How to do winged eyeliner: make-up artist approved tricks

Winged eyeliner - the beauty lover's nemesis

woman peeking out from behind something with winged eyeliner - how to do winged eyeliner
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Winged eyeliner - the beauty lover's nemesis

How to do winged eyeliner tutorials are the most popular beauty videos on Youtube.

We completely understand why, when done well a winged (or feline) flick can look incredibly chic. It has the power to transform and define your eye make-up. But when it's done badly, it can look...messy.

The key to perfecting the look is making sure that you're armed with the best eyeliner. Next you want to make sure your eyeliner is as close to the lash line as possible and that the wings look equal and flick up in the right direction. In other words there is a lot of room for mistakes.

With that in mind, we thought we would offer some tips and tricks from the industry's most trusted make-up artists. Because who better to give advice on one of beauty's trickiest looks.

'Eyeliner is one of those things that gets better the more you do it, so practice makes perfect.'

'Look down into a mirror, making sure your eyes are open and then draw your line. This works best because your eyelid and eye line is completely smooth like this. If you do it look directly into a mirror, with your eyes closed, holding your lid straight it won\t actually give you the right eyeline because as soon as your let go of your lid, it will bounce back.' the shape will never be completely seamless

How to do winged eyeliner with a sticky note by Huda Kattan

  • Start by holding your mirror slightly below the eye so that when you’re drawing your liner, your lashes are facing down – trust me, it makes the process a whole lot easier.
  • Next up use a sticky note as a stencil to get a clean straight wing. Start by placing the sticky note edge along the lower lash line and angle it so it meets near the tail end of your brow.
  • Use this edge as a guide to create your wing. Wait for the liner to set, then slowly peel away the sticky note and ta da-the perfect wing.

How to do winged eyeliner with a dot by Cher Webb

'Looking downwards into a mirror, line your eyelid with a fine eyeliner pen in small brush strokes. Once you reach the end, look straight into the mirror and draw a dot where you want your wing to end. It should be in the direction of the top of your ear. Draw a line from your top lash line to the dot to create a wing. Loosen the pressure as you get close to the dot to create a nice point that isn't too severe. To get rid of any smudging, put some of your best concealer on a brush and take it under the line to clean up any blurring and define the wing.'

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How to do winged eyeliner with a brush by Mario Dedivanovic

Mario created his Master Pigment Pro Pencil to help people nail their wings. After seeing his sister's lopsided flicks, he wanted to launch a product that would take the difficulty out of the cat eye eyeliner.

He recommends applying his heavily pigmented eyeliner to your top lid and before it dries down use the tip of the brush on the other end to gently wing it out towards the outer side of the brow.

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Keep scrolling for the products our pros recommend to achieve the perfect winged eyeliner...

Katie Thomas

Katie Thomas is the Senior Beauty Editor at Marie Claire UK. With over 10 years of experience on women's luxury lifestyle titles, she covers everything from the best beauty looks from the red carpet and stand out trends from the catwalk, to colonic irrigation and to the best mascaras on the market. She started her career on fashion desks across the industry - from The Telegraph to Brides - but found her calling in the Tatler beauty department. From there she moved to Instyle, before joining the Marie Claire digital team in 2018. She’s made it her own personal mission to find the best concealer in the world to cover her tenacious dark circles. She’s obsessed with skincare that makes her skin bouncy and glowy, low-maintenance hair that doesn’t require brushing and a cracking good manicure. Oh and she wears more jewellery than the Queen.