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ELLE.COM/UK November 2O19Photography: Lucky If Sharp.
185also of what shape to even go for. The gently evolving story of liquid
eyeliner can make things confusing: would Loren’s signature feline flick
elongate your eyes best, or do Amy Winehouse’s thick marker pen
stripes work better for that doe-eyed effect? And how the hell do you
remove it all without a case of conjunctivitis if you do make mistakes?
(A cotton bud dipped in a bi-phase make-up remover works best.)
As a beginner, follow my basic rule of three
to make it easy on yourself. Steer clear of brush
and inkwell formulas – instead go for sturdy felt-
tip pens with good pigment pay-off so that you
don’t have to drag skin or repeat application.
Second, start on the outer edge, painting a short
flick from the corner of your eye upwards to mimic
the angle of your lashes, which should already
be wearing mascara (apply it after and you enter
a world of smudging pain). Leave it at that, which
I love, to lift the eye. Or work backwards along
the lash line in mini strokes towards the inner corner to fully line it.
Finally, put a hand mirror on a table – rather than a mirror on a wall- and stare over it to get a good angle, using your spare hand to
slightly stretch skin, looking downwards allows you to follow your
lashline without having to close your eyes.
And, 28 years of liner later, I can vouch for the fact that if you start
to get your eye in now, you’ve got yourself a beauty look for life.
Most beaut y tre nd s come and goas regular l y as t he number 94 bus. Take skin
finish, for example: it can jump from glossy to matte and back again in just
one season, while eyebrows are known for their perennial shape-shifting.
Then there’s eyeliner, the steadfast exception to the rule. An inky
lashline looked just as up to date on the AW19 Louis Vuitton and Erdem
runways as it did on Sophia Loren doing thepasseggiatain the 195Os.
In fact, as I write this, the two wings sitting
pretty across my lids feel as timely today as
they did when I first etched them above my lashes
with a Rimmel London eyeliner at age 14. And
though this morning’s application came with
a lot less wobble and a lot more knowledge, it
has remained my unequivocal make-up go-to.
The beaut y of liquid eyeliner is its multifaceted
appearance. Plus, if like me, you’re not one for
following the beauty crowd, you’ll also enjoy
eyeliner’s lenient style guide. I might wear a
ticked thorn in navy or green just peeping out above the outer lashes for
my various weekend plans, or a sexy 195Os flowing line in jet black
for date night. A straight bar across the lids is my nine-to-five office
standard, to open up my eyes and add definition and, for an evening out
with friends, I stick to my thick flick starting just above my pupils finishing
off at a 45 -degree angle by my outer lashes, which I love in brown.
But where there is liquid liner there is fear: of failure mostly, but“ WHERE T HERE IS
LIQUID LINER,
THEREisFEAR: OF
FA ILURE MOS T LY,
but ALSO OF WHAT
SHAPEtoGO FOR ”WHENyouGE T PAID TO TEST BE AUT Y PRODUCTS FOR A LIVING, WHATdoYOU
ACTUALLYpayTO USE? E L L E ’S BE AU T Y D IR E C TORKaty YoungCOMES CL E A NELLEBeautyRIMMEL GL AM’EYES
PROFESSIONAL LIQUID
EYELINER, £5.29
Three decades later,
this has even better
pigmentation, while
the chunky lid gives good
control for drawing wings.GUERLAIN
EYELINER, £33
The liquid that
I graduated to, and
have stuck to ever
since. The tip is a tiny
paintbrush, for the
finest of feline flicks.LINER LIQUID
EYELINER, £18.5O
Fatter than most,
this felt tip makes
lining easy, and
is particularly good
for the 1950s effect.LANCÔME HYPNOSE
ARTLINER, £23.5O
The soft foam tip is a
good choice for nervous
hands. Dab along the
lash line, and move
on without spending
too much time fretting.PAT McGRATH
PERMA PRECISION
LIQUID EYELINER, £26
One for the well-seasoned,
this flexible felt tip is
smudgeproof, even if you
sleep in it. (Not that I’d
ever condone doing that.)What I use...
LIQUID EYELINER
stBBLLL LILILQUQUID EYYELI
BENEFII OLLEROLLER
LINLINERLIQUID