If you have hooded eyes, you’ll know how tricky eyeliner can be, it often eats up your lid space or disappears into the fold. In this tutorial, I’m showing you a simple scotch tape trick that uses the lower lash line to create a lifted, smokey finish without compromising the upper lid. By placing the eyeliner along the lower lash line and blending upwards, you get the effect of a wing that opens and elongates the eyes while keeping the lid free for eyeshadow.
This beginner-friendly eyeliner hack is perfect if you struggle with traditional wings or want a softer, more flattering look that won’t smudge into the crease.
If you’re searching for an easy eyeliner for hooded eyes, a smokey liner trick, or a way to create lift without heavy makeup, this method is foolproof.
If any of y'all are curious about good eyeliners, I have one.
The wet n' wild Breakup Proof Eyeliner PEN (yes it's a pen, I usually hate pens but ISTG this one is good)
It says waterproof/break up proof. Apparently they expect your breakup to produce as much tears as an hour and a half long swim team practice pool. I apply it at 7ish every morning, do school and swim team, and the entire line and Wing is as perfect as it was when I applied at 7.
You can also smudge it out as long as you do it right as you put it on. And it's so easy to use. 10/10 would recommend, 7ish dollars at Albertsons (Safeway)
Hi! I'm startingto do eyeliner on my eyes, and I've seen a couple of your pictures. Your eyeliner always looks amazing! Could I please have some eyeloner tips? Thank you!
Hello! Thanks for the compliments, you're very sweet <3. Eyeliner can be super fun, so I'd love to help anyway I can as you get started. I've found a few things that work for me, so maybe some of those will be useful tips! I'll kinda just share what I know/do, including technique, products, and mindset
A few of the photos I've included as reference are a little blurry because they're zoomed in, but all the IDs are in alt text. If you've ever wanted to see several up close photos of my eyeballs you're in luck!
to save everyone's dash space because this got kinda long (like always), everything is under the cut :)
Importantly, don't expect it to look good at first. The first dozen or so times you try, odds are you're going to be washing it off immediately after. That's okay! That's expected! It takes a level of practice to figure out what you're doing enough so that you're satisfied enough to wear it out. Experiment when you've got free-time and aren't going anywhere and don't worry about whether or not it's good. It's more for practice and getting comfortable with your tools
Also, as a beginner, I recommend you use an eyeliner marker/pen with a brush tip. Those are what I've found are more friendly to learning, and brush tips in general just wear down less. Felt ones are fine, but they can kinda degrade. Brushes can have brustles sticking out as they wear down, but that won't impact your pen as much. As for using a pen, I find them easier to work with when you're learning/experimenting because you don't have to dip to refill or deal with the consistency of dip eyeliner. There can be some upsides to them, but for your purposes I think a marker is fine. I personally like the Nyx Epic Ink Liner in black.
Waterproof doesn't mean it's better. In fact, because you're practicing, I advise against something waterproof! You hear people praising waterproof eyeliners all the time, and they can be useful, but what that also means is that it's harder to take off and you'll probably need another product. And just because a liner says it's waterproof doesn't necessarily mean it is--like the Nyx one I use. it says it's waterproof, but with a bit of rubbing it'll come off with water, which is great! I don't need any specific makeup remover to take it off, I just need to wash my face. if you're experimenting, it's super helpful for your liner to be easy to remove
Sometimes you won't be super thorough and get every inch of skin. In a lot of the photos, you can see slivers of skin close to my eyelashes, or some are patchy in color. The slivers are because when I'm looking straight on, and looking around, you can't tell, so I don't always bother to fill that part in. They're more visible in these photos because I'm looking slightly down, but in real life it's unnoticable. Then the patchy coloring is because my liner is old and more dried out, making it less even when I fill it in. Also could be a bit of wear after a few hours, it happens with some liners.
Your eyeliner will not match. You can get pretty close! But identical liner is both very difficult and not that important. Instead, you want them to be passable as similar. Mostly the same shape, mostly the same angle, mostly the same thickness. People aren't going to be analyzing whether or not your liner matches, they'll just get a general impression of your face and fill in the gaps. So take a step back to gauge if they're passable; they don't have to be perfect. Sometimes they're a little off and shaped slightly different, and that's still passable and good enough!
Play around with different shape eyeliners to find your shape. If you look at all the eyeliner pictures I have of myself below, you can kinda see that they're almost all based on one original shape. That's because that's the style of eyeliner I like the look of on me! I'm not a huge fan of the cat-eye shape, so I go for more of a straight out shape. I got good at that shape so I could manipulate it into other, more complicated looking (but actually easy) designs. Try different things to see what appeals to you!
If you want to try this style, here's how I approach it. It's essentially a triangle on the corner of your eye, so I draw a horizontal line from the corner of my eye, then two lines originating from that to connect back to my eye, then fill that in. A tip for that is to not start the second lines from the very end of the first one you drew, that way it keeps the sharp tip. Here's a graphic:
Keep your eyes relaxed as you do this, that way the line looks closer to what it will naturally look like when you're looking around. If you have your eyes super open when drawing the shape but your eyes generally are more closed, then it won't match, which can be annoying
Only stretch the skin for details/clean up. The skin of your eyes can feel annoyingly pliant, which makes you want to hold it down and pull it taut while you draw the shape to make it easier. This will instead make things look weird, same as keeping your eyes super open. If there are parts you need to fill in or you want to smooth out lines you've already drawn, that's when pulling the skin for easier drawing will help!
