not one, but two eyeliner tutorials!

When it comes to makeup, eyeliner is my favorite, hands down! I even wrote an ode to eyeliner on my blog a couple years ago. I put it on every single morning, even if I'm not leaving the house. It's like brushing my teeth or combing my hair -- it's a daily essential! It probably makes my desert island list... it's just that important to me.

So when Modcloth asked if I'd like to test out one of the cosmetics from The Balm line, I jumped at the chance to try the liquid eyeliner. The retro packaging is pretty awesome, but what's inside the tube is even better. The brush is super thin, which makes it a lot easier to create a precise cat-eye. And the color is a deep, dark matte black. This eyeliner fan is definitely impressed ;) To demonstrate the eyeliner in action I made up two eyeliner tutorials:



Classic cat eye

1. Start with a fresh eye. I usually use concealer under my eyes and on my eyelid, and then brush white eyeshadow on my eyelid. The black really pops against the white background, but it's still classic and subtle. 2. Starting in the middle build up the line to the thickness that you'd like. 3. Bring the line in to your inner eye. The line should get thinner as it gets closer to your nose. 4. Draw a line straight out from the corner of your eye. 5. Connect the line to form a small triangle. Fill in the triangle and voila! A classic cat eye!



Scalloped cat eye

1.Once again, start with a fresh eye. Since this is a more detailed design, you definitely want a really light base to start with or else the design won't be as visible. 2. Draw a very thin line along the base of your eyelid. 3. Carefully draw in your scallops. I started in the middle and then drew in the rest on either side. 4. Fill in the scallops. 5. Extend your cat eye like in steps 4-5 of the classic cat eye.


Eyeliner tips

1. If you don't have a very steady hand, try eating something with protein beforehand. I always do this when I'm painting or drawing, too.. basically whenever I need to draw a really precise line. A peanut butter sandwich always does the trick for me! :) It seems silly but it really works!

2. A Q-tip and makeup remover (or Pond's cold cream) are my BFFs. I have a pretty steady hand, but even I mess up now and then. And I can't even count how many times I've sneezed while my eyeliner is still wet and the black just goes everywhere! But rather than removing all of your hard work, a Q-tip helps to just get the spots that you messed up without having to start from scratch.

3. Practice makes perfect. I've been wearing a classic cat-eye on a daily basis since high school, so it usually takes me about one minute flat to do both eyes now. When I first started I used to mess up constantly and my eyes would always come out uneven. Even if you think that there's no way you could EVER apply precise eyeliner, give it a try! After some practice you'd be surprised how easy it becomes :)