Eyeliner is used to give shape to the eyes and define them as desired. An important part of eye makeup, it is often used after eyeshadow and before mascara. Eyeliner can be used to add the dramatic touch to your face or soften the look of your eyes and must be used, keeping the color of eyes and the eyeshadow that you use in mind. Brown, navy and charcoal liners look gorgeous on light colored eyes while brown and plum shades are often used to enhance the beauty of dark brown and black eyes. Precise and dramatic strokes can be achieved by using liquid eyeliner while pencil eyeliner is the best to give soft touch to the eyes. To experiment with colors, you can moisten a small flat brush to use dark eyeshadow as eyeliner or a cake liner and the brush must be held as a pen. Pencil eyeliners need to be sharpened before using them.

While applying the eyeliner, tilt your head back slightly and keep your eyes half-open to let you see yourself in the mirror as you are applying the liner. The line must be drawn on the upper lid from the inner side of the eye to the outer side. Let the liner dry before opening your eyes fully. To soften the look of harsh eyeliner, smudge it a little using the brush. Lower lid is lined from outer edge tapering to the inner side of the eye. Liquid liner has to be applied in one smooth stroke while pencil is applied by stroking the area lightly. Too thick eyeliner does not look good so go for thinner lines. Liquid liners need practice and brushed must always be washed with a makeup remover after using them. If your hand is shaky, stand close to the mirror to provide it support from the mirror.

While using a powder shadow as a liner, it is wise to hold a tissue directly beneath your eye to avoid it from getting all over the dace. The best tool to apply eyeliner is the sponge applicator. Liner applied as a series of dashes or dots or short feather-like strokes on the lash line are much easier to control than a solid line. If your lids are oily, you need to prepare it first just like you did for eyeshadow to avoid eyeliner from moving up to the crease area. Kohl pencils are ideally suited for the inner rims of the upper and lower lids and not the eyeliner as it soon smears easily and is also not good for eyes.

Classic traditional eyeliner look can be achieved by determining the thickness and intensity of the eyeliner according to the eyelid area. Larger eyelid area can use thicker and softer eyeliner while smaller eyelid area needs thinner and more intense liner. Since eyeliner is meant to create depth to the eyes and give thickness to the lashes, traditionally you can stick with dark brown, gray or black eyeshadow for the upper lid and softer tan, taupe, chestnut, brown, gray or black shades for the lower lid.