Late night? Early wakeup call? Just feeling tired? Use white eyeliner to make your eyes look more awake and also much bigger.
A few years ago, I saw my next door neighbor at Bunco (that silly dice game that people use as an excuse to get together to chat), and her eyes captured my attention. I couldn’t figure out why her eyes looked so different, so I asked her. She pointed out that she used white eyeliner. Well, I was all over that!
I picked up a white Sephora brand eyeliner pencil. Again, I don’t like to pay a lot for makeup that I think I may not use much. Turns out, I go to that white eyeliner rather often.
Ways to Use White Eyeliner
A Replacement for Regular Eyeliner on the Lid
My favorite way to wear white eyeliner is to draw a line on the lid as close as possible to the lash line, as you would any other color eyeliner. Make it as thick or thin as you like. The white draws attention to your eyes and makes them look more open, more awake, and much bigger. Use a neutral eyeliner along the bottom lash line to “anchor” your eyes, because white all the way around is just, well, creepy. Be sure to use eyeshadow and mascara along with this look.
At the Inner Corner
Use some white eyeliner at the inner corner of your eyes near your nose to make your eyes look more wide-set. Draw a line or a couple of small lines with white eyeliner at the corner of the lid. You can use a white or light cream colored eyeshadow instead.
Double-duty Liner
Frankly, I’m not sure what this does, but I think it’s fun. Draw a thick line along the lash line with white. Then draw another line with a different color or neutral eyeliner on top of the outer portion of the white liner. Another option is to start out with a narrower white line and make a line with a second color or neutral right next to it. I’d use a coordinating color eyeshadow with the outer liner and finish with mascara.
How to Make Colored Eyeliner while Brightening the Eye
Say you’re wearing a colored eyeshadow, a lilac for instance, and you don’t have a purple eyeliner. Apply white eyeliner along the lash line of the lid and sweep your eyeshadow right over the white line. It should instantly become a light purple line, and it adds a little bit of brightness to the eye.
At the Water Line
Some women wear white eyeliner at the water line of the upper and lower lid (the wet looking skin on the inside of the upper and lower lash). My response is don’t…ever…do…it. It looks ghoulish. If you want to try to make your eyes look more open that way, use a flesh colored pencil. But as a contact lens wearer and a person with dry eyes, I never use product along the water line.
So, these are a few ways to draw more attention to your eyes, to open them up, to look more awake. Any takers? Do you already do it? Any other tips with white eyeliner you can share?
