8/10/2012

Let's Do Eyeliner

HELLO, EVERYBODY!!

It's FRIDAY!  So, TGIF to everyone who has some kind of schedule that means anything!  Yeah!!  

I thought I would post today about eyeliner.  Not about liquid eyeliner or whatever, like people ask for all time time...  I am going to write today about the very very easiest eyeliner method, that has the best payoff for the amount of work you have to put into it.

Let's do some push liner, people.




Push liner is different than liquid or pencil or gel + brush liner.  First off, you don't draw a line, so there is minimal chance for you to get a wiggly hand and mess everything up.  In fact, you need to wiggle a little bit to get it to go down well.  Second, it is really subtle.  It doesn't look like winged fancy liner, or like smudgy smokey pencil liner.  It just fills in all the gaps between your eyelashes, so you look like you have thick, fancy, pretty-lady eyelashes and your eyes are just like that because you are well-bred or something.  It is also FAST, so you can do it every day if you're so inclined.  So, really, there is no reason you shouldn't try it out if you haven't already.

TOOLS:

Matte eyeshadow in a color that matches your mascara (I used this.)
A flat, compact makeup brush with short, firm bristles...  Like a MAC #212 or something similar.  Like this.  Or this.  Or this.
Eyelash curler + mascara  (I used this curler, and this mascara, but it doesn't matter.  Use what you like the most.  People seem to really hate my eyelash curler, but it's just an eyelash curler.  You can't expect it to change your life and make all your dreams a reality.  It's a $4 eyelash curler.)

THAT'S IT, you might not even need to buy anything.  If you have to get a brush, that is not a big deal because you can use it forever.  



Okay, so let's do this.  Lookit the pictures up there.

First, you're gonna do your eyeshadow however you like to do it.  In these pictures (and most pictures, actually), I just have a nude eyeshadow thing going on.  Lid color is shadow that is the same color as the rest of my skin, mushroom-colored eyeshadow in the crease, and a frosty peachy-white to highlight my browbone and duct area.  Pretty basic.  I used shadows from the Urban Decay Naked and Naked II palettes, but eyeshadow is eyeshadow.  

***I'M GONNA GET OFF TRACK HERE FOR A SECOND***I will say, the Naked palettes are $$$, I used my Amex points to buy them, not American currency.  BUT, if you were in the market for such a thing, I would recommend them, since there are so many shadows in the kit + nice brushes, and the individual UD shadows are $18 each when you buy them individually.  Seems like a decent package deal if you want to get yourself a treat.  I use mine almost everyday.  Also, the Naked II palette is better than the Naked palette.  Use whatever you want, though, this isn't an eyeshadow tutorial.****DONE DIGRESSING.****

Next, you're gonna take your brush, and rub it in one direction on your shadow, so you only collect color on one side of the brush.  This makes it easier to get a thin line and control what's going on.  When you apply, make sure the side with the shadow on it is facing DOWN (I know, you're not dumb, it would just look like regular liner if you end up aiming too high by having your brush flipped.)

NOW, take your loaded brush, and start going for your eye.  Instead of putting the brush in the normal eyeliner area, you're going to angle it down a little bit and push it into the roots of your eyelashes.  You can see in the pic up there that I actually push my eyelashes down a little with the brush, that is how low you aim on your eyelid.  Push it in the roots of your lashes, and give it a little wiggle.  Pick your brush up, and move across your lash line doing the same thing all the way in.  Push, wiggle, pick up and move to the next spot.  Once you've filled in your eyelash roots, you're done.  That is all for the eyeliner portion of the program.



So, in this pic you can see what the push liner is going to look like before you do your mascara.  No wing, no nothing.  Just filled in the eyelash area.  Easy.


Here you can see what it looks like after you're done.  Just like nice eyelashes.  In the pic on the right, you can compare with the push liner and mascara vs. no push liner or mascara.  I apologize that I look weirdly cross-eyed in the pic on the right, it is hard to look into your webcam to take a pic of your eyeliner and not have it look like that.  Especially if you don't have your glasses on.

You need to see me do it in real life?  It's your lucky day, because I made the shortest video ever that shows me putting push liner on my other eye.

NOTE:  I don't usually pull the skin in my eye area taught when I do this, but I kinda had to in the video because it is hard to see what is going on.  You can see that this takes about 3.5 seconds to do, though.  

