We're currently seeing the return, yet again, of liquid eyeliner. So I thought to myself, 'John, why don't we take the opportunity to practice applying it before the trend really hits?' Well, here goes. I will give you a few warnings, though. First, after more than 20 years of applying make-up, I am still rubbish at this little number! Not to fear. I know how to do it... I just have a hard time of it! I am being hard on myself, but what can I say? I am a perfectionist. Next, liquid liner is a notoriously difficult make-up item to perfect. You need to have a steady hand and patience. Keeping it even and symmetrical is another worry. But most important of all, remember that liquid liner doesn't suit all eye shapes.
The tools
A liquid eyeliner or
A dark wet/dry eyeshadow and a flat, straight brush (my preferred method) or
A felt-tipped lining pen
Good mirror with adequate lighting
Time to practise when it doesn't matter if you mess it up! A good time to practise is in the evening after you have removed all of your eye make-up. You can apply it and remove it several times until you get the hang of it. The worst thing in the world is to try to apply liquid liner when you're in a rush or when you have a special occasion to get ready for. The entire thing can be very frustrating and it could ruin not only your make-up but your evening as well.
The rules
If you are heavy-lidded, liquid liner probably isn't the thing for you
If your eyes are smaller or slant down at the outer corners, again, give it a miss
If you insist on attempting to use liquid liner when your eyes slant downward, you will have to forego giving it a 'flick' on the outer corner and, even so, you may still find that it makes your eyes look rather sleepy.
So you want to do it anyway? Right, then, let's have a go.
How to
When you're learning, you may find it easier to apply while sitting at a table with a standing mirror in front of you. Alternatively, lay a mirror down on the table-top so you can look down into it.
Keep your head tilted slightly back so that you can see the entire eyelid. If you need to raise your brows to smooth it all out, this may be a sign that you'll have a difficult time anyway.
If you are going to use a proper liquid liner or a felt tip, load either the tip of the brush or the nib of the felt tip with product. Remove any excess, but don't completely empty the brush. If you do, you will have skips in your line and will end up needing to take it all off and start over. This is where the practise comes in.
Next, looking down into the mirror, rest the brush not on your eyelid but on your lashes instead. Then push the brush/nib toward the little rim that is between your lashes and your eyelid. When you finally draw the line, imagine you are lining the base of your lashes rather than the lid itself and you may find it easier.
Starting at the inner corner, sweep the liner in a single stroke to the outer corner of your eyes. If you don't make it all the way across in a single stroke, you will find it difficult to join up without it going blobby.
To steady your hand, rest your elbow on the table to prevent shaking.
If you absolutely need to, you can very gently pull the outer corner of your eye toward your temple to tighten the skin on your eyelid. But remember, you will be stretching out the skin so this may have a detrimental effect on the final result.
A sure, quick stroke is far easier than a slow and seemingly controlled one. Trust me on this.
If you are going to add a 'flick', do it at the last possible moment. And the smaller the better. This is one of the only parts of liquid eyeliner that it is fairly easy to go back and sort out once the initial line is done.
If you are going to go the wet/dry shadow-and-brush route, most of the directions are the same: the mirror, the position of the eye and resting an elbow on a table. The main difference is that you need less control and speed.
The brush can be one of two shapes. You can use a traditional skinny little eye-lining brush or, preferably, a flat brush. My personal favourite lining brush is the Chantecaille Eye Liner Brush, at £18. It is about half an inch wide and cut at a slant. The slant is good because it allows you to either 'walk' the line across the lid or draw the brush across and leave the line. This is the easiest way that I know to get a perfect liquid line in almost every instance without owning a lot of clobber. Any eyeshadow that you use to contour your eye will instantly become an exact matched liquid line. Plus, if you do a less-than-ideal job, you can use the same shadow on a sponge applicator to blend and soften, giving you a really smoky eye in the bargain!
Wet your chosen brush and mix it with the shadow. Don't worry about ruining your shadow because the formulation has been made to be used in this manner and the shadow will absorb the water and be just as good as new. You are making a sort of paste that you can control the final texture of. The great thing about this sort of line is that if you mess it up you can leave it to dry and it turns back into a shadow. Once that happens, you can blend it smooth (or away) and start over without ruining everything underneath. A liquid liner will normally go flaky when you try to blend the dried down product off.
With the flat brush you will find that it goes really skinny when it's wet. Flatten this as much as you can and dip it in the paste you have made. As with the proper liquid, lay the brush on your lashes and push it back to the lid. This will immediately give you a liquid line that is half-an-inch (or whatever the width of your brush is) long. No steady hands, no nothing. Then place the end of the brush touching the previous end and repeat. Walk the brush along the entire lash line and - voila. This is really easy to do in stages and to keep smooth. It is also fairly easy to fix bumps and gaps but you'll still need a bit of practice. Once you get the hang of it you can sweep the brush along the lash line to achieve the effect in a single stroke.
When you're ready to add a 'flick' to this sort of liquid line, simply place the brush where you want the flick and it'll be done for you.
Regardless of which method you choose, remember not to open your eyes until it's dry! Seems logical, but you'll be surprised at how difficult it is to resist the temptation to see what it looks like. You need to hold your eyes in the same position until the product sets or you'll end up transferring the liner all the way across your upper eyelid - not a pretty sight.
When to line
There's always the question of whether you line before or after you apply your eyeshadows. This is a personal preference. I like to do it after the shadows are in place but the fear is that if you mess up, you could ruin all the other eye make-up you've applied. If you apply the eyeliner before you add your shadows, you will make the line look ashen and dull if you go over the top of it. You may also find that by going over the liner it will flake off. This is not so much a problem if you are using the shadow and brush method.
Who does what well?
Liquid Liners
Guerlain Liquid Liner (by far the best and most easily controlled): the brush is ultra fine and the stem is very short. The longer handle gives you the ultimate in control because it handles like a Biro. Excellent colours.
Bloom Liquid Liner: a more traditional longer stem with a shorter handle. Good brush.
Rimmel Liquid Liner: like an inkwell, so once more you have a longer handle for control and a shorter brush stem.
Clinique Liquid Line: limited colours, but with a good consistency for application.
Felt tips
Lancôme Artliner: my favourite in this category. Great nib, fun shades and, again, the handle is longer so it is like using a normal pen.
Clinique Eye Defining Liner: similar to the Lancôme, but with a different shape to the nib. This one is pointed and short rather than long and slender. Good shades and a bit less expensive.
Shiseido Eye Pen: this looks like a felt tip marker with a pointy tip. Refillable cartridges make it slightly more economical as long as you take good care of the tip. The drawback is there is only one shade - black.
Helena Rubinstein Felt Tip Eyeliner: slender and lovely to look at with a long, thin nib like the Lancôme liner. Good colour selection.
Liner Brushes
Chantecaille Eye Liner Brush: perfect and easy to control.
Sisley Liner Brush: slightly shorter handle, which may appeal to women who have vision problems. The shorter handle allows you to get closer to the mirror.
Rubinstein Concealer Brush: the same brush under a different name!
