Practice, practice, practice! Especially if using liquid liner. Try doing it right before you wash the rest of your makeup off if you’re really unsure. I’ve been doing it consistently for about two and a half years now, and have finally found some consistency. Eyeliner can smell fear, so just go for it and have fun. As for recommendations, a pencil or small felt tip will work best.

for many beginners they always start with liquid which is definitely not the easiest to work with. So i recommend a brush tip or felt tip liner. You can easily just do one swipe and have easy effortless wing. I like the maybelline and nyx liners.

Here are some tips:

In general I think pencil eyeliner is a good place to start if you’re a beginner. It’s generally less dark and defined than liquid eyeliner, so it’s easier to work with. Mistakes are less noticeable and they’re easier to fix. If you struggle to get perfectly straight or even lines, you can blend it out with a small brush for a diffused look.

If you want to practice winged eyeliner, you can use dark eyeshadow on a flat angled brush. It can help you figure out what angle and length works for you, since winged eyeliner techniques vary by eye shape.

If you want to try liquid eyeliner, I’d say the easiest and most convenient kind to use is a liquid eyeliner pen, especially if it has a brush tip (my favorite is Epic Ink from NYX). I think you get more control with a pen than you do with the kind of liquid eyeliner that has a thin brush you dip into the eyeliner separately.

If you have issues with your eyeliner smudging or transferring throughout the day, setting it with black eyeshadow and/or a little setting powder helps reduce those issues a lot. Eyeliner also tends to last better over a dry base of eye makeup (like if you already have eyeshadow or setting powder on your eyes). In my experience it doesn’t hold up as well over bare skin or over unset concealer or foundation.

Nyx 'That's the Point' is super easy to apply for even winged liner, I live by it :)

I'd say definitely go for Wander Beauty Skyliner Automatic Gel Eyeliner. It is soo beautifully pigmented, you don't need to keep going over the same spot. Just one swipe is good enough - that's something you should deffo look for specially if you're a beginner with a shaky hand.

It’s smudge-proof and long lasting AND hydrating. It has a built in sharpener which is cute and you can keep the liner thin and precise. Also if you care, it’s free from parabens, mineral oils, and synthetic fragrances, real good for sensitive eyes.

I would use liners from the Sephora line to test for your preferred format. Candidly, the quality cliff between Sephora or even Revlon liners is marginal with many pricier brands. I’d just buy a small 6 dollar one to get your hand steady, but honestly most brands are pretty interchangeable and it comes down the formula and applicators you find easier—at least I’ve noticed this.

Gel or smudgier liners are best for beginners because they give some grace. If you have wrinkly lash lines like me, liquid fine tip liners are your friend. Sephora’s liners, Revlon and L’Oreal work fine.

Also, if you decide you like it, get a liner brush to soften out the lines.

Your style sort of dictates it too. For natural looking makeup, pencil or even loose powder can look good. For a sharp cat eye you’ll need liquid or gel.

I currently have a Revlon (liquid), Clinique (mechanical) and Marc Jacobs (sample gel pencil) in my rotation. I’ve liked the color options and feel of Lancome liners, but I like those for specific colors. Sephora are great. I was given a Guerlain liquid fine-tip liner once, and it’s the rare exception where I’ve found cost to be a differentiator (it was beautiful).

I have found that felt tipped liner pens are susceptible to drying out, but some find those easier.

Benefit they’re real liner is pretty good and Stila too!

The Haus Labs pencils are great! Love the chartreuse for my waterline

Nothing waterproof has lasted on me, I guess my eyes are overly watery 🤣...not Urban Decay or the Too Faced 36 hr eyeliner. I like the Persona eyeliner and Stila stay all day. A nice inexpensive brand is the La Girl shockwave eyeliner.

I like the Too Faced Better Than Sex Easy Glide Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner, I’m a beginner and it made it so much easier with it’s tip. I love it!

Yes! Physician’s Formula 100%. They have a pen eyeliner that is so easy to use.

Felt tip eyeliner is the best! Physicians formula 3-in-1 or whatever? That’s a great starting drugstore eyeliner

I learned with a felt tip, uh...I wanna say the Stila stay all day? I got it in an ipsy or something one month. It had a slight bend that made the flick easy but enough stiffness to make lining my eye easy as well. Practice, practice, practice. I'm sure you've already told her that.