TA-DA!!  So easy!  If you have issues doing your liner right, do it like this!  You can improve your self-esteem in regards to your makeup skills, and we'll do some advanced-level liner later.  This is seriously the super-easiest thing ever, makes you look pretty-pretty, and looks good on everyone.  I started doing my liner like this 6 months ago or something, and I've been disinterested in my other liners ever since.  It is basically a magic trick. 

28 comments:

  1. I am excited to try this technique! I am so bad at doing eyeliner that I just..don't. So I think this way seams much more reasonable. Thanks for the help. Love the blog!

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  2. I've tried a technique this w/ MAC Smudgepots and with Laura Mercier Tightline Cake Eye Liner. After an hour it looks like I got socked in the eye. Any recommendations for not looking like you were in a bar fight?

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  3. try just using eyeshadow. i've never tried it with different kinds of eyeliner, and i would imagine it would run from being so close to the wet part of your eye and also having your eyelid grease migrate to that area. i just use regular eyeshadow, and i have never had it smear or run. mascara, sometimes, but the push liner is always pretty tenacious.

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    1. i mean, the MAC one says smudge right there on the label, it was kinda made for that, and the tightline stuff is made for the top waterline... anyway, i am still getting used to the comments on here. i think i was supposed to reply to you up there how i replied to myself down here.

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    2. I use the MAYBELLINE GEL LINER for this technique. (There's a link for it in "maybe it's tomorrow, but maybe it's not", in case someone is interested). I even do it with its own brush, but that's only because I can't be fucked to buy the other, more practical one. The point is, it lasts for days (even though I have greasy eyelids). I've walked in the rain with maybelline gel liner on and it still looked fine.

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  4. I don't have a lot of experience with makeup. The time, expense, and occasional failures while teaching myself as an adult just made it frustrating. Your simple explanations and recommendations for cheap products is helping, so thank you!

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  5. Definitely trying this once I pry myself off the couch and get dressed.....

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  6. I'm fan of Blackout, too. I started doing this because I saw the me-colored gaps through my eyelashes and wanted them gone. I didn't know it was an actual thing. You might want to add that both Sephora and Ulta make decent brushes for cheap, up to you.

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    1. i try to make it clear that it doesn't much matter what brand of brush people use. i linked a couple pricy ones, a medium priced one, and a cheap one. people could even use a brush from the art store if it behooved them. i bet places like odd lots and kmart even have something that might work. the overarching theme here is that it doesn't much matter.

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  7. I do something like this--I was glad I bought a small flat brush at Sephora (cheap one, about $3 or $4), which is kind o stiff, because it makes this easier. I used to try for the same effect using a tiny lip brush, but it just didn't work as well. I do wet my brush and apply it "wet", though, because it stays better (I'm in my 50s, and my shadow can disappear into my fine wrinkles).

    But I am a huge fan of liquid liner, have learned over years of trial and error to put it on with a shaky hand (!) and most of the time it looks really good--I'm fond of Maybeline liquid eyeliner cuz it comes with a real brush, not a "magic marker" kind of thing. And it's waterproof--bonus.

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  8. I really thought the original Naked palette was miles better than the second, I just don't feel inspired to use my Naked II, probably sounds weird.

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  9. im going to have to try this! i also tried the laura mercier tightliner and didnt like it as much but apparently i was doing it wrong (was dragging the brush) i did like that i could do a very thin line but it took me forever to do in the morning and if i goofed i screwed up the rest of my makeup
    do u do anything for ur bottom lash line? or leave it unlined for this look?

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    1. i usually don't do liner on my bottom lash line, it is just too smeary and stuff. i usually do my shadow and do my crease color on the outer third of my lower lash line, my highlight color on the inner third of my lower lash line, and some contrasting color (like copper or purple or something) in the middle third. then i blend it a little. adds interest, and i don't have to fuck with it during the day. i will sometimes do my waterline with a pencil, but that's not a usual thing.

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    2. when you say thirds are u talking about the bottom lash lines? whenever i try and put shadow on my bottom lash line i look like i got punched in the face :( i have smallish eyes and im pale like you (maybe not as pale as u lol) i can never do the smokey eye thing where u bring the darkest color down to the bottom corner it just looks so dark on me

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    3. yeah, my lower lash line. if it looks like you have a black eye, your shadow might be too dark. my inner corner is usually whitish/frosty, and the color i do my crease and outer third of my eye with is a light stone/mushroomish color. also, i use a pretty small brush under there, so the shadow doesn't go farther from my eye than the tips of my lower lashes.

