The Complete Eyeliner Guide

Eyeliner is perhaps the most versatile part of your makeup look. It has the power to change the entire essence of your look with the right application. A sweet, doe-eyed makeup look can be transformed into an edgy runway look with one little swipe of eyeliner. Looking to harness the power of your liner? Or are you curious about which eyeliner color works best for your eye color? Check the guide below for a complete eyeliner breakdown!

Smudge-Proof Liquid Eyeliner

Name: 100% PURE Long Last Liquid Eye Liner

Shades: 3

Vegan or Vegetarian: Vegan

Gluten-Free: Yes

Best for: Cat eyes, bold graphic eyes, retro winged liner

Shade:Black Tea

Best for Eye Color(s): All eye colors

This black liquid eyeliner is colored with micronized black tea leaves. Pigments from tea provide a deep, midnight black that’s perfect for classic winged liner looks or bold graphic eyes.

Shade: Blackberry

Best for Eye Color(s): Green, Hazel, Neutral Brown

This dark purple liquid eyeliner is colored with blackberry and black tea. This shade of liquid eyeliner is perfect for adding a subtle pop of color, instead of the conventional black or brown.

Shade: Dark Chocolate

Best for Eye Color(s): Warm Brown, Blue

This dark brown liquid eyeliner is colored with cocoa and black tea. Cocoa in this formula gives a rich, dark brown hue, and a light brown sheen from certain angles.

How to Apply Liquid Eyeliner

To get a precise angle with your liquid eyeliner, first start with a primed surface; a mattifying primer or matte foundation will work. With two fingertips, gently hold (don’t pull!) the skin just below the end of your eyebrow; this will stabilize your eye area to keep it from wrinkling and folding while you apply the liner.

For a basic lash-enhancing line, point the tip of your liquid eyeliner wand downwards towards your lashes. Run the tip along your lash line, going slowly enough to be precise, but not fast enough to create an uneven line. Your line should only run from just inside the inner corner of your eye, to exactly the outer corner.

For a winged liner look, start just inside the inner corner of your eye, above the lash line. Gently pull the eyeliner across to the outer corner of your eye, and then stop. Next, decide what kind of wing you’re looking for. For a flat angled wing, draw a line from the center of your lash line, out towards your temple (stopping just under the end of your brow, or wherever you prefer). Now connect the two lines with a single straight line, and fill in the narrow triangle shape you’ve created. For a classic upturned wing, re-trace the outer half of your first line, finishing with a slight upwards curve that extends to the same length as your brow. A classic winged liner should always be thinner at the inner corner of the eye, and gradually thicken near the point or curve.

Long Lasting Pencil Eyeliner

Name: 100% PURE Creamy Long Last Liner

Shades: 5

Vegan or Vegetarian: Vegan

Gluten-Free: Yes

Best for: Smokey eyes, waterline accent color, enhancing eye shadow looks

Shade: Blackest

Best for Eye Color(s): All eye colors

This black pencil eyeliner is the kween of all smokey eye looks! The intense kohl black pigment is perfect for adding depth and drama in the waterline, or for making larger eyes look more narrow and sultry.

Shade: Dark Cacao

Best for Eye Color(s):Warm Brown, Blue

This dark brown pencil eyeliner is perfect for adding depth and structure to nude or natural eye makeup looks. With its creamy texture, you can easily blend or smudge below the waterline or on your lash line for a more natural smokey eye.

Shade: Bright Eyes

Best for Eye Color(s): All eye colors

This white pencil eyeliner is a must for making eyes look more youthful, awake, and refreshed! Lining your lower (and upper, if you’ve got steady hands) waterline with a white eyeliner creates the illusion that your sclera (the white portion of your eye) is larger. This illusion of a larger sclera makes it seem like your eyes are open wider, meaning more awakened.

Shade: Pewter

Best for Eye Color(s): All eye colors

This silver pencil eyeliner is our fave for a night out. Try adding a precision line just below your waterline for ultra modern, sultry dimension in your eye makeup look. Another option is a smudged smokey eye with silver, instead of black or brown, for a bold twist on the classic look.

Shade: Royal

Best for Eye Color(s): Blue, Black

This dark blue pencil eyeliner is a must for baby blues. It acts as a mirror for blue eyes, by both enhancing multi-faceted blue tones and giving blue eyes an enchanting illusion that they’re larger than in reality. The dark blue is also a great option for black eyes that don’t want the intensity of a pure black eyeliner pigment.

