Lining our eyes is the most basic makeup move for women everywhere, but the same old black could get a bit boring. Changing it up with colourful eyeliner every now and then is a simple way to add some spark to your look and bring an extra shot of magic to your peepers. But there’s something intimidating about colourful eyeliners that make a lot of women wary of trying them out. We tell you how to rock coloured eyeliner without looking too OTT or like a 12-year old playing dress up. Don’t fear it, with these tips your eyes will never look better.
1. Pick The Right Colour For You
When you’re choosing a colour, don’t just pick your favourite shade or one that matches your eye colour – you have to pick one that complements your eyes. Remember that colours on opposite ends of the colour wheel complement each other. So, if you have brown eyes, rich hues like purple, gold, copper, turquoise, pink and blue will look amazing on you; and hazel eyes really stand out with green and purple.
Source: Rhea Kapoor on Instagram
2. Find The Perfect Texture
The type of formula you use plays a big role. Coloured pencil liners are great for maximum control and for lining the inner lash lines. Kohl is a lot of fun if you want a smudged or smoky effect. Gel liners can give you a smooth and even line and liquid ones provide intense colour that is thick and oh so dramatic. So be sure to pick the right one based on the type of look you’re aiming for and what you’re most comfortable using.
3. Don’t Overdo It
How much ever you love the shade, don’t line your entire eye from top to bottom, as that isn’t a flattering look. Instead, line either the top and keep the bottom bare or vice versa to keep the focus on your gorgeous colour. One unique look to try is to line the outer half of the top and bottom lids with colour and use black on the inner colours to help tone it down.
4. Get Tightlining
If you’re a beauty aficionado you would know that tightlining basically means to draw your liner as close to the lashline as possible. Eyeliner that hugs your lashline looks neat, opens up your peepers and helps them appear brighter. Pair those effects with an attention-grabbing colour and you’re all set to turn heads without looking OTT in the least bit.
5. When You Don’t Want To Go Too Bright
If shades like purple, green and turquoise seem a bit much for you, but you still want to try the trend, you can draw attention to your natural eye colour with shades similar to your eye colour. For brown eyes try a rust colour, for hazel eyes try a dark brown, for blue eyes try a deep blue and for grey eyes try a matte silver. By sticking to this rule, you never run the risk of looking garish.
6. Start Slow
Stay within your comfort zone, don’t go all out with thick lines in a super bright shade just because you saw it in a magazine but aren’t too sure about carrying it off yourself. Start by tightlining with a colour; once you get used to that and like it then you can notch it up by experimenting with coloured flicks. If you do love a bold look then go graphic with thick wings for a bright twist to the Cleopatra style.
7. Tone Down The Drama
This is a great way to first start trying the coloured eyeliner trend as it helps you go a bit bright but without being super dramatic. Simply line your eyes with black liner like you usually do and then go over it with a coloured pencil in a jewel tone and blend them together. This helps give you a pop of colour, but it is a deeper shade that is almost black but not quite. It’s perfect for giving you an appropriate pop of colour even for the office.
8. Keep It Classy
A lot of the times coloured eyeliner can end up looking tacky when the whole look is overdone and paired with eyeshadow, bright lipstick and elaborate hairstyles. Keep the look fresh by letting your pop of colour be the focus; let the rest of your makeup be natural to rock this runway trend in style. In fact, you should even ditch your mascara to keep the look clean and like you haven’t tried too hard.
Images: Shutterstock
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