I can recall the very first time that I experimented with liquid eyeliner. I loved the look of a winged feline flick and dug out my trusty Rimmel eyeliner to give it a try. As I glided the nib across my lids, I stood back from the mirror, and quite frankly, it was a mess. I couldn’t understand why the winged eyeliner closed off my eyes and looked disjointed, while on my friend’s eyes, it looked seamless and eye-opening. After some investigating, I learned that I have a hooded eye shape, which means that eyeliner can prove difficult.
When applying eyeliner, it can be tempting to stretch the skin to get an even line, but when your eyes are relaxed, your wing will look different.
“One mistake people do is pull the skin tightly while doing eyeliner, which changes the shape of the eye,” says Russell. I have the type of hooded eyes, which fold over towards the outer edge of my eye. Stretching the skin to apply eyeliner means it won’t sit seamlessly when you let go of the skin and your eyes are rested. Instead, you’ll want to fully relax your eyes as you apply your liner.
This goes hand in hand with tip one. If you’re looking down at a mirror or raising your brows to lift your lids, you may find that your eyeliner looks different when your eyes are rested. Russell recommends keeping your eyes relaxed and looking straight ahead into your mirror to create the wing. By applying your eyeliner this way, you’ll see where your eyes naturally sit and are able to create the most flattering shape.
This technique involves creating a small batwing shape with your eyeliner, so when your eyes are relaxed, you’ll have a smooth wing.
“If your lid folds over the crease of your eyelid, you can still do a winged eyeliner look, but it’s all about the placement,” says Russell. “The next step is creating a line going straight across over the fold or hooded eyelid so that when eyes are closed or looking down, the eyeliner looks like a hockey stick or check mark,” she says. It may even resemble a little batwing, but when you look straight on, you—and everyone else—will see a precise wing.
If you’ve ever done an eyeliner wing and then find you can’t see it, this tip is for you. “The tricky challenge is not being shy about overdrawing your eyeliner,” says Russell. “It might seem like you’re taking your eyeliner very far out, but when your eyes are rested, it will look much more neat and flattering.” So when in doubt, wing it out.
Reverse eyeliner went viral on TikTok and Instagram this year as the alternative to a classic eyeliner wing. Instead of applying your eyeliner on the top lid, you take it underneath the lower lash line and wing it out. I’ve found this way gets me a better result, as the angle of my eye provides a natural path for a flattering wing. For this method, I prefer to use a brown eyeliner pencil rather than liquid for subtle definition and a smoked-out wing that’s softer than a crisp liquid eyeliner wing. You can then give it lasting power by applying an eye shadow in the same color on top.
If you have hooded eyes, you might find your eye makeup is prone to smudging or moving on the natural fold of your lids. Prepping your lids correctly and choosing the right eye makeup products will ensure your eyeliner stays put. “Always apply a long-wearing, water-resistant primer or eye shadow first, then gel or liquid eyeliner,” says Russell. “If you are a beginner, you can start by tracing with a soft brown pencil or gel eyeliner,” she says.
When choosing eyeliners, look for long-wearing products that will stay put. “Good long-wearing liquid eyeliners are Bobbi Brown, Clinique, and KVD Tattoo liner,” says Russell.
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This post originally appeared on Who What Wear UK.