As with most aspects of makeup, eyeliner presents a host of options. There are eye pencils (both traditional and chunky), liquid liners, gel eyeliners, cake eyeliners, and powder eyeliners. When it comes to colors, what used to be a simple choice of black or brown has morphed into a range of hues that can be overwhelming. The tried-and-true colors, however, are black, brown, and gray.
What kind of eyeliner should you use? Pencil eyeliners are a quick, convenient option, but they do have problems; they tend to smear and unless you are using a twist-up pencil they are tricky to keep sharpened.
Another option for applying a line is to use a tiny eyeliner brush with an appropriate color of traditional eyeshadow powder. You can use a dark-toned, matte eyeshadow color (almost any medium to deep eyeshadow color can work) and a tiny brush. Apply the eyeshadow by wetting the brush and using it as “liquid” liner. The application is more controlled, but once it dries you have the soft look and the staying power of a powder without the hard edge that liquid eyeliners can create.
A tiny, thin eyeliner brush allows absolute control over the thickness of the line around the eye. Another benefit to using powder and a brush is that you can use the powder as an eyeshadow just by selecting a different brush size.
Excerpted from The Complete Beauty Bible: The Ultimate Guide to Smart Beauty (Rodale Inc., 2004)
Tags: Add new tag, Eye Liner, Eye shadow liner, Liquid liner