Brace your arm!! Set your elbow on something when you're doing your eyeliner, it give you way more control. I personally have mine set on the bathroom counter as I lean over it to get closer to the mirror.
Be close to the mirror. You don't need to shove your whole face right up next to it, but if you're closer you can see better and that helps you be precise. I'm typically around six inches away from the mirror and angle my head slightly to either side to see my eyes better
Another eyeliner-ish thing you could try if you're experimenting and not confident on your linework is eyeshadow in the shape of eyeliner! It doesn't require crisp lines, so there can be less stress over getting things right and it's quicker. This does require a brush and an eyeshadow though (and primer if you want it to last better), which are different products. You take the same approach as when you're using eyeliner, drawing the same lines, just filling it in with eyeshadow instead. This way you can familiarize yourself with the shape and play around! Here's an example:
See how this is kinda smudgy? That way there's no worrying about details. It's a lot quicker because of that, but it also doesn't last as long. If you use a primer (any primer just on the eye area) it'll last longer than just shadow on skin, but it's definitely not as long lasting as eyeliner. I personally love it for quick outings or when I'm short on time. The white bottom lashes and colorful inner corner are optional :)
That's my approach to basic shapes, but it's not much different when it comes to doing things a little bit fancier. If you want to do something like spikes like I do, then it's the same technique but just starting from a different point. Like these:
For both typical and more unique liner, find natural lines or spots on your eye that you can recognize and use as a guide. This makes it easier to replicate on the other eye and day to day. For example, for these kinds of spikes I follow the natural line of my eye (the pink), because that's easy to find. For the basic eyeliner, it's the corner of my eye. I always start there, so there's always something common and I have a better sense of what I'm doing
The same three line approach won't work if you're going for an outline because it'll have a line down the middle, but if you get comfortable with the three line shape, you can more confidently do just two without the first pink line. I only use this when I am doing something outlined, as the three lines is very reliable for me. But that could look something like this:
These are more curved because I felt like it that day, but the same logic applies for the straight lines!
Finally, once you've gotten that base down and are comfortable doing something more, you really don't need to do anything complex to add a little something! Here's a few examples of things you can do in a matter of seconds to add extra detail and make you feel amazing about your abilities!!
Colorful inner corners, a colorful shadow under your liner, little mini spikes coming off the bottom to mimic lashes:
I like to match it to my hair and depending on where I'm going/who I'll be with, I'll change how heavily I apply.
Extra shapes--can be in the same eyeliner color or different!
White bottom lashes or lining your water line in white! Which you can also see in the above picture. For the lashes I use a white eyeliner, which is a liquid dip, and used the brush to paint it over the lashes. I have the Nyx Epic Wear liner in white, but there are others you can find. This can feel pretty weird and also get on your upper lashes as it dries and be difficult to remove, but it's also fun! For the waterline I use any stick liner--do not use liquid liner anywhere but skin! I currently have a gel liner from nyx in white, not any one specifically.
(you can also do this with other colors!! I just don't have those or photos of those right now)
But yeah! That's what I do for my liner and a few reminders to help you get started. This is just my technique and approach, so it won't work or appeal to everyone. There are plenty of others online who like different styles and have different experience than can also be of assistance.
The last thing I'll say is once you know what you're doing, give yourself break days. Eyeliner can make you feel great, but if you're wearing it consistently don't forget to have days where you don't wear it so you don't forget what your face looks like. Just helps to touch base and ground yourself because the eyeliner is an accessory, not who you are. When school is in session and I'm wearing eyeliner every day of the week, for me the break days are the weekends, that way I see myself in mirrors without eyeliner for a few days and don't lose touch.
Hopefully some of that was helpful! If you have more specific questions, just let me know and I'll do my best to answer them! Really a lot of it just comes down to practice and finding what you like, so I wish you luck <33
Ok, so I did learn to apply eyeliner better during the last couple of months. Mostly it was through practise. And l think best way to practise is by sitting down with a beauty mirror and having your elbow leaning on to something and your hand leaning on to your face for the steadiest work.
I don’t know why this was not clear to me before but l learned that liquid eyeliner is for the line close to lash line and kohl/kajal pencils are for lining the waterline (to be applied underneath the lashes). Only felt tip pen eyeliners can do both but it’s more of a quick option.
If eyeliner takes too long or always ends up uneven, this smokey liner tutorial is about to change your routine.
Instead of struggling with liquid liner or tiny brushes, I use scotch tape and a cotton bud to smudge black and brown eyeshadow along the lash line. This easy eyeliner hack creates a soft smokey liner in seconds with no harsh lines and no precision needed.
It’s the perfect eyeliner look for beginners, mature eyes, or anyone who finds eyeliner difficult to master.
If you’re looking for a quick eyeliner trick, a foolproof smokey liner, or a wearable alternative to winged eyeliner, this tape and cotton bud method is effortless and effective.
Challenge yourself and let me know how it turns out!
