The Eyeliner Conundrum - Which One To Wear And How To Wear It?
“Every eye look doesn’t need eyeliner,” reads a random tweet on my twitter time line. Most would scroll pass said tweet without giving it a second thought, but for me it cut deep. A self proclaimed eyeliner addict, I’ve OD’d quite a few times, ending my days with burning eyes and the ashes of a cat eye sprinkled around my lids. Some makeup lovers all but omit the product from their arsenal, or have just one for a day where they are in the mood. I on the other hand, will wear liner even if I’m wearing nothing else.
When I first started wearing makeup at 18, my first look - I’ll never forget it - was a bright green eyeshadow applied with a liner brush and lined with a black liquid liner. My eyes were huge in comparison to my face at the time, and I was all too excited with their enhancement thanks to this look. Since then, my life has been a part time journey of searching for the perfect liner - the blackest, the most long lasting, the easiest to apply. Those are my personal criteria.
But no matter what you expect from a liner - or don’t - it’s good to at least know what’s out there. Let’s take a look at a few options. Maybe this knowledge will make you just as obsessed as me.
1. LIQUID LINER
Liquid liner has swiftly become one of the most popular liner styles for manufacturers to create and consumers to wear. Growing up, eye pencils and eye kohl were still all the rage, and trying to master liquid liner was reserved for professionals. Now though, it seems the inverse is true. Your everyday makeup-wearing has at least one, liquid and probably rarely uses the pencil, unless to line her bottom lash line.
Be that as it may, I find that many struggle with using the liner and getting it perfect, which is sort of an art. However, the ease of which you apply this product has a lot to do with the component. I prefer a liner with lots of sticky liquid that still moves, is super dark and pigmented, and a brush that is firm but flexible. To find a liner that fits that bill is tough, but there are a couple that meet my criteria while also having a long-lasting product.
Stila Cosmetics Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Liner, in Intense Black ($22)
Fenty Flyliner Longwear Eyeliner, in Cuz I’m Black ($20)
2. GEL LINER
In my opinion, gel liners are one of the most underrated makeup products in any category. With so many products on the market designed to use one hand or while you’re on the go, the gel liner doesn’t have the same allure, or give the same first impression. It’s a miniature pot full of cream and always has to be applied with a separate brush. Sounds scary and daunting right? But no, need to fear.
The freedom this technique allows by having the product in one place and needing to be applied with a brush actually allows for an extreme measure of control when applying a line. I find that I have the most success on the first try when using gel liner. If I need a perfect wing, that will last all day - even on my bottom lash - I skip all the others for my gel. My favorite one is by Inglot, but there are others out there.
Inglot AMC Eyeliner Gel, in Shade 77, $17
MAC Pro Longwear Fluidline, in Blacktrack, $19
BONUS TIP: A small slanted brush- like the Morphe M165 or Smith Cosmetics’ 203 - works best when applying a gel liner.
3. PENCIL LINER
As mentioned, even though my first venture into lining my eyes was with liquid, eyeliner pencils were what I grew up seeing my aunt, women on TV and makeup artists use. Its what all my favorite lady rockers rimmed and smudged their eyes with, giving a deep dark stare that could pierce into your soul. I wanted that look so bad, and the only way to do it was with the help of a pencil.
Even for an intense smokey eyeshadow look, one needs to start with a dark pencil to provide the perfect base and hold down the shadow. Although they aren’t flouted all over Trendmood or in the Hot New Releases section on any makeup site, without eyeliner our looks would be much less polished and flawless. Even when doing a complete eyeshadow look, an eyeliner - black or colored - is helpful to get the bottom line covered without too much work. One of the issues with pencils though is that they are often not waterproof. Finding one that won’t bleed or flake is a CHALLENGE. I honestly cannot say that I have found the perfect eyeliner pencil yet, but there are a few that I feel rise above the rest.
MAC Pro Longwear Pencil, in Definedly Black, $22
While this article mainly focused on black liners, colored liners are also wonderful and provide a completely different spectrum of makeup looks and options. Many of the items suggested here come in an array of colors. Don’t be afraid to experiment!
Your turn to talk: Is eyeliner a part of your everyday makeup look? Why or why not? What are your faves?
Thumbnail Image Source: @raincornelius on Instagram
