e.l.f. Discovery
5 COLORED EYELINER LOOKS YOU SHOULD TRY
Colored eyeliner can take your eye makeup beyond basic with a single stroke of pencil. You can be sleek, chic, and sophisticated, but you can also be bold, outrageous, and out there, or anywhere in between. Express yourself anyway you want with colorful eyes.
Eye Makeup products to Have On-Hand
You need to have the right eye makeup products on hand before you start a colorful eyeliner look. You will want to have a liquid makeup remover ready to go in case you make mistakes (because you will, we all do). Pointed cotton swabs will help smooth out little imperfections and a small angled brush will help you tighten up your lines, especially if you are doing a winged style.
And of course, you want as many colored eyeliners as you can get your hands on. Try to find eyeliners that are super thin. This allows you to create more looks as you can make ultra-thin lines or build them up into thicker lines.
Fishtail Eyeliner
A fishtail eyeliner look is characterized by a traditional winged liner on the upper lid and then a winged liner on the bottom lid. The important thing to remember is that in a fishtail eyeliner look, the wings are parallel to each other and do not meet at the end.
How to Do a Fishtail Eyeliner Look:
Choose a colored eyeliner pencil and using short strokes, line the top lash line from the inner corner of the eye to the outer corner. When you reach the outer corner, begin to swoop the eyeliner upwards creating a tail.
For the bottom lash line, decide if you are going to use the same color as the top or if you are going to go bold and choose a different color. For a subtler look you can choose two colors in a similar color family, such as rose with a peachy orange. To amp it up, choose colors that complement each other such as purple and yellow.
Using the same technique as the upper lash area, line the lower lashes using short strokes from the inner corner of the eye to the outer corner. When you reach the outer corner, begin to swoop the eyeliner upwards into a tail. The two tails do not have to be the same length. Play around with the lengths to get the look you want, but you will want to keep your two wings parallel to each other and do not connect them at the end.
Colorful Tightline Eyeliner
The goal of tightlining is to enhance and define your eyes while helping the lashes appear thicker and more lush. When choosing a color to tightline your eyes with, take into account your eye color to have the biggest impact. If you have blue eyes, try using a peachy orange tightline to make your eyes stand out. Brown eyes should try green and hazel eyes can make a great impact with purple eyeliner.
How to Tightline:
To tightline your upper lash line, you want to gently pull up on your eyelid with your index finger. Then, using your colored eyeliner pencil, draw short strokes of color in between your lash hairs from underneath your lashes. Use a small, angled brush to blend the eyeliner into the lashes if needed.
To tightline your lower lash line, draw short strokes of color in between your lash hairs from above your lower lashes. Again, use a small, angled brush to blend the eyeliner into your lashes if needed.
If you have eyeliner on your skin underneath your lower lashes, use a pointed cotton swab with a bit of makeup remover to clean it up.
Thick Rainbow Wing Eyeliner
The thick rainbow wing is not for the timid, but it will always get you compliments and it’s not as hard to do as you might think. It’s simply multiple winged liners next to each other. That’s it!
How to Do a Thick Rainbow Winged Eyeliner
Decide on how many colors of the rainbow you want to use, and in which order you want the colors to be in.
Using short strokes, line the top lash line from the inner corner of the eye to the outer corner. When you reach the outer corner, begin to swoop the eyeliner pencil upwards creating a tail. It’s up to you how long you want your tail to be. It can be a short tail, or you can go super bold with a long tail.
Choose your next color and complete another traditional winged eyeliner look right next to the one you just did. You want the colors directly next to each other. You shouldn’t see any skin color in between the two wings. Repeat with every color until your rainbow is complete.
Graphic Eyeliner
The graphic eyeliner look is one of the most well-known colored eyeliner looks. The key to creating a killer graphic eyeliner look is to not follow any rules. Mix and match any colors you want. Use angular lines and soft swooping lines.
PRO TIP: The eyes don’t have to match! Complete a look on one eye and then a completely different look on the other. The number of creative looks you can create are endless.
Ideas for graphic eyeliner looks:
Create a plaid look with different color eyeliners and different thicknesses.
Channel your inner artist and create a pointillism look. Using different colors, create a look using only dots of eyeliner around your eyes.
Create a fishtail inspired eyeliner look but only on your lower lashes.
Draw an actual picture on the outer corner of your eyes. Lightning bolts, clouds, sunrise.
Only put colored eyeliner on the inner corners of your eyes.
Floating Crease Eyeliner
The floating crease eyeliner look starts with a traditional winged liner look and then swoops back in with equal amounts of edge and sophistication across the crease of the eye. This one may take some practice, but once you nail it, you’ll have an iconic eyeliner look that will never let you down.
How to Do Floating Crease Eyeliner
Using short strokes, line the top lash line from the inner corner of the eye to the outer corner. When you reach the outer corner, begin to swoop the eyeliner upwards creating a tail. It’s up to you how long you want your tail to be. It can be a short tail, or you can go super bold with a long tail.
With the same eyeliner color (or switching it up if you are feeling extra edgy), use short strokes to draw another line from the tip of your winged eyeliner tail following the crease of your eye. You can draw it in a little or you can follow the crease all the way to the inner corner of your eye. The choice is up to you.
Use a pointed cotton swab with makeup remover to clean up any bits and use a small, angled brush to tighten up any lines.