The waterline is the strip of skin between your eyelashes and your eyeball. The easiest and most common waterline to line is the one on your lower lid.

But why would you want to use eyeliner to line it?

• It darkens around your eye without going below the lash line.
• It adds drama.
• It helps create a glamorous look.

Lining your lower waterline looks like this:

Since the waterline is so close to your eyeball though, you might be afraid to use eyeliner on it.

Luckily for you, I made a video to show you an easy and quick way to line the lower waterline without poking yourself in the eye.

Remember! You need an eyeliner that is both sticky and soft.

Are you ready to try lining your lower waterline?

Did you know that you could apply eye shadow wet as an eyeliner? I’ve been using this technique in several of my Face of the Days, including my St. Patrick’s Day look and Preen.

Check out this Makeup Files video tutorial to learn the technique:

In this video, I used:

• Elite Pro Cosmetics 88 Eye Shadow Palette
• Cover Girl LashBlast Fusion Mascara

How did you like my first video tutorial?

Do you ever apply eye shadow wet as an eyeliner?

Let me know what you think in the comments section.

If you’re a regular Makeup Files reader, you’ll know that I use L’Oreal Pencil Perfect Eyeliner a lot. I use it in almost every makeup tutorial.

Frankly, I’ve been terrified that L’Oreal was going to discontinue my favorite liner, so I decided to search for an equivalent.

Whaddaya know: I found a duplicate!

Duplicate: L’Oreal Pencil Perfect versus Maybelline Define-A-Line eyeliner

In order to have a duplicate of Pencil Perfect eyeliner, it must have a few important qualities:

1. Gel eyeliner that dispenses itself with a twist and doesn’t require sharpening.
2. Ability to line the water line of the bottom lid.
3. Smooth application.
4. Easy to apply color (so that I don’t have to keep rubbing at my lid like with some pencil eyeliners.)

Besides acting similarly, the two liners needed to look the same as well. Here’s an example:

On the left eye, I’ve got the L’Oreal eyeliner. On the right, Maybelline. As you can see, they look darn similar. The Maybelline isn’t as pronounced because there was a difference in color. My L’Oreal eyeliner is in Carbon Black and my Maybelline eyeliner is in Soft Black.

Here are the main differences between the two:

1. Consistency: The L’Oreal eyeliner goes on a bit smoother than the Maybelline eyeliner.
2. Smudger: The Maybelline eyeliner comes with a built-in smudger, where the L’Oreal eyeliner has none.
3. Water line application: While the Maybelline eyeliner can be applied to the water line on the bottom lid (between the lashes and the eye), it doesn’t go on as well as the L’Oreal liner.
4. Price: While prices vary depending on where you buy it, L’Oreal Pencil Perfect eyeliner tends to cost a few dollars more than Maybelline Define-A-Line.

Now that ve found a duplicate for my favorite eyeliner, I’m not nearly as scared of them discontinuing it.

Do you have any eyeliners that work like these? The more dupes we find, the better!

As we get older, glitter should be used only on limited, special occasions. For example, a night out with the girls, clubbing, or a concert.

One complaint that every girl has about loose glitter: it’s hard to control. Luckily, Barry M has a new glitter kit that’ can handle the problem. Called the Glitter Eye Candy Kit, this set will give you way more control of your glitter makeup.

The kit comes with…

• Loose Eye Glitter (comes in 8 colors)
• Fixing Gel
• Glitter Brush

What do you do? Using the Glitter Eye Candy Kit is pretty easy. Follow these steps:

Step 1: Use the Fixing Gel

The best part of the glitter makeup kit is the fixing gel. It helps you control exactly how your glitter will look on your skin.

This is better than using glitter gel because you dictate how the glitter looks before it ever touches your skin.

Apply the Fixing Gel directly to your skin wherever you want the glitter. The gel goes on clear with a soft-tipped wand, much like lip gloss.

In the picture above, I used the gel to make a spiral pattern on my hand (hard to tell since it’s clear). You can use this to line your eyes or any other part of your face or body.

Make sure your design is just right before going to the next step.

Step 2: Apply the Glitter

You’ll want to apply the glitter before the fixing gel dries. It helps to have the glitter open and ready.

The glitter is loose. It wants to go everywhere, so be careful when you use it. As you can see in the picture below, I spilled a little bit of it myself.

Dip the provided brush into the glitter pot and dab it onto your skin where you put the gel. The glitter should stick to this spot.

Step 3: Clean Up

When you dab the glitter on your skin, it will go outside the boundaries of your design. Luckily it can come off easily from areas that didn’t have Fixing Gel.

Using a cotton swab, clean up the edges of your design. This will pick up any loose glitter.

When you’re done, you should end up with a unique design. With the fixing gel, your glitter makeup look should last through a long night of dancing.

You can pick up the Barry M Glitter Eye Candy Kit online for £12.00 (yes, they ship to the United States).

After talking with many people about makeup, I realized that so many are actually afraid of using liquid eyeliner. I got a lot of:

I tried it once and couldn’t figure it out, so I stopped trying.

-and-

I don’t know…it looks too hard.

While it does take some getting used to, and a little practice, it’s actually worth learning how to use liquid eyeliner. Here, I’m going to give you some tips and tricks for just that. Read on!

Applying Liquid Eyeliner: The Pull Method

Liquid eyeliner works a bit differently than pencil or gel eyeliners. Since it’s liquid, it’s a bit hard to manage. Instead of drawing on the liner, you’ll be painting it on.

