Our Best Inspo For Nailing The Batwing Eyeliner Look
Winged eyeliner can instantly elevate a makeup look and make it all the more glamorous. While we love a good winged liner, actually achieving a perfectly upturned and sharp flick is another story. To get that perfect line and add extra drama to your eye makeup, try the batwing eyeliner technique.
While batwing eyeliner can work for almost any eye shape, it is especially great for hooded eyes. If you have hooded eyes, the skin on top of your eye folds over your eyelid crease, covering part or most of your eyelid. This can present problems for drawing a straight-winged eyeliner line. On hooded eyes, classic winged liner often looks perfectly straight when your eye is closed, but when you open your eye, it has a noticeable dip where the hooded lid interrupts the wing. One way around this problem? Batwing eyeliner.
Batwing eyeliner isn't as spooky as it sounds — it just refers to a winged eyeliner shape that slightly resembles the shape of a bat's wing. It has a characteristically swooped appearance when the eye is closed, but when the eye is open, the eyeliner looks like a straight line. This eyeliner shape can be dramatic or subtle and is possible to create with pretty much any eyeliner product, including liquid and pencil liner, as well as with eyeshadow and an eyeliner brush. If you want to up your eyeliner game, check out the batwing eyeliner inspiration ahead.
Dramatic wing
Batwing eyeliner usually has a dramatic flair due to its swooped shape, and you can really lean into the drama by choosing a very black eyeliner and drawing a thicker line. This inspiration photo from Katie Hughes (who is actually credited with popularizing the batwing eyeliner look) presents this eyeliner silhouette in a classic glam way. The large and sharp wing and smoky eyeshadow is a sultry pick for a special event, whether that's an important gala or a weekend date night.
Dual colors
Batwing eyeliner can also be subtle, as seen in this dual-tone look. To make winged eyeliner look more natural, start the line around the midpoint of your eyelid rather than the inner corner. Doing so leaves more space on your lid for eyeshadow and can make your eye appear more open if you have hooded eyes. This tip works with black eyeliner, but it's even more fun with colorful options. To achieve this beautifully simple dual-color look, choose a more neutral base color and add pops of a bright color. The warm purple and vivid teal are a perfect pairing in this look.
Soft glam
If you have hooded eyes, you know there are few things more frustrating than having a glamorous makeup look ruined by eyeliner that doesn't sit right. Draw a batwing eyeliner shape for your next soft glam look to achieve a cat eye liner that's as sharp as this one. Even if you don't have hooded eyes, the swooped shape of batwing liner can take a soft glam eye look to the next level.
Subtle batwing eyeliner
To get a really subtle winged liner look, use eyeshadow instead of eyeliner, a trick that works just as well with batwing liner. This lighter eyelining technique is perfect for when you want more focus on the rest of your makeup look, but still want to include a winged liner. In this case, the more muted eyeliner lets you focus on the shimmery gold lid and warm and rosy face makeup — the batwing eyeliner is just the cherry on top.
Green with envy
Swapping out eyeliner for eyeshadow is also a great technique if you want to create a toned-down version of a colorful look. If a graphic liquid liner feels like too much, experiment with eyeshadow for a lighter effect. This green batwing eyeliner look is the perfect example. The green color is the star of the show, but using eyeshadow gives it a smokey look that's not as in-your-face as a liquid or pencil eyeliner.
Ruby red
Maybe it's the reference to bats or maybe it's the sharp line that slightly resembles a canine tooth, but there's something about batwing eyeliner that reminds us of vampires. For a vampire-inspired look, use blood-red makeup to add sultry accents. Paired with ruby red under-eye liner and a bold red lip, this batwing liner look feels gothic and powerful.
White highlight
Another way to incorporate two colors into a batwing eyeliner look is to draw the batwing portion with a different color. This makes the batwing silhouette more obvious, and it's an easy way to try a graphic eyeliner look without needing to get too creative with different lines and shapes (if you've ever tried to create your own graphic eyeliner shapes, you know how messy it can get). White eyeliner has a way of making your eye look brighter and more open, so it's a stellar choice for this type of fresh-faced look.
Pair with a bold lip
According to traditional makeup rules, a bold eye look and a bold lip don't go together. But we disagree! There's a time and place to combine both when you really want to make a statement. To make sure the makeup isn't too overwhelming, we like how this look doesn't use a lot of eyeshadow or blush — it keeps your focus on the graphic batwing liner and red lips.
Add gemstones
With shimmery green shadow, fluttery false eyelashes, and gemstones, this makeup look is just plain ethereal. The batwing eyeliner adds even more drama and takes this look from pretty to enchanting. Sparkly gems and winged eyeliner work well together to recreate a dainty fairy-like or trendy Euphoria-inspired makeup look.
Just the wing
Bring batwing eyeliner to its most basic form with this simplified eyeliner look — it does away with lining the eyelid and just focuses on the unique batwing shape on the outer corner of the eye. It's a minimalist graphic liner idea that works especially well for hooded eyes since it won't take up any extra lid space. Go super simple with a bare lid, like in this photo, or use that lid space to play with eyeshadow colors.
Graphic liner
Batwing eyeliner can be considered a simple type of graphic liner because of its distinctive shape compared to a traditional cat eye. You can up the unique look even more by adding creativity to your batwing liner look. Paired with glittery pink eyeshadow and big falsies, this inspo photo takes the liquid liner underneath the eye to make the eye look bigger and almost cartoon-like.
A pop of blue
Nude tones and smoky eyeshadows are always classics, but blue makeup gets its moment in the spotlight from time to time. Use blue eyeliner or blue eyeshadow to create a chic batwing liner look. It's less bold than stark black eyeliner, while still contrasting enough to make your eyes pop.
Shimmer shadow
Pastel eyeshadow colors feel oh-so-spring and are perfect for fresh-faced makeup looks. But what if innocent and fresh-faced isn't totally your thing? Whether it's for a day-to-night look or you just want an eye-catching eyeliner look, batwing eyeliner turns this pastel shimmer shadow look from playful to slightly grungy with just a flick of your favorite liquid liner.
Vivid colors
If you want to go big with your makeup look, pair vivid colors with a thick batwing liner. This eye look really makes a statement with its neon shades, striking cut crease, and sharp lines. A simple eyeliner look might get lost among the colors, so it makes sense to go with a prominent batwing liner shape.
Add dramatic lashes
Fluttery false lashes pair beautifully with a dramatic batwing liner. If you aren't blessed with naturally long and curled lashes, it can be hard to see your eyelashes when you're wearing thick batwing liner, especially if you use dark black eyeliner. Dramatic falsies solve this problem, making both your eyeliner and your lashes impossible to miss.