Fantasia Salon / Spa and Wig Specialists

What do you think is the most versatile part of your makeup arsenal?  If you said eyeliner, you would be correct.  With eyeliner you can be dressed casually or for full-on glamour.

There are several forms of eyeliner, go with what you find the simplest to use.  Here are several different looks you can create with eyeliner.

Weekend daytime casual:  Line only your outer eyelid.  Dot the liner on your tip lid, getting as close to your eyelashes as possible.  Use a cotton swab, small makeup brush, the sponge tip or your clean fingertip to blend the dots together so the makeup looks natural and undetectable.

You can line form the inner corner of the eye to where the upper lashes stop, or just the outer half of the eyelid.  If your eyes are wide-set, lining the entire upper lid will make the appear to be closer together.  If your eyes are close-set, line only the outer half of two thirds of the eyelid.  This gives the illusion of wider-set eyes.  This is a good look with no eye shadow and eyelashes merely curled, with no mascara.

Perfect for Work:  This involves little time and effort on your part.  Apply a neutral eye shadow, then line just the very outer corners of your upper and lower lashes, using the dot-on-then-connect method.  Blend together the liner at the corners of your eye, in an angled V shape.  Smudge the eyeliner so a hard line is not visible.

Curl your lashes and apply one coat of brown mascara.  Brown is softer than black and looks professional without looking too ‘done’ for daytime.  This is a particularly effective look for close-set eyes.   Your subtle professional look will be the envy of your co-workers.

Daytime to Evening Eyes:  Line both the upper outer lid and lower outer lid.  You can use a thick or thin line, depending on what you prefer.  Classically, a thicker, softer line is preferred on a larger lid, whereas a thinner, more pronounced line is better for a small lid when lining upper eyelids.

For the lower lid, use the dot method, placing them as close to the lash line as possible.  If you choose to line from the inner lashes all the way to the outer lashes, this is definitely a “made-up” look.  be sure to smudge for a look that emulates thick lower lashes as opposed to a heavily-lined lower lid.

Putting on your shadow all over the lid after the liner will create a wash of color that helps liner blend and highlights your eyes without looking harsh.  Curl eyelashes and apply one coat of black mascara.  Now you are ready for dinner!

Evening Out:  A more intense look, involves lining upper and lower outer lids and lining the inner rim of your lower lid. If you choose to do this, make sure you have clean hands and that the eyeliner you are using is free of any debris that could fall into your eyes.

Apply a light-colored shimmery shadow in the half of your eye, then use a darker shade from the midpoint to the edge and up to the crease.  Next, using a light hand, liner your upper outer lid, using the dot method or using short, quick strokes of tiny lines connected together.  Do the same on the bottom outer lid.  Smudge the line on top and bottom lids.  If you want more intensity, use a second layer of eyeliner or add powder eye shadow in the same color over the eyeliner.

When you use a creamy eyeliner, such as with a pencil, powdered eyeshadow clings to it to give added staying power to your eyeliner.

When lining the inner rim of your eye, use the fingers of the opposite hand to gently pull down your lower lid.  Gently line the inner rim iwth the color of your cohice.  You can line the entire rim, just the outer half or just a small section in the very middle of the lower inner  rim.

There is debate among professional makeup artists about the effect of lining the inner rims of your eyelids.  Some say it makes the eyes appear smaller, while others insist that is a beauty myth with no basis in fact.  Try lining one eye inner rim and not the other, and see what you think.  Always use eye pencils when lining the inner rims of the eyes, not shadows or liquid.  Now your are ready to hit the town!

All these techniques with one product, who would have thought?