot of time as well as a lot of makeup wipes and q-tips to get there!

Love, 

Abigail