EYE PENCILS Are tricky.
Eyeliner is a love/hate thing with me.
I like the dark upswept or heavily outlined look on others but I struggle to get it quite right on myself. I have lost count of the pencils I have bought, tried and dismissed; a six-layer box of Derwent coloured pencils must be near the mark.
The ageing process, as much as I like it intellectually, does have some downsides when it comes to eye make-up and in particular the application of pencils. I could blame age and a tendency for the eyes to be less wide open than they once were but I was never much good at the application of eyeliner in any case.
I want to share a little trick that has changed my eyeliner life.
How to apply.
Start with a pencil, never a liquid. Liquid eyeliners are a whole other can of worms best left unopened in my case.
I have always held down my eyelid to apply eyeliner. Wrong.
Apply the pencil with eyes wide open, looking straight ahead into the mirror.
The line is drawn as the eye is seen.
Start from the centre and draw upwards as you reach the outer lid, remembering not to close the eye.
When you close your eyes, you will see that it is a different shading/lining to the one that would be there if you lined your eyes closed.
Open. The eyes look wider and the eyeliner flies up at the edge rather than down.
I was amazed at the result.
What to use?
A soft eye pencil, never with shine, so much less flattering.
Dark Grey is my shade of choice. A colour that opens up the eyes and is much kinder than black.
Favourites; Chanel, Charlotte Tilbury and Mac, for ease, colour and sensitivity. My eyes are those that water with the least provocation; I can wear these pencils happily all day, every day.
It’s time to colour in the lines, xv.
My Pick of The Eye Pencils
mac in phone number || chanel in 64 graphite || charlotte tilbury in smokey grey
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images, vogue cover, helen mirren by annie leibovitz
