7 Tips For Mastering Your Eyeliner

Mastering the soft, pencil eye liner look is something we all dream of being able to pull off, but let’s be honest, more often than not we end up with the dreaded Panda eye. Being able to play with makeup for a living means we've learnt a lot of tricks along the way, and so we're sharing a few with you to lend a helping (and steady) hand when it comes to applying eyeliner pencil. 

Eyeshadow first, always. 

We recommend applying your eyeliner after you’ve applied your favourite MooGoo Makeup eyeshadow. Applying your eyeshadow first will ensure you have a defined line when applying your eyeliner. If you’re not wanting to apply any eyeshadow, that’s OK too. Apply a little bit of foundation on your eyelid first to help create a good base for your eyeliner to be applied. You’ll want to make sure your pencil is nice and sharp. Another handy tool is a small, dense and flat brush. This will help you blend and soften your line at the end. Don’t have one lying around? Don’t worry. You can achieve the same results by just using your little finger.

Apply pencil liner to your upper lid.

Place the pencil as close to your lash line as possible and slowly draw a thin line from the outer corner to the inner corner.

• Keep the line thin to start, and you can build this thicker to achieve your desired look. A thinner line will create a more natural look.
• Start at the outside corner of your eye. You want your line to fade away on the inner corners of your eye. 
• You can thicken this pencil line as you like, for instance, if you want to apply your eyeliner in the cat eye or winged style.
• If you're interested in doing winged or cat-eye style liner, you'll also want to thicken the eyeliner line. Then, draw a line at a 45-degree angle from the corner of your eye. Start from the bottom of the outer edge of your eye and extend upward. You can make this line as long or as short as you wish.

Tip: You can also try making dots or dashes along your lash line and then connecting them if you aren't steady with drawing a continuous line.

Apply pencil liner to your lower lid.

Place the pencil as close to your lash line as possible while avoiding the rims of your eyes. Slowly and gently draw a thin line from the outer corner to the inner corner. 

• The eyeliner on your lower lid should be much softer than on your upper lid or else it can look harsh. A good rule of thumb is that it should be one third the size of the line on your upper lid.
• Your eyes will look larger if you only line the outer 2/3rds of your eyelid instead of going all the way to the inner corner.

Tip: Don’t press too hard on the lower lid. You want to just graze the skin, to give a light delicate line. You can build this up to your desired look also.

Connect on the outer corner.

Only do this on the outside corner of your eye. Use the tip of your eyeliner to join your upper and lower lines. Be careful not to apply too much eyeliner in the corner, which might smudge.

• Avoid a complete circle of eyeliner around your eyes, this will appear too harsh and 'obvious' as well smudging more easily from the moistness in your tear ducts.

Soften and blur your eyeliner.

This will make the look softer and give the liner a “lived-in” look.

• Use a small dense brush, like our Blending Queen Blending Brush, or even your finger to soften the line.
• Another option for a softer look is to apply brown eyeshadow over the liner on your lower lid using a small, tapered brush. This works particularly well to soften black liner. Our Dark Cacao Mineral Eye Shadow is the perfect subtle shade.

Now that you have mastered your eyeliner, here are a few extra options to help accentuate your eyes even further.

Highlight your eye.

If you want to make your eyes “pop” even more, applying a little light-coloured eye shadow, or even highlighter at the corners of your lids is an excellent trick. It will also help your eyes looks more “awake” in case you were up a little late last night binge-watching Netflix (Yes, we’re still watching Netflix, thanks for asking!)

Apply mascara.

Applying a coat of mascara to your eyes will bring your eyeliner look together and enhance your eyes even further.  Make sure to apply mascara only after you've applied all of your eye makeup, including your eyeliner. Our mIneral Mascara is perfect for those with sensitive yes, or even those who just want to avoid placing harsh chemicals so close to their eyes and keep their lashes healthy!