If there’s only one eyeliner in your makeup bag, make it classic black. It’s versatile, looks good on every skin tone and eye colour and complements every eyeshadow hue in the rainbow. Here’s how to find a black eyeliner that you love, plus the top eyeliner tips for flattering your eye shape.
Finding your perfect formula
Choosing an eyeliner with a texture that you love is key to achieving the eye makeup of your dreams. Here are three different black liners, each with their own qualities. Pick one or use them all to create a range of looks depending on your event or mood.
Try L’Oréal Paris Infallible Pro-Last Waterproof Pencil Eyeliner if you love traditional eyeliner pencils but also crave a creamy texture. This liner is waterproof and safe for use along your waterlines—the rims where your upper and lower eyelids meet your eye.
Try L’Oréal Paris Infallible Lacquer Liner 24HR if you’re comfortable dipping a brush into a pot (meaning you’ll have to control the amount of product that you apply), love a smooth glide and want a bit of a shiny finish. It’s especially great for crafting cat eyeliner looks.
Love felt-tipped sharpies? Try L’Oréal Paris Infallible Paints Liquid Liner for a super-precise 0.1 mm felt tip that can draw liner looks ranging from simple to complex. It’s also great for layering colours, so start with black and add additional shades from the range including Intrepid Teal, Electric Blue, Vivid Aqua and White Party.
Prepping your lids
There’s nothing worse than painstakingly drawing the perfect cat eyeliner, only to find it smudged against your eyelids in an hour. Choosing a waterproof liner will help, as will applying an eye primer as your first eye makeup step—whether or not you choose to wear eyeshadow. L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche Eye Primer is a creamy nude primer pen that instantly smooths and preps lids to prevent creasing, smudging and flaking of eye makeup.
Eyeliner tips: How to apply eyeliner for your eye shape
With just subtle changes in thickness, length and shape, your eyeliner can change the look of your eyes to make them stand out, appear more symmetrical or even look larger. Makeup is magic, isn’t it? Here are some eyeliner tips for making the most of your natural eye shape.
If you have… almond eyes
Lucky you! You have that classic eye shape that looks good in any type of eyeliner. To accentuate your shape, draw a thin line starting at the inner corner of your lash line and build in thickness once you reach the outer third.
If you have… round eyes
When you look straight ahead, your crease is clearly visible and you may even see the whites of your eyes above or below your iris. To elongate your eyes, focus on the outer corners by smudging extra liner on the upper and lower lash lines or creating a wing. Avoid thick liner at the centre of the lid unless you want to accentuate the roundness.
If you have… hooded eyes
You lack visible eyelid and your upper lid may even droop a bit from the browbone, which means that there’s not a lot of space to show off eyeshadow and liner. Make sure you press your eyeliner into your top lashes. Adding a thick wing at the outer corners will also draw the eyes out.
If you have… monolids
Similar to hooded eyes, you have no discernible crease. You also likely have a flatter eyelid and may be of Asian heritage. These traits mean you have monolids and your liner may disappear when you open your eyes fully. To counter this problem, eye makeup for Asian eyes looks best when liner is applied thick across the upper lash line and wings outward.
If you have… small eyes
Do your eyes appear small in relation to your other features, and have you often wondered how to make your eyes look bigger? Draw a line from the inner corner and extend it past the outer corner in a lavish wing. Skip liner along your bottom lashes, as it can make your eyes appear smaller, or—if you really love a little extra eyeliner—only use it on the outer third of the lash line.
Eyeliner hacks
Use these tricks to overcome the most common liner issues.
My lashes look thin.
Try tightlining, which means you rub your waterproof eyeliner into your waterline. This trick makes lashes appear dark and lush and is a great way to boost the effects of your favourite mascara.
My cat eyeliner looks crooked.
Use a piece of tape or a credit card as a guide and trace it from the corner of your eye toward the end of your eyebrow.
Add these eyeliner tips to your mental beauty book and refer to them as necessary. But remember: They’re just guidelines. If you have an eyeliner trick that you love or prefer to wear your liner a certain way regardless of your eye shape, do you!
