Types of Eyeliners

In the past week, I have received a number of enquires from people regarding eyeliners – everything from how to choose the right one, to how to apply it without looking like a panda! With this in mind, I have put together a guide which will hopefully be of assistance to you. I have split it into two parts; this post (part 1) deals with the different types of eyeliners on the market today, and part 2 outlines some of my favourite eyeliner application techniques.

1. EYESHADOW OR CAKE EYELINER

• Difficulty level: Easy
• Pros: Soft finish / suitable for mature skin / variety of colours.
• Cons: Fades the fastest / can smudge and become displaced easily / not water resistant.
• Caroline’s top tip: Apply your chosen eyeshadow colour using a small angled brush (like a MAC #266). Dip the brush in water beforehand for a more intense colour.

Soft browns, greys and khakis look great as eyeliners

2. PENCIL EYELINER

• Difficulty level: Easy.
• Pros: Easy/ versatile (you can do a sharp line or a soft smoky blended line) / variety of colours.
• Cons: Can fade, smudge and become displaced / not entirely water-resistant (even the waterproof ones).
• Caroline’s top tip: Sharpen the eyeliner pencil after every use.

3. GEL OR CREAM EYELINER

• Difficulty level: Medium.
• Pros: Clean, crisp finish / waterproof / doesn’t move or fade.
• Cons: Practice required / product can dry out quite quickly / expensive (good cream liners can cost €20, with a good brush costing nearly as much).
• Caroline’s top tip: Coat the bristles of the brush from root to tip with the product and then wipe the excess off on the rim of the gel pot/jar. This will enable maximum precision on application.

MAC Fluidline Gel Liner

MAC #266 Angled Liner Brush

4. LIQUID EYELINER

• Difficulty level: Hard.
  
• Pros: Clean, crisp finish / great for creating dramatic looks.
• Cons: Hard to master / unsuitable for mature skin.
• Caroline’s Top Tip: Instead of using the wand that comes with the liner, use an angled liner brush (example pictured above), which I find is much easier to control. Make sure that you coat the brush hairs from root to tip for better results.

Caroline’s favourite liquid eyeliner: Benefit Magic Ink

In my next post, I will discuss my favourite eyeliner application techniques.

Yours in style,
Caroline

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