A little whine about eyeliner

[JohnSnowsTie]

As in the liquid liner/cat flick type job. I'm good at applying makeup and blending etc, and I can apply the line neatly - trouble is I feel it makes me look "hard" in a way that it doesn't other people and I always regret adding it.

I follow a tutorials online for inspiration the artists/vloggers ALWAYS seem to apply an upper lash line and it looks great on everyone else!

Anyone else it there it doesn't suit?

Me! I have big eyelids and anything more than a tiny faint line just looks like I gave up halfway through and couldn't be bothered. Sometimes I do it anyway, but it still looks a bit odd. I see it looking amazing on other people and feel very jealous

Yes to making me look "hard", I aim for cool and sultry but I get low-cost lady of the night. Lately I read a tip somewhere to apply some dark eyeshadow on top of the line to make it stay; I'm finding that it also softens the look a bit. I dampen the eyeshadow before applying, and I make it just a little bit smudgy looking. If I'm doing black eyeliner then I use a dark grey eyeshadow, have a really nice Lancome one I got free with something. I only do the eyeliner on the top eyelid, and the shadow on the lower. Dunno if that helps you!

Have you tried a softer colour than black? Maybe brown or grey? I also think you need a little extra colour in your cheeks, particularly if you have a neutral lip colour. The other issue is I always think It looks really harsh immediately after application as I'm usually looking in a magnifying mirror with a bright light in my face but when I look in a normal mirror it's fine. Could this be the problem?

I use dark brown or grey crayons as liquid liner looks too harsh on my. I then soften it with loose powder on a brush

I know it sounds crazy, but I have quite yellowy skin and green eyes and dark purple eyeliner is the most flattering on me. It's not obviously purple when it's on. It may be a case of trying different colours to see what matches your skin and eyes. I also prefer those ones you don't have to sharpen. I think they may be a bit softer?