Get in touch with your feline side. Dramatic cat eye looks have been popping up on runways and beauty editorials everywhere this season. Here’s some tips on how to get the look:
Prep
A primed lid goes a long way in being the perfect base for liquid eyeliner, and for keeping it in place. Before you start, make sure your eyelids are dry and use a basic eyeshadow primer. This base will prevent natural oils from your eyelids that can make eye makeup run.
Right formula
When you choose a liquid liner, one factor you should consider is its formula. Liners that are waterproof are great for humid weather, summer months, and nights out, but can be a pain to take off when it comes to everyday wear. This makes it worthwhile to have a couple formulas on hand, depending on the occasion or weather.
Shop:
Pick your shade
If you are going for a more natural look, pick a liner in a neutral brown or khaki that is close to your natural lash colour or mascara you often use. For everyday, if you wear black mascara, a black eyeliner completes the look and opens your eyes, however you can mismatch your mascara from your eyeliner for a dramatic effect. Consider black mascara with a purple liner or vice-versa. Blue liner was a trend a few seasons ago, but you can never go wrong with a neutral shade or basic black. When picking a coloured liner, it’s usually best to stay close to your eye colour. People with brown eyes look great in burgundys, browns and khaki, people with green or grey eyes can do any colour, and people with blue eyes can accentuate them even more with a blue or brown liner. Glitter liners are also a perfect pick for the holidays or a special night.
Good form
When first starting out with a liquid liner, rest your elbow on your vanity to keep the rest of your arm more steady. As you draw the line across your lid, use your wrist instead of your whole arm, until you get the hang of it.
Basic Shape
Starting from the inner corner of your eye, with the thinnest part of the applicator, trace a thin line along your upper eyelid. As you pass the centre mark (use your pupil as a guide) you can rotate your wrist, turning the applicator to the thicker side and trace a thicker line near the outer corner. At this point, you can either choose to keep a basic line or flick out to the sides for a subtle cat eye. A good tip if you’re looking to achieve a slight cat eye is to lift your hand from tracing and reposition your applicator about half a centimetre from the outer corner, and angle the line so that your cat eye flick will go upwards. This will avoid any droopy looking lids.
Cat eye
Once you’ve mastered your basic outline or subtle cat eye, you can try more daring looks. To achieve your basic retro cat eye, start by tracing a basic line. Next, to create the dramatic wing, trace a triangle shape on the outer corner of your eye. It’s much easier to fill in a shape than to create it.
Balance your right and left side
If you find yourself avoiding liquid liner because one side is never right, start with your worst side, then match the other side. You can also use a regular eye pencil as a guide so you can easily trace a liquid line along the shape.
