Cat eyeliner, winged eyeliner, feline flick, they’re all the same and they’re always in style. Winged eyeliner will forever be my favourite eyeliner look of all time. It’s classic and the perfect combination of a statement that is still subtle. It goes with every lip colour under the sun, whether it be a bold red or a nude lip and just looks beautiful (if done right!) Once you get it down pat you’ll see why I (and everyone else) love it so damn much. This how to will show you a winged eyeliner that flatters all shapes, we all know winged eyeliner is tricky enough on its own and having an eye shape like hooded eyes that has minimal lid space can make it even more difficult.
You’ll need: A good liquid liner (I like *Physicians Formula 2 in 1 Lash Boosting Serum Eyeliner, I also love gel eyeliner but I find liquid gives me a little more precision), a few cotton swabs, a great eye makeup remover (My favourite is Bioderma Crealine) an eyelash curler and a mascara, preferably with a curved wand to enhance your eyeliner (I like Maybelline Colossal Cat Eyes)
Step 1: Start off with your clean eye (or with a good eye primer)
Step 2: Take your liquid liner pen and hold it on its side so that you get a thin line, close to the lashes, tilt your head up and look down into a mirror resting your elbow on a flat surface to create a steady, smooth line.
Step 3: Look directly into a mirror and finish off the line using thin, feathering strokes making the line ever so slightly thicker as you go along, remember to follow the natural shape of your eye, don’t start angling the eyeliner up in the middle of your eyelid.
Step 4: Hold the eyeliner on its side again and at the very end of your eye where your upper and lower lid join and gently draw a small wing along the outer corner of your eye.
Step 5: Extend the line further till you are happy with the length and gently wing it upwards to lift the look of your eye. Don’t worry about being to precise, you can fix up any mistakes you make later.
Step 6: Using the tip of the liner connect the end of the wing back in with your original eyeliner and fill in any tiny gaps, don’t over-fill this area though (especially on eye shapes that have minimal lid space, such as hooded eyes) or it may look like you’ve applied eyeliner over your whole eyelid. Remember to use a gentle motion with a light hand and feathering strokes, you want a thin, precise line not one that looks like you’ve used a sharpie on your eyes.
Step 7: Take a cotton tip soaked in eye makeup remover, hold it in line where your upper and lower lid join and wipe it upwards. This will get rid of any unevenness in the line you created earlier. You may need to clean up and redefine your wing a few times, I find I usually need to clean up and reapply twice until I get a result I’m happy with.
Step 8: Now that you’ve got a line that you’re happy with ensure your eyeliner has set; you don’t want all that hard work going down the drain because you blinked too fast! You may think we are done but we aren’t, not just yet! No look is complete without the next two steps.
Step 9: Curl your lashes! Hold the lash curler at the base of your lashes, squeeze for a few seconds, walk it out to the ends of your lashes and squeeze again.
Step 10: Apply mascara to the upper lashes only, I find that curved mascara brushes give winged eyeliner that extra something. Remember to look down into a mirror whilst applying (more length and definition, plus it means you won’t poke your eye out!), wiggle the wand at the base of your lashes and apply two coats to ensure you catch every single lash.
Step 11: Congratulations you’ve winged it!
Don’t be annoyed if you don’t get it perfect straight away, winged eyeliner can be a little tricky to master at first but once you’ve got it down pat it is a breeze to do.
Should it look like a hot-mess and you don’t have the time to fix it try smudging it with a cotton tip or a smudging brush. It’ll give you a soft, sultry cat eye that looks pretty damn great since it was made from something you weren’t originally happy with.
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*This post contains a product/sample which was sent to me for editorial consideration (products are marked with *) in accordance with my disclosure policy, this does not alter the honesty of this post or this blog, all opinions stated are honest and my own.