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    4. ok cool thanks! i got a nice flat brush from sephora today on clearance only 7 bucks! gonna try it later tonight

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  10. you have comments now, yay!

    i had no idea this was a thing. stoked to try it. might even drive to the drugstore tonight to get a brush because obviously it is a super happening friday around here.

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  11. Loose mineral eyeshadow + wet brush much like yours = the best eyeliner I've ever used. I usually swipe it on rather than push (and it sort of migrates down between the lashes) but I'll definitely give this a shot next time.

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    1. i had the bare minerals black eyeliner kit, i think it's the same thing you're talking about. i prefer regular eyeshadow since it doesn't fall out as much, and it's blacker than the mineral kind.

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  12. Do you ever end up with the shadow flaking into your eyes? It's powder shadow you use, correct? I have really sensitive eyes and it always seems like "stuff" is getting into them!

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    1. i load my brush up, then tap it off like i'm ashing a cigarette to shake off the powder that would fall on my face or in my eyes. i've not had any problems doing it that way.

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  13. Anonymous8/11/2012

    I'm a huge fan of this method - which is the method I've been using on myself as well as clients for a while now. I generally use a gel eyeliner (do you use gel ever?) though and set it with some shadow. Right now I've been using my Tarte 10th anniversary palette which is okay for eyeliner purposes, but I honestly feel like the colors are waaaay too bold for general purpose eyeshadow for my skin tone which is only ever so slightly darker than yours.

    I am actually surprised to see someone else using a flat brush. I have both a flat and angled brush, but I find that I only really prefer the angled brush when I'm winging out my eye makeup - not something I do for daily wear.

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  14. I read this yesterday and tried it out right after. It worked great! Stayed all day and looked fabulous, much better and more durable than regular eyeliner. I used a stiff angled brush that I had on hand and some powder eyeshadow. Probably not ever going back. So thanks!

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  15. Love this idea! I must not be very creative, because I never thought of using eye shadow as eyeliner before. I usually use pencil eyeliner, and I have been annoyed at the "gaps" between my lashes where there is no color. I just need to go pick myself up a brush and I'll be good to go. Thanks Natalie!

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  16. I was gonna write and ask for some eyeliner tips as I'm totally terrible at applying it, so was overjoyed to see this post - thank you!

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  17. I'm a makeup fiend. I LOVE the UD palettes and while Naked 1 didn't do much for me, I use Naked 2 every day. Just a quick note, the best, beyond best in the world, black eyeliner is from your local CVS or Walgreen's. Milani Liquif'Eye in Black. Goes on buttery smooth and dries within mere seconds. Stays on ALL DAY. http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/milani-liquif'eye-metallic-eyeliner-pencil/ID=prod6031371-product

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  18. So, to the issue of looking socked in the eye/shit running everywhere with gel liners: You can totally do this technique with them on the upper lid and just cover it with shadow, if you like your eyes REAL dark. The shadow soaks up the gel and it will never move ever. I have the worst eyes for that stuff, I look like a raccoon if I don't do that. You can do the same on your lower waterline (soaking it up with the eyeshadow) and it'll work the same. I do it with creamy pencils, anything that MIGHT move, because damn, on me it will.

    Not actually what I came here to say, I came to say: UD is normally crazy expensive, but they've just changed their eyeshadow/lipstick formulas and are selling the old (still totally good) formula FOR SUPER CHEAP on their website. Lipsticks that are normally $22, are $8 and the $18 pots of eye shadow are $9. They don't have many palettes (a few, like the vegan one or the all black one) but if you need to stock up on any single color or just want to try shit, now is totally the time to get it.

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  19. Ladies and gentel-ladies. I am a self proclaimed eyeliner FANATIC. I don't believe in spending monies that I don't have on makeup but because I feel like my eyes disappear into my pasty ass skin without eyeliner I willingly fork over the dough for Lancôme Art Liner in Noir. I have been using liquid liner since before I hit puberty for competitive dance and this is the holy grail of liquid liner. I use it in a similar fashion to Natalie's aforementioned technique on the daily but it is idiot proof for cat eye fabulishousness when you are lookin for drama. Just a little shout out for livin la vida liner!

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