How to Apply Pencil Eyeliner:

Depending on your desired look, make sure your pencil eyeliner is sharpened (for cleaner edges) or semi-dull (for smokey eye looks). For a more precision line, simply draw sharpened tip along your lash line, or inside your waterline. For a smudged smokey eye, apply semi-dull tip at both the bottom and top lash line, and then lightly smudge with fingertips or a brush

Using Eye Shadow as Eyeliner

What if your favorite eye shadow could be repurposed as a signature shade of eyeliner? With our silicone-free primers, white eyeliner, and a precision angled brush, this dream can become a reality! Here’s what you’ll need to get the job done:

Small Angled Brush

The precision angled brush end of this petite makeup brush is perfect for brows, but also great for applying a liquid or creamy eyeliner.

Flat Shader Brush

A small, flat head and soft bristles held to pick up and apply powder or cream products to your eyes.

White Eye Pencil

This white, creamy eye pencil will act as a literal blank canvas for creating your ‘eyeliner’ look. It will be the surface where you can apply your eye shadow of choice.

Mattifying Primer

Vegan or Vegetarian: Vegan

Gluten-Free: Yes

This primer is best for creating matte eyeliner looks, and keeping them in place. This primer is optimal for achieving those sharp, bold angles with your eye shadow.

Luminous Primer

Vegan or Vegetarian: Vegan

Gluten-Free: Yes

This primer is best for creating shimmery eyeliner looks, and keeping them in place. While this primer won’t necessarily add sparkle to your eyeliner, it will definitely enhance backlit shimmer for shimmery eye shadow shades.

How to Apply Eye Shadow as Eyeliner:

There are two basic ways you can use eye shadow as an eyeliner: with a primer, or with a white eyeliner pencil.

Eye Shadow + Primer = Eye Shadow

First, apply a dab of your desired primer (see above) to your hand. With either a small flat brush, superfine angled brush, or simply a Q-tip, add your chosen eye shadow pigment onto your hand. You’re looking for a 3:1 eye shadow-to-primer ratio. The primer acts as a vehicle to give powder eye shadow a spreadable, more concentrated body. Once you’ve mixed the two, you can add more eye shadow to increase pigmentation, or simply glide it onto your lids and lash line as you would a liquid liner!

Eye Shadow + White Eye Pencil = Eye Shadow

This trick is one we’ve used before in our makeup tutorials -- because it works! First, grab your white eyeliner. Line your eyes wherever you want eyeliner to be. With your brush of choice (we prefer the small angled brush), dip into your selected eye shadow which you’d like to use as a liner. Gently press the shadow directly onto your white base line, making sure to compact the pigment so that it sets into the eyeliner below. Add a second layer if needed for opacity, and softly blend out to distribute pigment. That’s all she wrote!

5 Tips for Flawless Eyeliner Looks

1. Don’t squint! It’s tempting to squint when you’re bringing pointy objects towards your eyes. But if you’re exercising care and caution when applying eyeliner (no applying while speeding down the highway), there’s no need to squint. Rumor has it that squinting can cause wrinkles down the road! Not sure if it’s scientifically proven, but we’re going to play it safe!

2. Careful not to pull or tug the skin around your eyes when applying eyeliner. It’s easy to get caught up in your makeup routine, resulting in yanking and twisting your own face around to apply products. Just like our first tip, pulling and tugging at your eye area is rumored to cause excessive wrinkles.

3. Clean your sharpener regularly to avoid not only cross-mixed colors, but buildup of bacteria from previous eyeliners that have been sharpened in the past. Clean your sharpener by adding rubbing alcohol to the end of a Q-tip, then swiping the mouth and blades of your sharpener.

4. Sharing isn’t caring when it comes to eye makeup products. Has your Dr ever told you not to rub your eyes without washing your hands, especially in flu season? That’s because your delicate eyes are very susceptible to germs. Keeping eye makeup to yourself, and not using anyone else’s, will lower your risk of contracting eye infections and even a staph infection -- yikes!

5. Use toxin-free eyeliner to reduce your risk of itching, burning, and irritation in the eyes. Harsh and synthetic chemicals can make eyes water, burn, and itch. Opt for natural pigments (like fruit pigments), and natural ingredients in general.