So you may or may not have noticed that I am much more into my winged Liner of late. It really has been a recent development over the last few months and I feel so much more confident now than I ever did before. So, I figured I would share a few tips and tricks that might help you master the art!

Tip #1 is the best advice I can ever give you. DO NOT BE AFRAID! All too often we get to the liner stage of our make up application and our hand starts to tremble and we lose control of ourselves, as though doing a wing is a life or death type situation. People, it’s just make up! Most mistakes are fixable and all make up is removable. What’s to be afraid of? 

Tip #2 is to practice. Ain’t nobody on the planet that can just achieve the perfect liner right off the bat. Having a no make up day? Practice your Winged Liner. Not leaving the house? Practice your winged liner. Going to bed and about to remove your make up anyway? Practice your winged liner first!

Tip #3. Find a product that suits you. Before I even attempted a flick at the end of my liner I used a dark brown or a black eyeshshadow and an angled liner brush to stamp along my lash line and get a feel for my eye shape and how a line would apply. From there I tried a pencil, and failed miserably with it, so back to the shadow I went. When I could line my eyes with shadow quite neatly and successfully every time, I tried gel liner in the same fashion. Initially, I was crap and my liner became more of an all over the lid job. It was so thick. I would then reapply and neaten up the edge with shadow. Only when I felt I had mastered the gel liner did I go for the wing. It was disastrous 9 times out of 10, but guess what? It all washed off, so I could try again. 

I decided gel was too thick and difficult to work with so I went in search of a pen. That’s the product of choice for me. My absolute favourite that I will not be without is…say it with me…the Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in Trooper. Seriously…it’s the best. Thin lines, inky black and full control.

So find what you are comfortable with…shadow, pencil (which I still can’t do by the way), gel, or liquid in a pen form.

    
Tip #4 is to map out your wing first. The worst technique is to line the lid and then hope for the best with your wing. They won’t be as even as you can possibly manage and you’ll get all flustered, especially if your eyeshadow is on point and you ruin it with a badly placed feline flick! So, you have a couple of options here. Both start with lining both eyes first, close to the lashline of course. Then either…

1.  Look straight ahead in the mirror and place a dot, using your liner, on your right eye to map out where you want your wing to end. Before you fill it in, place a dot in the same place on your left eye. If you haven’t got them even, it’s only a wee spot that you need to remove with a cotton bud. You can then draw from your dot to your liner and fill in. 
2. My preferred method nowadays is to think of my wing as an extension of my lower lash line. I line the tip of my pen up with my waterline and continue in that direction. This makes sure your wing is in the correct place. Then I repeat this on the other eye and only when I’m happy with these waterline extensions do I form the rest of the flick. 

Tip #5 is to keep checking. As with eyeshadow, you need to do a little bit on one eye and immediately go and replicate it on the other.  This will mean you are only doing little bits at a time and will make mistakes easier to notice and to correct. Keep a mirror close to your face and look straight ahead to ensure things are looking even. 

Tip #6 is to keep the end of your wing as thin as possible. There’s nothing as untidy in appearance as a thick tip. It looks clumsy and heavy handed. Eventually you’ll learn the easiest method for you to achieve this but in the meantime, keep some cosmetic cotton buds and eye make up remover on hand. You can sharpen any wonky or broken edges and, by running the pointed side of the bud in a sweeping motion towards the end of the wing, you can also sharpen the point.

Tip #7 is to know your angles. Not just with the angle of your wing, but how to angle your hand to make the process as easy as possible. What I mean is, my right hand is dominant so doing my liner on my right eye is much easier than my left. I need to flip my hand to make sure it isn’t in the way, i.e. blocking my view, when applying to my left lid and so I can place my pen correctly. 

Tip #8 is as the title of this blog suggests. Just wing it! The more confidence you approach your liner with, the better it will turn out!

Do you have any top tips for applying winged liner?

What are your favourite eyelining products?

Have you tried the Tattoo Liner?

Thanks for stopping by! 

J x

Current Thoughts

• Walkies.
• Brown eyeliner.
• Chuck the gel.
• Doughnuts