Here’s a little trick I use to make sure that I get an even, smooth line:

1. With your non-drawing hand, hold the side of your eye as shown.
2. Pull the skin taught just a bit so that it smoothes out your lid and reduces wrinkles.
3. With your other hand, start painting on your liquid eyeliner.
4. For best results, keep your eye half open instead of all the way open or closed.

Now, this tip is a bit controversial. I’ve tried to do it on older ladies and they darn near freaked out. “It’ll cause wrinkles!” Somehow I doubt that. If you’re concerned about wrinkles, then you may want to skip the Pull Method. Granted, you will have a harder to applying the liner if you do.

Although this technique is best suited for liquid eyeliner, I pull my eye with all eyeliners. It’s just easier for me.

Creating the Perfect Line

Whether you use the Pull Method or not, you’re still going to need to actually paint on the liner. Here is one great way to do so:

1. Start at the outer corner of your eye first.
2. If you’re having trouble steadying your hand, don’t bother making one line from corner to corner. Instead, let the first part stop where you feel comfortable, such as the middle.
3. Starting where you left off, continue adding liner until you reach your desired length.

It may help to prop your elbow on a table or your bathroom counter in order to keep your hand steady.

Should You Line the Bottom?

Lining the bottom lid of your eye can add a lot of drama to your look and is a good way to bring day makeup into the night. The problem with doing this with liquid eyeliner is that it can actually get on your eyeball — at least when you apply it to the inside of your lid.

I’ve tried on several occasions to line that part of my eye, and I ended up with black streaks all over my eyeball. While you can get these off with a little care and some clean fingertips, it will still irritate your eye.

Instead, line your top lid with liquid eyeliner and line the bottom with gel eyeliner. This is the best way to get the darker, dramatic look without a black eye.

Even More Liquid Eyeliner Tips and Tricks

• Practice makes perfect, just like in other parts of life. Your first line may look terrible, but if you keep trying, it’ll likely look great after a while.
• Don’t smudge! Liquid eyeliner is meant to have a sharp line. Because of this, and the ingredients they use, these lines don’t lend well to smudging. If you want a smoky look, you’d do better with a kohl pencil.
• Let it dry. Liquid eyeliners are wet, hence the name. It may take a few seconds – or even a few minutes – for it to dry completely. Because of this, don’t open your eyes too wide or you may end up with a second line in your crease.
• Shadow first, then liner. Because of the wetness of liquid eyeliner, it doesn’t do well if you put shadow on over it, even after it’s dried. Instead, you should make sure to do shadow first, and liner last.
• Hold the wand close to the tip. You will have better control over the line if you hold onto the applicator as close to the tip as possible. Definitely try this if you’re having problems with shaky hands.
• Sample different brands. Some cosmetics brands, while totally great normally, don’t have very good liquid eyeliner. In fact, it’s easier to find bad liquid eyeliner than good. To me, the best by far is Revlon ColorStay Liquid Eyeliner. The applicator is great and it goes on smoothly.

Do you have any tips for using liquid eyeliner? Would you try the pull method?

Sure, you could use it just like you would any other eyeliner. The problem is that most people are just too afraid to sport such a bold look.

There are other ways you can use this makeup that will look interesting and cool.

For the techniques listed below, I’m using Jane One Liners in Snowline.

Layering Liner

Have you ever layered your eyeliner? This isn’t something you generally see in women’s magazines, but it’s a cool eyeliner trick.

1. Go about your regular business with applying eye shadow. This technique works best if you do shadow first, and then liner.
2. Apply a thicker-than-normal line of white eyeliner. This should be about twice as thick as you would normally line your lids.
3. Over your white line, draw in with a different color. I did black in the picture above. Follow the same curve that you created with the first line, but make this one half as thick.
4. Enjoy!

Layering eyeliner adds a little punch to your look. Your eyes look brighter even though you’re still wearing black liner as well.

You can layer other colors as well! I like to have a thick blue liner with a smaller black line when I’m wearing an outfit with a lot of blue. This can work for nearly anything.

Highlighting the Eyes

Sometimes using an eyeliner means that you’re adding an effect rather than an entire look. If you have smaller eyes or just wish yours were even bigger, try using white eyeliner to highlight your eyes.

1. Start making up your eyes as normal. Add shadow and line the top with a dark color. I use black in this photograph. Leave the lower lid alone for now.
2. Line the inside rim of your lower lid with white eyeliner. Don’t worry about how it looks too much. This is meant to blend in. You don’t want it too noticeable. Instead, the white acts like a highlight. Your eyes will look bigger and brighter.

Other Fun Tricks

• Feeling bold? You can just use your white liner like you would any of your other liners. If you do, be careful when you use mascara. It’s fine if the wand brushes up on your black eyeliner, but it will look bad if you leave specks of black or brown on the white line.
• You can make any color of eyeliner you want with some eyeshadow and white eyeliner. Be sure to use a pencil eyeliner instead of a self-advancing liner like the one I use. All you have to do is line your top lid, and then sweep any color of eye shadow over that line. The white eyeliner will grab onto that shadow for dear life. Instead of being white, it will now look the color of the shadow.  Even if the eyeshadow fades off of your lid, it’ll still stay on the formerly white line, and make it look as though you lined your lid with whatever color shadow you used.
• Use the white eyeliner as a guide when you tweeze your eyebrows. Draw the shape you want for your brows, the pluck anything that falls outside the white line.

Do you use white eyeliner? What fun tricks do you use?