Physician Formula brush tip pen! It can be a tad shiny and not super black but it is one of the best smudge proof and water proof liners at the drug store. The precise tip is good for drawing thin strokes and easier control

Wet n Wild Megaliner has always been my go to liquid liner!

Hey there! I first started with the Maybelline Eyestudio Master Precise All Day Liquid Eyeliner, it’s cheap (like $6 at Walgreens), readily available at any drug store/ Ulta/Sephora, & honestly for me it was the easiest to practice with. Since it’s a pen eyeliner it was easier for my brain to translate it to when I need to write legibly (hope that makes sense!) I had to take my time & not press on it too hard. It’ll take you a bit to see what style of eyeliner you like & fits your eye the best, but just keep at it you’ll do great 😊 Best of luck!!

My first eyeliner was actually REVLON colorstay skinny liquid eyeliner, its 5$ and I still prefer it til this day. Although at some point the eyeliner brush gets too fuzzy when its almost completely used, but I actually think its not that bad! I think it’s perfect for practicing.

I think it’s best to try it with a black or brown eyeshadow while using tape to get it more precise. I can easily do eyeliner with eyeshadow but can’t at all do anything with an eyeliner pencil

When I started practicing eyeliner, I used a pencil gel liner (sharpen it really well and make sure the formula glides). The key factor that you need is control especially when you're just starting off. It's ok to mess up, just wipe it and fix it or redo it. Practice a lot in your free time. Experiment with different eyeliner styles and shapes to find out which one works best for your eye shape.

If you wish to start and practice with a gel liner, I would recommend the Nyx epic wear liner (not epic ink liner!!). If you would like to use a liquid eyeliner pen with good control, go for the essence 24ever ink liner (only $4).

Once you have more control and confidence in your eyeliner skills, I would definitely recommend the nyx epic ink liner.

I love everything elf cosmetics. It's all affordable and the eyeliners all have pretty great staying power. I recommend starting with a gel or other stick liner and then when you're comfortable with that move on to felt tip or liquid liners.

I always start at the outer edge and do the flick first. Match the angles. Then fill in on the lash line and connect the top and fill it out. Practice makes perfect!

Elf also has this great makeup remover pen that I use to clean up shaky wing lines.

I'm going to second Nyx's epic ink eyeliner, but I've sworn by the eyeliner pen from Physician's Formula for a long time as well. Both are brush tip which I think lend for better ease of use over a felt tip (the Maybelline Stilleto liner is decent though.)

Main thing with winged eyeliner is that it takes time and practice. You likely won't get it right on your first try, but that's what make up remover is for and just try again! If it's still seems too scary try starting with eyeshadow. Using an angled brush with a pigmented eyeshadow can mimic the look of eyeliner, but it will be a softer look.

As someone with poor fine-motor skills/kinda shaky hands, I cannot recommend a good mechanical pencil eyeliner enough. I've always had trouble with liquid and felt-tip eyeliners; just can't seem to move my hands fast or steady enough to draw a straight line. With a good pencil, you can go at your own pace and gradually trace a nice straight line across your lid, and build up the width of the line as you prefer. Old-fashioned wooden pencil eye liners are annoying b/c of the constant need to resharpen, so that's another big perk of the mechanical format.

Now, a really good pencil eyeliner will be heavily pigmented with a creamy, easy-to-spread consistency. L'Oreal Paris Infallible 16HR Never-Fail Mechanical Eyeliner is my absolute favorite among the drugstore mechanical-pencil options. In my experience, some of the others I've tried (Maybelline, Nyx, Revlon) are either not pigmented enough to be noticeable/stay on, or they'll have a semi-solid of a consistency, making it very difficult to maneuver across the eyelid.

Good luck with your eyeliner adventure!

hey im in the same boat! i want to try doing winged eyeliner but im completely new to makeup, it makes me feel better to see someone else who gets it!

The NYX epic ink liner is really good for beginners! Its cheap, around £7, and great quality.

If you want subtley in your liners stick with browns instead of blacks, as the black can look stark with your hair color. Pencils are easier to pick up, and pretty much every brand at every price point has them (some exceptions but you know what I mean). I do really like the ones I've tried from Nyx, but Urban Decay puts out good ones as well. Get a good sharpener too as you will want to keep it nice and pointy for best results.

