How To Get The Perfect Eyeliner

Recently I did a post about how to get perfect red lips and I thought I would continue this series by talking about eyeliner. It can be super frustrating trying to get your eyeliner to match and just look generally great. I personally have totally ruined my make up because I messed up on the eyeliner and it can really put me in a mood when my makeup doesn't go well.

So without further ado (and I fear that this could be a long post) I'm going to get on with it!

1. Clean Canvas
Obvious stuff really, you never apply make up to a dirty face. So I've made sure my face is clean and the rest of my makeup is applied apart from the eyes.

 2. Eyeshadow
I know that eyeliner can have a tendency to shift and fall into the crease so I have prepped my eyelids with a primer and some eyeshadow. I have used the Elf Eyelid Primer and Limit, Nooner and Strange from the Urbadn Decay Naked 3 palette.

4. Down to the nitty gritty
So here is a series of pictures to show you how I do my eyeliner:

- Draw a fine liner close to the lashes in the centre of the lid, I find that this helps me get my bearings and makes the rest of the liner easy to apply.







I've just drawn a thin line right across the lashline and you could leave it like this if you just want to intensify the volume of the lashes.

 Now I'm just building on the thickness of the line and because I already drew in the original line then it has made this a lot easier. I'm starting from the middle and then filling in either side,

 Again you could just leave it like this if you don't want to wing it out and just add some mascara to complete the look.

 I don't know if it's difficult to see or not but I have drawn a mark where I want the liner to come to a point, this makes it easier to make both eyes even because it gives you a chance to double check that it all lines up.

 Connect the bottom line to the point

 And then make a top line from the point back to the lash line and make sure it blends in smoothly.

 Now you can just fill in the gaps, I recommend using a liquid pen liner or a sharp pencil liner if you're a beginner, mainly because you should be used to the feel of a pen/pencil whereas a brush may feel a little alien.

 If you're super comfortable and confident you can really darken the look by taking a pencil eyeliner (preferably a soft textured and long wearing one)
and tightline your eyes. 'What is tightlining?' I hear you say, well this is just lining your upper lashline with eyeliner, it sounds scary and is quite scary when you first try it but it is all about confidence. It is totally worth it though.





Now just finish by curling your lashes and applying some mascara.











So here's a nice little run down of my top tips for you!

1. Keep clean - make sure that all your equipment is sterile, remember this is going near your eyes and if your stuff isn't clean then you could end up with an infection - yuck!

2. Use a pen/pencil if you're a beginner - Like I say I think this is the best option for beginners because you're probably used to the feel of a pen/pencil.

3. Guidelines, it is much easier to apply liner if you set yourself out some guidelines. mark the thickness and length of your liner and it jut becomes a game of connect the dots.

4. Cotton buds/Q tips - It's easy to make mistakes but it's nothing that a little makeup remover and a cotton bud can't fix, they are super handy and help make your liner look sharp.

5. Tape! If you're having an issue making a wing the take some tape, just press it on the back of your hand to lose some of the stickiness and then place it on your eye from the outer corner going outwards at the desired angle that you want your wing to be and then it just becomes foolproof! Once you're done you can remove the tape and you'll have a super crisp line.

6. Black shadow - sometimes you can come across eyeliner that just takes an absolute age to dry, I recommend using a fine brush and applying some matte black shadow over the wet liner to set it. It will stop the liner from smudging too :)


If you have any great suggestions about liner then let me know in the comments!
- Roo xx