Can't Get a CRISP Wing? Try This 3-DOT Liquid Eyeliner Technique!

If you've always struggled with liquid winged eyeliner, let me show you my three dot technique and a few simple tricks to make the application so much easier. First off, let's find the right angle for your wing. Take a brush handle and line it up from either the tip of your nose or the outer corner of your nostril through to the outer corner of your eye. The corner of your nostril will give you a slightly higher more lifted wing, whereas if you line it up from the tip of your nose instead you'll get a slightly lower more subtle lift and this is just down to your preference. I'm using a black eye shadow so you can clearly see my reference points but I'd recommend using something lighter on yourself. Place your first dot on the outer corner of your eye as this is where your eyeliner will begin to lift. For your second dot, I'd recommend placing it in line with the outer half of your iris. Let me show you what I mean using these guidelines. Our first line runs from the tip of our nose to the outer corner of our eye and extends upwards. Our second reference point is in line with the outer half of the iris. If we follow that line from here until it meets that first guideline, the point where they intersect is exactly where you'll place your third dot. This gives you three reference points to guide your eyeliner application. You can of course extend your eyeliner beyond this second dot towards the inner corner but when you're first creating your wing I'd recommend using this point as your guide and as I mentioned earlier I'd recommend using a light colored pencil or eye shadow as these dots are simply reference points. This is my liquid eyeliner of choice today but you can also use a felt tip or a gel liner. I love this one because it's super fluid, intensely black and has an incredibly precise tip. When applying eyeliner to the opposite eye of your dominant hand, your hand position makes all the difference. Pulling the applicator up can create a jaggedy line. Instead, try resting your elbow on a table and supporting your hand against your chin. Start at the outermost point of your wing and draw the eyeliner back towards your eye, allowing the tip to glide smoothly for a more precise finish. Don't worry if the tip of your wing isn't perfectly crisp at this stage, we'll refine it shortly. First I'm going to remove that reference point. As you can see this is exactly why I recommended using a lighter pencil or eye shadow. Now we're connecting the dot in line with the iris to our existing eyeliner. Lay your applicator flat against the skin and glide it back towards the line we've already created, staying close to the root of your eyelashes. Then you can rotate your applicator and begin building up the thickness of your eyeliner. Personally, this is where I like to extend my eyeliner a little further, bringing it in towards the center of my eyelid. But notice how I'm keeping it incredibly thin. Now look straight ahead into a mirror with your eyes open. I can see a slight dip in my eyeliner, so I'm adding a tiny amount of product to smooth these lines and create a more fluid shape. Now remember one of the biggest mistakes people make with winged eyeliner is over applying the product when trying to perfect it. The key is to refine the shape without adding unnecessary thickness, so resist the temptation to keep going over the same areas. I'm now taking a tiny precise brush to sharpen up the outer edge of the wing. If you haven't applied your base makeup yet, you can use a tiny amount of micellar water to clean up that line. Alternatively, if your base is already done, use a tiny amount of foundation or concealer to refine the edge and create a crisp precise finish. Your lashes and mascara application can make a big difference to the appearance of your winged liner. If your natural lashes droop lower than the wing when your eyes are open, they can distort the shape. So I'm using a precision lash curler to really lift the outer corners and I'll link this along with all the other products in the description bar for you. Next, I want to extend the appearance of our winged liner across the inner half of the eye, but rather than using a liquid liner, I'm switching to a waterproof gel pencil by Lisa Eldridge. I'm applying this from the inner corner, working right between the root of my eyelashes, rather than drawing a line across my actual eyelid. And what's great about this technique is that it creates the appearance of eyeliner extending all the way across the eye without taking up any additional lid space. And in a shocking turn of events that absolutely nobody saw coming, I've returned to my beloved Lancome Lash Idol Mascara. If you've been here a while, you know this relationship was never really over. I know I strayed for a couple of weeks, but we're back together and we're getting on better than ever. If you really want to enhance that feline effect, sweep your mascara outwards towards the temples. This is particularly effective if you're not going to be applying any false lashes. I am today, so I'm just applying a light coat. And this is how your finished look would appear if you wanted to stop here. Next, I'm taking a 12mm cluster lash on the outer corner, positioning it slightly above my natural lash line, so it meets the eyeliner. This prevents the lashes from drooping below the wing and creates that lifted effect. But once they're in place, you want to gently tap them downwards so they follow the angle of your liner when your eyes open, rather than sitting too high. I'm adding another 12mm lash directly beside the first one, but this time placing it along the natural lash line. This allows the lashes to follow the same lifted angle as the winged liner. We're going to repeat that again, placing our third 12mm lash directly beside the previous one, again following the natural lash line. And now when I open my eyes, you can really start to see how that lash is creating a beautiful sweeping effect, perfectly complementing the shape of the eyeliner. I'm now adding a 10mm lash directly beside the previous one, and you could actually stop here. When I look straight ahead, you can see how beautifully my inner lash is transitioning to the 10mm and then the 12mm. However, I've decided to take an 8mm lash underneath my natural lashes at the inner corner. Placing it underneath makes it slightly shorter than it would on top, creating a beautiful transition in length while maintaining fullness all the way across. These lashes will be launching in a matter of weeks and they will be linked in the description bar for you. Just look how beautifully these lashes complement our winged eyeliner. What I particularly love is that they're not too full, so we can still see that beautiful wing we've created, but equally if you do have tiny imperfections in your eyeliner, the lashes do a fantastic job at disguising them. And that completes my three dot technique for creating a classic winged liner. Whether you are already a dab hand at winged eyeliner, or you just needed a little help perfecting your angle and application, or you're a complete beginner who's always struggled with liquid eyeliner, I really hope you've picked up some helpful tips today. If you do have any questions, leave them in the comments below and I'll do my best to get back to you. Remember everything that I've used in today's tutorial will be listed and linked in the description bar, along with a few additional recommendations. Please give this video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it. Hit that subscribe button if you are new, as we'd love to have you in our community. I have a back catalogue of over 900 tutorials to help you build confidence in your makeup application, so feel free to have a nosey. I'll see you during the week for a short and next Sunday with another tutorial.