By Sheila
Yes, it’s true, we have an official theme to this week here at Painted Ladies. Due to a couple of reader emails, I’ve been busy behind the scenes with some eyeliner-related tutorials. What better way to show them to you than by declaring this week an homage to the subject?
First on the lineup is all about lining the waterline of your eyes, that pink area right below your lashes on the top and bottom. It’s something that’s totally optional in your makeup application, but I use this technique pretty much every day because I like the look.
Lining the waterline is often confused with tightlining, which is another technique that we’ll discuss tomorrow. Some people look down on lining the waterline as it’s thought to be unsanitary, but if you make sure to sharpen or wipe down your pencil with alcohol between applications, you should be fine.
You can use whatever manner of liner you feel most comfortable with. I like to use pencil, and lately have been absolutely HOOKED on CoverGirl’s Perfect Point Plus liner in Charcoal. I know I dissed it’s waterlining abilities in my original review, but time proved me wrong, and I have come to love it very much!
Another option is powder eyeshadow. In this case, MAC’s Carbon shadow used with their #266 brush.
So, here I am before any kind of makeup, naked for all the world to see! It seems funny to me now that there was once a time when I positively REFUSED to let the outside world to see me without a stitch of makeup, but that’s how I was for several years. So silly!
The technique is simple, but will take some getting used to if you’re ticklish or sensitive, which pretty much everyone should be – after all, we’re about to nearly stick an object in our eyes!
The reason I like the CoverGirl liner so much is that it so effortlessly glides on — I start from the outer corners and just work my way on in to the other side.
As far as using powder shadow, the technique is absolutely the same, just make sure you tap off loose shadow on the brush to avoid irritating your eyes. The end result is a bit more dramatic than the pencil I chose, especially since the pencil color is much lighter.
And the end results? Here’s the final look after adding mascara, and nothing else.
Not half bad, eh? You can wear this with a touch of shadow for a more casual look, or go all out and do the whole lining shebang for a really awesome look.
Do you have any tricks or product suggestions to add to the mix?
Thanks for the tips! I always thought “waterlining” meant just applying it to the bottom waterline, never even considered doing it on the top also. I will have to try that, because it sure makes a difference, yet doesn’t look like you have a ton of eye makeup caked on.
I’m interested to see what you consider tightlining, because I refer to this as tightlining!
After reading this, I promptly dropped everything I was doing to try this out! Thank you for explaining it so well. I got it right on the first try!
Thanks!