How to Do Winged Eyeliner

No more wobbly lines - only cat eye flicks even Adele would envy. Grab our genius tips on perfecting winged eyeliner!

• Felt-tip liquid eyeliner: If you’ve never attempted winged eyeliner before (or have... and failed hard) a felt-tip liquid eyeliner is your lifesaver. Because you grip it like a pen, it gives lots of control to draw lines smoothly instead of wobbling all over the place. You’ll still get the richly pigmented, smooth intensity of a traditional liquid eyeliner. Let us introduce you to the best liquid eyeliner in Australia: PONi Pegasus Smudge Proof Liquid Eyeliner Black, water-resistant liquid eyeliner for effortless, smudge-proof lines without the stress.
• Eyeliner pencil: Also a good choice for beginners! Less mess and more control than using a traditional liquid eyeliner that comes in a pot. The kinda downside? Eyeliner pencils don’t spread as thickly as gel or liquid liners and aren’t as deeply pigmented.
• Eyeliner brush: It takes a little more practice to create a winged eyeliner look with a pot of gel liner and an eyeliner brush. Not the easiest option for absolute beginners. It’s worth mastering though, gel creates beautifully solid colour instantly (no layering required) and super crisp, sharp lines.

No doubt the hero of winged liner is definitely the flick but getting the perfect line along your lashes takes skill too. The shaky hand struggle is real.

If precision isn’t *exactly* your best skill, let us help you out with these tips.

Join the dots

This tip for nailing the winged eyeliner brings back childhood memories of join-the-dots colouring books. This is the grown-up version for a cat eye.

Here’s how you do it -

Using your eyeliner, place tiny dots at small intervals along the top lash line and take them out to the point you want your cat-eye to end. Then use gentle strokes to connect them.

With the dots already in place, it’s easier to keep a steady hand and know where you need to go!

Sit down to apply your eyeliner

How to apply liquid eyeliner is a line that’s actually straight? You need a steady surface to solve those rouge hand wobbles.

Instead of applying your winged eyeliner standing up, sit down so you can rest your elbow on a flat surface. This simple hack makes a big difference.

Start with a pencil

If you love the pigment of liquid liner but find it super daunting to nail a straight line - use a combo of tools.

Start with a pencil to outline your eye and wing shape. When you’re happy with the look, trace the shape with a thin liquid liner for more impact.

These tips work a treat at sharpening up the flick of your winged eyeliner.

Eyeliner Tip 1: Card trick

Take a clean piece of cardboard - the size of a credit card - and lay it against your eye on a diagonal angle for your wing.

Draw your wing on the eyelid using the card as your guide. The idea is to actually take the line along the card, so when you remove it, you’re left with the perfect flick and crisp edge.

Eyeliner Tip 2: Tape it to shape it

Same idea as the card trick, but using tape.

Cut a 3 cm piece of makeup or surgical tape and place the tape along your eye at a diagonal, depending on the type of wing you want.

Now grab your eyeliner and apply it along the tape line. For a more dramatic eye, you’ll want to draw further along the tape. For a more subtle wing, keep the line shorter.

Follow your lash line to finish the rest of the eye and then remove the tape. You’ll see a crisp, sharp winger every time with this tip. #foolproof

You can use scotch tape for this technique too but stick the pieces of tape to the back of your hand first a few times. This takes off a little of the stickiness so it won’t pull so much around your delicate eye area.

Eyeliner Tip 3: Folded makeup wipe

Draw your wing before applying foundation and don’t worry if the wing is messy - you’re about to fix that.

Fold a makeup wipe in half and then carefully wipe along the wing on an angle to create a tidy, sharp edge.

Eyeliner Tip 4: Cotton bud clean up

Create your wing - again, don’t stress if it’s a little wobbly. Take a (biodegradable!) cotton bud and dip it in a little micellar water. In short swipes, run it along a less-than-crisp edge to sharpen it up.

How to Do Winged Eyeliner on Hooded Eyes

When the skin around your eye folds over the crease of your eye it can make drawing on eyeliner a bit more challenging. All your beautiful eyeliner (and eyeshadow) efforts can ‘disappear’ into the hood.

This nifty little trick will help you out. Instead of a drawing small flick - where most of the liner is on the lid - elongate the wing.

Draw it out so the wing can be seen when the eye is open. The most dramatic part of the wing is actually away from the lid.

Make sure the line of the wing is upward to give a ‘lifting’ illusion that counteracts a droopy lid.

There you have it! Our easy tips for taking the guesswork out of perfecting your cat eye - no more winging it.

Want to add the best liquid eyeliner in Australia to your makeup stash? Shop PONi Pegasus Smudge Proof Liquid Eyeliner here.