8 Best Beginner Tips on How To Apply Liquid Eyeliner

You see the YouTube tutorial and then the results of how liquid eyeliner just does a world of difference to the eyes and you think that you want to try it for yourself. But little do you know how completely nightmarish and uncooperative applying liquid eyeliner can be.

Personally, I’ve had a crippling fear of using liquid eyeliner because I can never seem to perfect the art. If you have been in the same boat and for once you’d just like a complete set of makeup done on your face, then stick around because we’ve got some sure proof instructions on guiding you to applying liquid eyeliner perfectly.

First things first, you need to invest in a good eyeshadow primer for your eyelids. A Primer will help the inky eyeliner dry a little faster and prevent smudging of the liner on to the brow bone or on to your eyeshadow if you’re wearing it.

You want to follow the natural line of your eye when applying eyeliner so for soft looks like the tight line, look down rather than up like you would when applying mascara to prevent smudging. Also, this will help you follow the line of your eye better.

When applying liquid eyeliner to your lower lid then you need to be careful not to overdo it or else you’ll look like a hot, hot mess.

Start from the outer corners dragging towards to meet the upper wing. This will help frame and elongate your eyes making them appear shapelier and definitely give you the base of a defined cat-eye.

Move towards the center- Continue applying the eyeliner now moving towards the inner corners of your eyes. Place the brush as close as you can to the root of your lashes and only move it once it’s in contact with your skin.

Expose your waterline by holding down your lower lid using your ring finger gently. We cannot stress how important it is for you to do this gently because you don’t want to end up damaging your eye in the pursuit of beauty.

After exposing, absorb any excess moisture using a cotton bud wrapped around a q-tip and then apply your eyeliner to this area and repeat until you achieve the color intensity you’re looking for.

Drop eyeliner by about 2 millimeters lower than the tear duct area to make your eyes look bigger- and then extend the line out in the inner corner from the top lid.

For people with hooded eyes, applying liquid eyeliner and having it look glam on your eyes can be a bit of a challenge because your top eyelid is hidden when you open your eye and basically the only way to get people to see your exemplary talent in wing drawing is if you keep your eyes closed half the time.

Applying eyeliner to hooded eyes will require more patience and a handy guide to guide you like the one we’ve provided below.

You don’t have a lot of eyelid space going inwards on the lid so the best way to get your eye makeup noticed is by mainly focusing on the outer lid. This will make your eye appear wider and will help create the effect of liner on all the lid.

Now technically you will not be using liquid eyeliner for this part but it is recommended to apply eyeliner on your waterline and then go in for tightening. This will conserve your eyelid and will give you the effect of thicker, fuller lashes that will help your handiwork be more noticeable.

You already know that you should apply your liquid eyeliner from the outer corners going in but another trick to get your eyeliner popping on hooded eyes is to make sure that you apply the liner to only ½ or 1/3 of the eyelid to avoid looking like you don’t have an upper lid (that would just be bad)

None of that subtle slightly curving wings, you need to go all out and elongate your wing. If you still haven’t mastered the art of wing creation, you can use tape or glue to help guide your hand. Also, remember to go up with your wing and avoid curving it down as this will make your eye appear small and droopy.

We’ve established that to apply liquid eyeliner you need to have a steady hand so our first tip this: if you’ve got shaky hands, support your elbow on your work table then bring your little pinky finger to rest on your cheek while you work. This will give your hand more balance and get rid of the shakiness.

Also, don’t extend your lid out too much when drawing the wing because the end result might give you a mini attack. Open your eyes and squint instead of closing all the way to get a better angle on how thick or thin you want the line.                                 

Making sure that your eyeliner is a good product, smudge-free and waterproof and the product works for you is pretty important. And now you have ½ the steps down when it comes to applying your liquid eyeliner.

Applying liquid eyeliner on an oily lid may lead to smudges or the product rubbing off before you’re done with the day so use a good eyeshadow primer to make sure that your make up stays in place.

Start in the middle of your eyelid and work your way towards the outer corners using short dashes instead of one long stroke. Although you see in the models in tutorials doing it in one long stroke, keep it to short ones and go connecting the dots. Shorter strokes are just easier to work with, especially for beginners. Use the leftover eyeliner to line your inner corner eyes.

Follow your lower lash line and go upwards to create the wing. Following the lower lashline makes your wing more symmetrical. Your wing should be of a substantial length because short wings are just unattractive and make sure the tip is sharp and pointy.

Applying eyeliner to your upper waterline is pretty much the same procedure we use for the lower one by lifting your upper lid gently using your ring finger to expose your waterline under the upper lashline. Absorb any excess moisture using a cotton bud and then apply your liner on the exposed area to the color intensity you want.

Applying liquid eyeliner is definitely a task that will require a lot of patience and repetition from you before you can even learn how to keep your hand steady and do a neat job of it.

The best way to learn is to have fun with it and keep trying different styles to see which ones work best for you and which ones don’t. I mean, the worst thing that could happen is that you could mess it up and you’d have to do it all over again.