BEAUTY
The Best Tips For Applying Liquid Liner Like A Pro
By MARY WROBLEWSKI
Pick The Best Liner For You
Think of liquid eyeliner as coming in two forms: a brush tip and a felt tip. You may wish to buy an inexpensive version of each so you can see for yourself how they feel in your hand and what they result in. In general, though, a brush tip is meant for precision while a felt tip is more forgiving.
Follow The Basics First
Shake the liquid eyeliner and then starting in the center of your eyelid using your dominant hand, draw a line to the outer corner and then the inner corner. Form a wing tip (if that's your style) and then another line on your lower lid.
Start With The Difficult Eye
Like many challenges in life, it can be a smart move to attack the biggest one first. Building "I can do this" momentum applies to liquid eyeliner, too, which is why cosmetologist Denise Dixon recommends lining that difficult eye first — the eye you tend to smudge, redo, and compare to the more finessed eye.
Pencil In A Line
Draw a line in pencil first — a literal baseline that you can alter, if need be — before following up with the less forgiving eyeliner, Beth Bender Beauty suggests. With two layers — the pencil and then the eyeliner — you may also pick up some unexpected dividends: Your eyeliner may stay put longer and require fewer touch-ups afterward.
Connect The Dots
It's asking far too much of yourself to draw a smooth, sweeping line in one stroke. Even the professionals warn against it. With or without the benefit of making a pencil line first, use your finger to make the skin around your eye taut, make a series of dots, and then connect them once or twice, depending on how thick you want the final line to be.