How to Get Your Winged Eyeliner On Point In 4 Easy Steps

Happy September, everyone! What are your plans for Fall? I, for one, will be visiting my parents’ homeland (Korea) with my family, fiancé, and friends and now that the planning stress has somewhat subsided, I couldn’t be more excited.

I actually haven’t been back to Asia in over 30 effing years – so crazy, I know. I’ll try and do a travel diary of some sort and report back once I’m settled because traveling to a foreign country is no joke and there’s a lot of legwork that must take place in advance.

Anywho, another year has gone by and I still haven’t switched up my cat eye look. If there’s one thing I always get compliments on, it’s my eyeliner so I’m here to share with you all how to get your cat eye on P-O-I-N-T. Getting a sharp liner look may be intimidating at first, but I’m here to reveal my secrets because we all deserve to have sassy cat eyes whenever we want.

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Step One: Have the Proper Tools

Make sure you have the right tools to succeed. You must have a really good angle brush to even out your wings. This is the key. I’ve been using this one since I was 16 years old and was finally able to master the cat eye. It’s $20 and lasts me up to a year. This is my MVP tool and helps me achieve symmetry.

Step Two: Choosing The Right Liners

Pick your base/weapon of choice. I have small, really dark brown eyes so I love using a black eyeliner for a dramatic look to really make my monolids pop.  If you have lighter colored eyes, you might want to go with a brown option, but I still prefer a really dramatic black cat eye. I’ve been using this gel liner from M.A.C. for the past 10 years and still swear by it. It’s buildable, sweatproof, under $18, and lasts me over 6 months. Some noteworthy honorable mentions are the Hourglass Waterproof Voyeur Liner and the Tom Ford Eye Defining Liquid Liner Pen.

Step 3: Get Your Wings 

Dip your brush in your gel pot or on your liquid liner of choice and create an angular line at the end of your eyes outward (at a 20-30 degree upward angle away from your eye and towards your hairline) to create a single line. Look in the mirror and do the same on your opposite eye. You can use the end of the brush to see if your wings are symmetrical. I also love this liner from Morphe. It’s $9, and a great option to line your waterline.

Step 4: Build and Finish Your Look

Dip your brush in your liner again and bring the liner inwards creating a half moon. Then, fill in your liner to whatever thickness you prefer.

If you make any mistakes, simply use a Q-tip to clean it up. Remember – it’s always easier to build upon your look vs. taking it away so it’s easier to start with smaller strokes and then gradually build up your look depending on how much of a dramatic cat eye you want.

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Lastly, don’t forget about your eyebrows! I have really thin eyebrows so it took me awhile to find a good eyebrow pencil that I actually love. I’m on my 4th Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil in Natural black and I love that it gives me fuller brows. I’ve also been really into the Charlotte Tilbury Brow Lift.

So, who’s ready to wear a sassy cat eye look with me?

PS: The first time I attempted this, I was 16 years old and locked myself in my bathroom for 3 hours so don’t stress if you don’t get it right the first time. Now, it takes me less than 2 minutes in the morning to achieve those wings. Practice makes perfect and you know what they say… the higher the wing, the closer to heaven. Lol

x Jane

Photography by Karla Ticas

Location: Firehouse Hotel