Paint It Black ~ A Guide To The Perfect Eyeliner Wardrobe - Beauty Tip Of The Week #37

With party season here, there’s no better time to think about restocking the foundation of your makeup arsenal: your collection of black eye pencils. Check out these major eyeliner picks from makeup artist Mark Carrasquillo, found in an interview with him on Vogue.com

image source: Vogue.com

A Pro's Guide To Painting It Black

Still fixated on the wave of darkly modern eyes spotted on the runways this past September in the form of pixie dots at Vuitton and graphic arches at Fendi, we turned to editorial makeup artist Mark Carrasquillo, who shared his advice on assembling the ultimate dark eyeliner wardrobe and the absolute best pigments to invest in. That is, with one noteworthy exception. “I am saying no to gel liner!” Carrasquillo admits with a laugh. “You never get a straight, smooth line. It just complicates the matter.” All the better to make room in your makeup bag for those eight new black pencils you just ordered.

The Goal: A Smudgy Waterline

A sooty, lived-in waterline etched in kohl—or “an updated version of how you imagine Kate [Moss] used to look back in the ’90s”—is Carrasquillo’s current obsession. “I was working on set with this girl who can close her eye on the pencil and run it back and forth, so she gets the top and bottom at the same time—it’s a very sexy way to do liner without looking retro at all.” Carrasquillo recommends formulas with a drier consistency, like NARS Black Moon pencil or Giorgio Armani Smooth Silk Eye Pencil for waterline coverage, since they have the right equation of slip versus hold. “If it’s too wet, it just moves all over your face and then it’s a big mess—you look more Alice Cooper than sexy.” Chubby kajal sticks are also a great tool for any eyeliner novice aiming for this look, according to Carrasquillo. “A fat pencil gives you a little bit more leeway in handling it.”

The Goal: A Graphic Liquid Flick

Forever a fan of liquid formulas and graphic looks, Carrasquillo leans toward Make Up For Ever’s inky liners across the board and loves 

Tom Ford’s dual-ended Eye Defining Pen. “If you’re really good and you have a steady hand, you use liquid eyeliner—that’s a staple. Every girl wants to be that girl.” His 19-year-old daughter, Nico-Lou (@NicoLouMonheimCarrasquillo), a black eyeliner enthusiast, gives Sephora’s Long Lasting 12HR Wear Eye Liner five stars for staying power. No matter which brands he gives her to test, says Carrasquillo, “she always calls me later and says, ‘You know what? The Sephora one just doesn’t move, it’s perfect.’ ”

The Goal: A Soft, Smoky Haze

For a Bardot-inspired French girl line, a powder eyeshadow—applied with an angled brush—keeps the borders hazy and romantic. “I actually like pressing powder along the lash line if you want something a little fuzzier and a little softer—not a hard edge.” Kevyn Aucoin’s Essential Eyeshadow in Blackest Black works wet or dry when applied with an angled brush. Carrasquillo warns that whatever you do, make sure that the pigment absolutely hugs your lash line. “The thing I hate is when you don’t get the black really close to the lashes and you see a separation of a little bit of skin.”

Beauty Tip Of The Week # 8 How To Wear Eyeliner After Lash Extensions ~ eHow.com

How To Wear Eyeliner After Eyelash Extensions
 From the series of video segments I shot for eHow.com

Eyelash extensions are single, individual, generally synthetic lashes that are glued one by one onto your existing lashes 

with formaldehyde free adhesive.

They generally last about 3 weeks before they need replacing.

They have a similar effect to strip lashes,

except that they are semi permanent.

Most women find they don't really need to use eyeliner

with lash extensions as the lashline is so enhanced by them.

However if you do choose to wear a liner, you have to be careful that you don't destroy your new lashes. 

image via rachelsskincare.com

Here's what I recommend: 

Check the label on your eyeliner.

Avoid cream or oil based liners as they can disrupt the adhesive and make your expensive lash extensions fall out.  

Liquid liners typically don't contain oils but can be more stubborn to remove.

A good trick is to use a dark eyeshadow and an eyeliner brush

Take the dark shadow along the lash line and build depth and color.

Next take your gel or cream liner along the lashline but not up against the lashes themselves. The shadow you applied in the first step will give you the depth of color you need at the lashes, enabling you to trick the appearance of  your gel liner and making it look like it goes all the way to the lashes themselves.

Be very gentle when removing any eyeliner. 

Don't use oil based eye-makeup removers.

Either purchase products from your eyelash technician, or use a very gentle cleansing milk and a QTip. 

How to Wear Eyeliner After Eyelash Extensions -- powered by ehow

How To Line Your Entire Eye With Eyeliner ~ eHow.com

From the eHow.com series

How To Line Your Entire Eye With Eyeliner

image by Kelly Cappelli

1. Make sure the area has been cleansed and prepped.
I like to put a think veil of foundation and powder topped with eyeshadow primer and some eyeshadow.
Use a neutral matte shadow if you don't want your eyes to look like you have shadow on.
By prepping the eye area you are giving the liner something to grab on to, and to hold.
Eyeliner applied to bare skin is not likely to stay in place for very long.

Think about the shape of your eyes.
If you have small eyes, completely ringing the eye in eyeliner can actually make them look smaller.
If your eyes are set close together having eyeliner come all the way into the inner corners can make your eyes look as if they are even closer together.
If you have deep set eyes ringing them entirely in liner can make them look further recessed.

Sharpen your pencil, but not to a sharp point - it will just crumble when it makes contact with your skin.

Lie the pencil slightly onto it's side, and starting in the middle of the lash line make small feather like movements across the eye.
If you have small eyes, keep the line thin.
If you have close set eyes either fade the liner out before you get to the inner corner, or keep it very thin through the inner 1/3 of the eye.

Once you have the eye lined in pencil, take a liner brush like the Corinna B Angle Taklon Liner (CorinnaB.com) and an eyeshadow that matches your liner color (black shadow with black liner, brown with brown etc).
The first pass you make across the pencil liner helps to set the pencil so that it won't move. The subsequent passes can be used to buff the hard line of the liner and give you a more smudgy, lived in look.

Here's the video:

 

How to Line Your Entire Eye With Eyeliner -- powered by ehow