You Can Totally Wear Liquid Liner Under Your Eyes (Look at Lily Collins!)

Liquid liner is awesome, and if you're anything like me, it's in the makeup rotation almost every day of the week. (Not in hot pink, mind you, but usually bronze and in the evening, black.)

If you're also like me—and 99.9 percent of women everywhere—then you wear your liquid liner along the top lash line only. Am I right?

Lily Collins is here to show us that this needn't be so. Liquid liner can actually work UNDER the eyes, too. With a few caveats.

The look I'm showing you today comes from earlier in the week, when Lily stepped out in London for the premiere of her newest film, 'Love, Rosie'. Talk about a show-stopping entrance:

The dress is from Solace London (Shopbop still has it in black, BTW) and with its high neck and form-fitting silhouette, it called for some beauty drama. Hair up, obvs, and on the face, the obvious choice was a graphic eye. Not a smoky eye—too dated and not “clean” enough to go with the minimalist dress. And not a lipstick, either—too matchy-matchy. 

So bold liquid liner it was, and look at this achievement:

Can't stop staring. It's a cat eye, but a super-modern one that involves the lower lid and not just the top. Drawing it in liquid liner means it's extra, EXTRA bold, and able to finish in those sharp, pointy flicks at the outer edges. Liquid liner also lets her get those ultra-skinny lines at the inner corners of her eyes. Basically, you want to do this look with a liquid liner because it allows you to be more graphic.

You'll notice that the liquid liner on the bottom doesn't go near her waterlines at all. That's key, because a runny liner in there is an ophthalmologist's worst nightmare!

But it's not just about safety. I think sometimes, going into the waterlines can make the eyes seem small and the look too 'hard'. Drawing just below them, as Lily has here, has the opposite effect of opening up the eyes.

As far as how she's wearing this, the rest of the skin is very, very pale—not even much blush going on—and with matching barely-pink lips. This is important, because if you're going to go strong and sharp on the eyes, they need to be paired with a bare canvas. Nose is a little powdery, but oh well. You hardly notice when there's that liner and those brows to look at! I think Lily's wearing false lashes, too, but they're pretty tasteful.

Here's the step-by-step from Lily's makeup artist, Polly Osmond.

How To Get Lily Collins' Graphic Eye Look

1. Perfect the skin with Lancôme Teint Miracle.

2. Lightly dust the cheeks with Lancôme Blush Subtil in Rose Sable.

3. Draw the graphic eye shape using Lancôme Artliner Precision Point Eyeliner in Noir.

4. Coat the lashes with Lancôme Hypnôse Doll Lashes Mascara in So Black!.

5. Mix Lancôme Rouge in Love Lipstick in Rose Tea with some of the Lancôme Teint Miracle foundation to pale it out, and apply to lips. 

Here's Lily again:

Unbelievably gorgeous. Now, I'm not blessed with Lily's brows or complexion, but I'm still feeling inspired to copy this graphic glamour. Gonna try my luck with ditching my beloved blush and vamping it up with the eyeliner—how about you?

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Have Your Say

What do you think of Lily's look here? Would you wear it? Have you ever tried liquid liner under the eyes?