Ah, liquid eyeliner — the one corner of makeup that separates the beginners from the pros, the kids from the adults, the frustrated and angry from the calm and cool. Because for some reason, liquid liner has become a hallmark of confusion in the beauty world, inspiring memes, zillions of confusing YouTube tutorials and cries of defeat and surrender among beauty lovers — until now. (No, seriously! We’re going to make it so easy for you! Rejoice!)
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Because we believe that liquid liner, cat eyes, winged flicks and every other synonym for very kick-ass eyes deserve to be worn by ordinary people who are not professional makeup artists or 14-year-old YouTube stars. So we called up Ashleigh Ciucci, a straight-up beauty wizard and very cool person, to show us exactly how to apply liquid eyeliner in just three steps. And because we care about your mental health, we did it in the form of GIFs so you won’t need to pause a tiny video a billion times to figure out what the hell is going on. Scroll through the GIFs below and get ready to have your first set of raccoon-free eyes. We’ll be waiting here for the Instagram pics.
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Photographer: Tory Rust
Model: Rachel Besser
Makeup: Ashleigh Ciucci
Hair: Akihisa Yamaguchi
Step 1: Draw your wing
The goal of any winged liner is to accentuate and elongate your eye shape, which means the first line you draw should follow the natural slope of your lower lash line and extend up toward the tail of your brow. If you're nervous, hold the cap of your liner against your eye as a guide, positioning it from your lower lash line to the end of your eyebrow, and lightly dot the spot where you want your wing to end. Then drawn from the dot to the corner of your eye, imaging it's an extension of your lower lashes.
Products to try:
- Maybelline Eye Studio Master Precise liquid eyeliner (Ulta, $8.49)
- Bodyography On Point Liquid Liner Pen (Bodyography, $17)
- Kat Von D Tattoo Liner (Kat Von D, $20)
Step 2: Line the eyes
Starting at the inner corner of your eye, gently trace your lash lines with short, even strokes. If you have smaller eyelids (meaning they're barely visible when your eyes are open), keep the line skinny — too thick a line will give your eyes a tinier appearance. If you're worried about layering it on too thick, try using just the tippy tip of the pen to dot the liner between your lashes, then connect the dots.
Step 3: Connect the lines
Pretty self-explanatory, but finish the final swoop of the wing by drawing a connecting line from the wing to your lash line.
Step 4: Check yourself out
Get a mirror and stare yourself up and down, because hell yes, you just applied liquid eyeliner like a pro.
Originally posted on StyleCaster.