The Ever Useful Light Colored Eyeliner
I devoured fashion magazines as a child/teen. And I realized very quickly that they recycle the same tips month after month, year after year. Use a belt to define your waist! Apply blush to the apples of your cheeks! Nude heels will elongate your legs! Use a pencil to find your perfect eyebrow shape! These ideas are always presented as something new and exciting, but they’re just recycled tips that have been around for eons. But here’s the thing about recycled advice - it’s ever-present because it WORKS. One of my favorites is the old trick of using a light shadow/liner on the inner corners of your eyes to make your otherwise zombie-face seem alive. But there are a few extra uses I’ve found that make a light, somewhat flesh-toned eyeliner a makeup bag staple.
Here’s the one in my current stash, Essence Extreme Lasting Eye Pencil in Silky Nude. Quick aside while I complain that using “nude” to mean “white person nude” is such an outdated, racist, exclusionary thing that remains RAMPANT in the beauty industry. It is 2019 and we have so many problems across the world and THIS should not be one of them! Fix it! Also, when I read “Silky Nude” on this pencil in the aisle of Ulta I blurted out, “SAME.” and I should not be allowed to be such a dork in public. So, you know, in case colorism isn’t enough of a reason to change a product name.
ANYWAY, I like to use this liner on the inner corners of my eyes, just like every magazine has told me to do since the dawn of time. It brightens, it makes you look more awake, and you can’t really OVER do it. I have haphazardly slapped some light liner on my inner corners and it looks perfectly fine.
But I also like to use a light liner on my lower waterline. I don’t line my lower lash line, or use mascara on my lower lashes. It makes them look VERY long and spidery and then I have to worry about smudging and I just skip it altogether. BUT, a little Silky Nude (ha.) on my lower waterline takes that eye-brightening effect and turns it up to 11. I have no idea if this would work if you are into darker lower lashline makeup, but if you abstain then this is a great trick to hide how tired (as in sleepy AND fed up) you are.
Ok. Here’s the real trick that I have never seen in a magazine but I personally LOVE. Use a nude (again, whatever color applies to you in this case, not necessarily a peach tone) to cover up your eye makeup mistakes. For me, this means mascara. I don’t know if it’s the shape of my eyes, my lashes, my application technique, or all three, but I get smudges of mascara on my upper lid… all the time. It’s only when I apply, and if I’m wearing eyeshadow and/or liner it all gets smoothed out and no one’s the wiser. BUT, I do like to wear a little mascara when I’m wearing super minimal makeup, and then my eyelids end up looking like I applied mascara during an earthquake. Sometimes a quick swipe of a Q-Tip wipes it all away, but sometimes I need a little corrective makeup, and that’s when a skin-toned eyeliner saves me. Depending on the color/formula, I’ll either apply it like a regular eyeliner, or dot in on the places I’ve got a particularly bad smudge. Then I’ll maybe blend it out with my fingertip or a Q-Tip, and as if my magic, my inability to apply mascara cleanly is hidden away, as if it never happened.
I’m currently using this Essence pencil, but I’m also interested in trying this one from L’Oreal, and I used to always have a Rimmel Kajal pencil in Nude in my stash, but it’s been hard to find lately. Another I reach for is Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Underground, but it’s been discontinued.
