Top 7 Tips for Applying Liquid Eyeliner

Everyone knows how tricky applying eyeliner can sometimes be. Put it in a liquid form and it just spells trouble. Many of us are even guilty of spending too much time re-applying our eyeliner over and over again because of the wacky form it somehow takes on when it meets our lids. Mix that in with rushing, not having a steady hand, or just joining the eyeliner party and it can make for some pretty interesting eyeliner looks. Most of you are already aware of our original soft plastic eyeliner stencils and our newest adhesive eyeliner stencils to get the perfect wing with ease, if you're looking for more, we’ve got the tips and tricks to help you! You’ll be lining your eyes like a PRO in the time it takes you to read this article :-)

1. One of our favorite eyeliner tips for wearing liquid liner is to start with a regular pencil liner first before applying the liquid. As amazing as liquid liner looks once you’ve applied, it’s also a lot less forgiving when it comes to fixes or taking it off if you make a mistake. Using a pencil liner underneath the liquid also provides a good base for applying, will make your liner look more vibrant, allow you to create the desired length and thickness, and let you make any changes easily before moving onto your liquid. And, as if that weren’t enough, another benefit to lining with a pencil first is your liner will set better and be more likely to stay on throughout the day without needing any touch-ups.

To do, choose a pencil in a lighter shade like a gray or taupe. Make sure it is freshly sharpened and depending on where you wish your eyeliner to begin rest the pencil along the base of your lashes and move across the eyelid. There shouldn’t be any space between the liner and the lashes. Create the thickness and length, clean up any mistakes using a Q-tip dipped in makeup remover and move onto your liquid.

2. Another basic but extremely important tip for applying liquid eyeliner is to apply a primer on your eyelids first before adding any color. Including this step as part of your beauty routine will keep your eyeliner looking fresh all day long and prevent any potential flaking or smudging. We’ve all been there girls and once you’ve experienced the embarrassment of having eyeliner on one eye and not on the other at the end of the day you’ll know the true meaning of the eyeliner tragedy. The primer will also help with setting any eyeshadows you may decide to put on before your liner and with blending too.

3. The next liquid eyeliner tip is to have the rest of your eye makeup completely done, except for mascara. This means eyebrows too girls. If you wait to put on your eyeshadow until after you’ve applied your eyeliner, chances are the fallout will run over the liner and compromise your eye makeup look. If you do decide to put on mascara before you put on your liner keep in mind that this might make it harder to get close to your lashline because your lashes will be in the way. To avoid, apply your eye makeup in this order: Brows, shadow, liner, mascara, concealer. Gorgeous.

4. Creating the Perfect Liquid Liner Line: The secret to this is not to go across the eyelid in one fell swoop. Instead, use the ‘connect the dots’ method and make short little lines where you want the liner to go. Then, go back over the lines and fill in the gaps by starting at the inside or center of the eyelid (the easiest part) and moving out towards the outer corners. By doing this, it takes the pressure off of having to create the perfect liner look all in one stroke and allows you more control and time to make the line as perfect looking as possible.

5. Wearing Liquid Liner on Your Lower Lashline: This is definitely a great look for editorial, the stage, or the runway, but we don’t recommend it for everyday. A liquid liner to begin with is very pigmented so the color is already pretty dramatic. Wearing liquid liner underneath the lashes can tend to make the eye makeup look harsh and also make your eyes look smaller in the process. By applying liquid liner to just your top lashline it makes your eyes look more open and elongated than if you were to apply it on the bottom. If you’re going to apply liner on your bottom lashline while still having liquid on your top, choose a kohl liner or a dark shadow instead. The softer/smudgy effect will give you a sexier look without looking overdone.

6. For those of us who seek a perfectly lined eye, here’s a tip on how to fix any little mistakes you may have made with the liquid liner: Dip a Q-tip into some eye makeup remover or eye cream and go over any spots that are uneven or too thick. This is also a great trick for fixing a cat eye look that has gotten away from you. Once you have it looking good you can trace around your cat eye shape or liner with a concealer and set your eye makeup using a blender brush and some translucent powder.

7. One of the most popular eyeliner looks that is always in style no matter the time of year is the famous cat-eye. Done properly, this eye makeup look can elongate the eyes and will give you just the right amount of drama needed to make an eyeliner statement. Done improperly, you could have another eyeliner tragedy on your hands. When creating your cat eyeliner look using a liquid liner in particular, it's important to get it right the first time or in as little time as possible because of how tricky liquid liner can be to remove and fix. With that being said, the best cat eye makeup tip especially for anyone just beginning to wear eyeliner is to use an eyeliner stencil in either a soft plastic that adheres to the eyelid easily or a gentle adhesive eyeliner stencil, like Eye Candy (video tutorial below) to get the perfect cat eye shape. Compared to using scotch tape (ouch!), a business card, or a DIY with wax paper, they are both the easiest of them all and take seconds to do.

Once you’re happy with your cat eyeliner, remove your stencil and repeat the same steps on the other eye. For the soft plastic template make sure to wipe it with a soft tissue, or moist wipe in between applying to avoid transferring any color. To finish your cat eyeliner look trace over your shadow with your liquid liner. To lengthen your eyeliner look you can hold the stencil further away from the outer eye and to create the trending winged eyeliner look, place your cat eye makeup stencil up at a slight angle.

Finding the best tips that work for you personally and a little practice is all it takes to tackle any of these eyeliner looks, even those that seem a bit challenging. As you become more comfortable using liquid liner and have your own techniques the rest will not seem so scary, and if you mess up, that’s okay. Everyone does, even the biggest pro’s in the industry have their makeup mishaps, but it’s the mistakes that actually help us to hone our skills. So with that said, have fun, do your thing, and remember, it's only makeup beauties.