If you want to try liquid liner I do suggest getting pen versions to start. I think the formula in most ink pot style tend to be better, but they can be a bit fussy comparitively. I also prefer brush tip over felt tip, but the felt is more commonly found, and the various ones Maybelline has put out I've enjoyed. (Master ink and stilletto are both good.)

Also, take your time. Make up takes practice and eyeliner especially can be true of that.

Imo, the best way to do liner is to actually use eyeshadow. I use nyx black eyeshadow because it’s super dark and a little goes a long way, but it may be too dark for you. Then I wet a tiny makeup brush with setting spray, pick up however much eyeshadow I need, and draw it on. It’s a lot easier for me to control and isn’t as messy as liquid liner, which can get all over your lashes and can dry weird. I’ve been using eyeshadow instead of pencil or liquid for years now and it looks so much better and lasts so much longer. It can take a little bit of practice at first but I swear it’s the easiest and best way to do liner. It’s also great because you can make it as light or as dark as you want by adjusting how much setting spray and shadow you use

Best eyeliners are Gel or pencil liners. They stay creamy all the way through and give you time to apply it without drying too quickly.

This tutorial really helped me, it’s by Michelle Phan

https://youtu.be/Rc0vliuLm28

I personally don’t like liquid liner unless I’m doing a wing. I mostly use gel formula pencils. Urban Decay 24/7 are my favorite, but I only buy them on sale. Madeline Lasting Drama gel pencils appear to be dupes (they’re owned by the same overall parent co). They just don’t have the color variety of UD. LA Looks has fun colors at a low price point. I find their formula to be kind of waxy, but that seems to make them wear well.

When applying eyeliner start with the eye that is more difficult to draw on. It makes matching the second eye to the first eye a lot easier.

Liquid eyeliner pen. Stila, elf, Palladio, Kiko Milano, Mac, and lots of other brands make good ones. (Maybelline's suck tho!) You can correct mistakes with a licked Q-tip.

Definitely a pencil, Revlon color stay is my go to.

r/MakeupAddiction would be a better place for this

Whatever you use - HOLD THE TOOL SIDEWAYS, NOT STRAIGHT ON TOWARDS YOUR EYE

< O > | •====m===

Facing mirror :

Place the brush along the top of your eyelashes sidelong and pull the brush gently along the eyeline, don't press it into your eye and drag like a pencil; you'll get smoother lines, better control, and waste less time and makeup

Dark eyeshadow applied with an eyeliner brush. Mistakes can be covered up with concealer and/or blended out with an eyeshadow brush or finger

I have the Colorbar Ultimate Eye Liner and it's pretty good.

Worst. Run in the opposite direction plss 🏃‍♀️.

I bought this a few years back. Pathetic product. Very bad for a beginner. It doesn't dispense product properly. The tip isn't thin enough.

For beginner I'd suggest Insight pen eyeliner. The one that comes in black packaging with golden prints

I just got into taupe and bronze eyeliner and realize this is my jam! Way less severe while still giving definition.

MAKE SURE TO look straight ahead while applying! not when your eyes are closed or wide open!!

Felt tip is easier than either of those, IMO, and even easier is dark eyeshadow on a damp angled brush. Liquid liquid is sooooo messy, I just can't. Pencil really depends on the brand; if you're not using a premium one, you may need to warm up the end with your fingers or even a lighter so it doesn't drag on your skin.

But my main tips regardless are to rest your hand on your cheek to steady it, start as narrow on the lash line as possible, and have makeup wipes and eye drops on hand while you practice.

Just a couple things I think might help, what style or look are you trying to achieve?

Don't worry about making a smooth line in one go, try making dots or short strokes as close as you can to the lash line, then connect them, if you want a softer look you can blends and smudge it as well (more pencil than liquid) I also like to go over the liner with a similar eyeshadow on a small pencil or angle brush, just to soften and refine the lines.

I'd shoot for dark (powder) eye shadow instead of eyeliner, as someone who also went most of her life without eyeliner. It's much, much more forgiving than liquid, pencil, or felt tip. Spritz your eyeliner brush (something like this) with setting spray first, then dip into the palette.