Wing it! Eyeliner, Life, Everything!
Three easy ways to nail that wing.
Oh hey der! It's me again!
Prior to launching this site I had asked a lot of you what some of your biggest makeup questions were, and this one had some of the most requests:
"How the heck do you do winged eyeliner without it looking like a child did it?"
The short answer? Practice. As with any skill, it takes understanding the technique and then practicing it. In this case something like eyeliner is muscle memory. Once you get it down it's almost like your hand just knows what to do to get that perfect "swish and flick!" Getting that muscle memory is a different story, however, especially if you're a beginner and you're not sure where to start.
So I took some time to compile my top three favorite winged eyeliner techniques! I want to preface that these techniques can be done with any type of eyeliner (pencil, crayon, liquid, etc...) and while I prefer to use liquid eyeliner this is purely a personal preference! I've linked some of my favorite products at the end of this blog post!
Before I get into the eyeliner tips I'd like to quickly gloss over the general "rules" of winged eyeliner. I put "rules" in quotation marks because let's be honest, makeup rules were just invented by beauty companies for marketing purposes. Honey, if you want eyeliner that's an inch thick... go ahead and rock it. "Rules" were meant to be broken. However, some of these "rules" actually have some substance to them. Let's take a look at your eye. Everyone's eyes are different! So let's figure out exactly what angle to put your wing at. A good way to find out is to take your eyeliner pencil (or brush) and measure where your wing should go. Place one end at the edge of your nose and the other end at your temple. This imaginary diagonal line creates the most flattering angle for your face. Pretty simple right??
Once you've figured out where your wing should be placed you can move on to actually placing it!
1. Sections.
I'm going to go "theatre kid" on y'all for a second. Back in college during my stage combat class the motto was always "you have to be able to do it slowly before you can do it faster." Same principal applies here! Take it step-by-step and take your time. Practice makes perfect and I promise you once you create this muscle memory you'll be doing this in seconds flat... But hey, remember it's not a race! No one said you need to make the world record book for "fastest cat eye." Giving yourself those extra few seconds in front of the mirror will never steer you wrong.
Step 1:
Once you've found your placement. Start with your wing. Carefully draw a diagonal line from the outer corner of your eye going out at the angle you found with your measuring method.
Step 2:
After you've got your initial line drawn for your wing, you're going to connect it in sections. I personally like to view my eyeliner in 3 different sections. 1. is the wing. 2. is to draw a line connecting the wing. 3. is drawing a line to connect the rest. Taking small sections at a time allows you to have full focus on a small area which will help you get a better result over all. Slow and steady! You can do sections 2 & 3 in any order you choose. I end up usually doing 3 first then 2, as drawing lines out and away from the face tends to have less resistance from the skin.
Step 3:
You've connected all your sections!! And boom!! You've got perfect eyeliner!! Don't rush it and your freehand lines will always be nice and smooth!
2. The Tape Hack.
Okay hear me out, as silly as this looks it really works. I have a thing of Scotch Tape in my bathroom drawer for this purpose. If I'm not using it for eyeliner, specifically, I'm using it to get that awesome dramatic cut in my eyeshadow. Using tape will help you get a perfect clean line. Applying the same concept of "sections" as described in Trick #1 will give you perfect results every time! Step 1:
Take a medium length piece of Scotch Tape and fold one end over on itself slightly. This creates an easy pull-tab, if you will, for when you remove the tape. I then place the tape onto my face (as pictured) at the angle I would like my eyeliner wing to be.
Step 2:
With your eyeliner (I am currently very fond of NYX Epic Ink Eyeliner) draw along the tape line starting from the corner of your eye going out. It's okay if you're a little messy, since the tape is there it's keeping a nice crisp line for you. Fun fact: when doing anything to your face that requires "pulling" always go out and away from your face. This works with the integrity of the elasticity of your skin. Doing the opposite can put unnecessary stress on your skin.
Step 3:
Finish connecting your sections. Remember to start on the inner corner corner of your eye and draw out. It's always the path of less resistance.
Step 4:
Carefully remove the tape from your face using the small pull tab you created. Thanks to the tape you should have a nice clean line for your wing!! I love this method, super quick and easy and always yields lovely results!
3. The Makeup Wipe.
When I first saw this technique I was pretty skeptical. However, once I tried it I found it actually works pretty well. I like to do my eyes before I do the rest of my face, that way I don't have fallout ruining my foundation. Using the makeup wipe to clean up that line also helps clean up any eyeshadow fallout. And who doesn't love getting two jobs done in one? It's pretty straightforward so no pictures here. Step 1: Draw your wing line. Obviously the better you can freehand it the less you have to clean up...but don't beat yourself up for a messy line! That's what the makeup wipe is for!
Step 2:
Take and place your index finger inside the makeup wipe (you can even do this by putting a credit card or gift card under the makeup wipe to create a more linear and solid line). With the makeup wipe over your finger take the very tip and gently glide it along your wing line to wipe away little mistakes. The more precise you can be the cleaner your line will be.
I usually only end up doing this method if something has gone awry with the other 2 methods. But it definitely works if you're just needing to clean up an otherwise decent line! Concealer works too!!
These are just a few of many different ways to do your winged eyeliner. At the end of the day, it just takes practice. Play around with different types of eyeliner too! My personal preference is liquid eyeliner and I've tried so many different brands. Some products handle differently than others! I've listed some of my favorites below:
Liquid Eyeliners:
Note: I really really like NYX as a product line. In my personal experience they have really amazing high-quality products for half the price of brand name. Their eyeliners are really wonderful and last a super long time.
Eyeliner Pencils:
Gel Liners: (Note: these are used with an eyeliner brush. Either tapered end or fine tip.)
Other Methods:
I just wanted to list this other method that functions a lot like liquid eyeliner. Except you can use literally any eyeshadow and turn it into a waterproof eyeliner. Which is bonkers right!?! Using just a drop of INGLOT Duraline on an eyeshadow or even a gel liner pot it liquifies into a waterproof eyeliner that glides on like a liquid eyeliner. Y'all this is a total game changer. I bought my little bottle of Duraline almost a year ago and I use it all the time and I haven't even put a dent into how much product is left. It's amazing and in my personal opinion soooo worth the $16.
Okay! That's all I have for you right now, but please feel free to chime into the comment and put in any questions or requests you may have! Love always,
Courtney