Eyeliner guides

Organised by the problem, not by the product. Start with your eye shape if liner never looks like the tutorial, with the technique if you know the look you want, or with the symptom if it will not stay where you put it.

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Start with your eye shape

Most tutorials assume a lid with a visible crease and plenty of space above the lashes. If that is not your eye, the standard instructions will keep failing for reasons that have nothing to do with your technique.

Hooded eyes

Why liner vanishes behind the fold when you open your eyes, and the batwing method that stays visible.

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Monolid eyes

No crease means no landmark. The graduated band, the long low wing, and why length beats height.

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Mature and crepey lids

Why a liquid line arrives as dashes on textured skin, and the five adjustments that fix it.

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Eyeliner by eye shape: the chart

Eight shapes, one rule each, and three questions in a mirror that tell you which you are working with.

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Downturned eyes

The outer corner sits lower, so a standard wing points down. Where to start the flick and how far to lift it.

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Small eyes

A dark ring closes an eye and an open frame enlarges it. The three placements that make eyes read bigger.

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Not sure which you have?

Four questions on skill level, eye shape and the look you want, and a format recommendation at the end.

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Technique

Winged eyeliner, step by step

The angle trick that makes wings symmetrical, and the tape method beginners actually finish.

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Tightlining and the waterline

Two techniques people confuse, only one of which sits on your oil glands. Includes what the published eye research found.

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Liner colour by eye colour

Why copper does more for blue eyes than navy ever will, with a contrast chart for all five iris colours.

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Eyeliner for beginners

Pencil first, wing last. The four skills in the order that makes each one easier, and which format to hold for each.

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Why liner will not stay on your waterline

The rim is wet, wiped by every blink and washed by tears. Which formulas survive it and how to apply them.

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When liner will not behave

Flat lay of makeup products on a beige background

Why your eyeliner smudges

Four smudge patterns mapped to four different causes. Find yours before you buy anything else.

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Watery eyes

Tears take one route across the eye, and liner fails in the same three places. Move it out of the route.

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Waterproof vs smudge-proof

They are not the same claim. The ingredient chemistry that decides whether liner survives your day.

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Sensitive eyes and reactions

Irritation and allergy are different problems. How to tell them apart, and why hypoallergenic means nothing.

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Situations

The same liner behaves differently depending on what else is going on around your eyes.

With glasses

Minus lenses shrink your eyes and plus lenses magnify them, so the two prescriptions need opposite lines.

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With lash extensions

Oil dissolves the adhesive, so the rule is really about the remover. Where liner can safely go.

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Taking it all off

Dissolve, do not scrub. The 20-second method, and how many lashes you are supposed to lose anyway.

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Eyeliner over 50

What actually changes after 50, which habits still work, and the few that need adjusting. Nobody has to give up liner.

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With shaky hands

A steady line does not need a steady hand. Anchor, dot, then join, and the formats that forgive a wobble.

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With contact lenses

Lenses in before liner, out before remover, and the inner rim kept clear. The routine in order.

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Buying guides

Shortlists compiled from published specifications, ingredient lists and aggregated customer ratings. We do not claim laboratory testing, and products are chosen before retailers are attached.

Shortlists by format

The picks for liquid, gel, pencil and kohl, with the caveat that matters for each one.

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Best for hooded eyes

Six liners judged on transfer resistance and set speed, which is what a hooded lid actually needs.

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Stila vs NYX Epic Ink

Two felt-tip liners at very different prices. What the extra money buys, and when it does not.

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