How to Apply Eyeliner

Eyeliner is one of the most basic parts of facial makeup that is applied around the edges of the eyes to create different effects. Although it is a very basic cosmetic, it is the most effective in terms of altering or enhancing your looks. Depending on the way it is applied, you can either look good, bad, or just different. This guideline will focus on how to apply eyeliner to enhance your looks.

A Few Things to Keep in Mind Before Getting Started

Before we get started, let’s review a few things to keep in mind.

• Eyeliner is not applied just so you have it on your face. Applying eyeliner in different ways will not get you the same effect so that you need to be very careful in the way you apply it. For example, if doing daytime makeup, you don’t want to make the marks too thick.
• Remember, the purpose of applying eyeliner is to enhance or make your eyes stand out more. When applying eyeliner, you want people to notice first your eyes instead of the other way around.
• The way eyeliner is applied to enhance your looks will differ first, depending on the shape of your eyes, and second, depending on the kind of effect you want to have. For example, if you are applying makeup for a stage performance, you might need to make the lines clearer and darker for more emphasis.
• The color of the eyeliner greatly matters. Choosing colors will depend on eye color, skin color, and the effect you want to achieve. Here are a few basic rules on choosing the right color of eyeliner to go with eye color:
  • People with blue eyes would look great with eyeliners with having the shades of brown or bronze.
  • Green eyes are best enhanced with purple or brown eyeliners.
  • Purple, bronze, brown, gold would suit people with hazel eyes; and
  • People with brown eyes can wear almost all colors.

Basic Eyeliner Application: An Everyday Look

Determining the shape, color, and effect you want to achieve with your eyeliner is important as this will dictate the way you should apply the cosmetic. Here are the basics on how to apply eyeliner for daily wear.

• First, apply on the upper lids. By holding the outer corner of your upper eye lids you can stretch the skin a little bit to make it taut enough for you to draw the line with your eyeliner on. Work your way toward the inner corner but do not draw on top of the lashes but rather into them. It is always good to make the line at the outer corner just a little bit thicker compared to the one nearing the inner corner.
• To give it a matted effect and to set the eyeliner to keep it from rubbing off easily, apply a similar color of eye shadow over it, making sure that the eye shadow is not a lot thicker than the liner. For this, you can use a really thin eye shadow brush.
• For this kind of “everyday” look, to define the lines on your lower eyelids, you don’t have to use the eyeliner. Instead, just use a similar color of eye shadow applying it with a thin eye shadow brush. You don’t have to make the line reach the inner corners of your eye, just work to make a thicker line from the outer corner, to a thinner line until halfway across.