Tired of the same old cat eyeliner? These hacks show us there is more than one way to wear your eyeliner.
Believe it or not, cat eyes aren’t the only eyeliner shape. Sometimes I forget there are others too. It’s easy to understand why we don’t want to change up our everyday cat eyeliner. It took us a few good beauty tips (who would have thought that the secret to getting a straight edge was a tissue?) and a lot of practice and eye makeup remover to get reasonably symmetrical cat eyes. (Just add an extra coat of mascara, and no one will notice the mistakes.) But there are ways to switch up your look without doing an elaborate stencil design across your eye. There’s a multitude of different ways you can play around with your basic cat-eye shape. If you’re feeling adventurous, there are a few different shapes too.
Here are 15 different eyeliner shapes to try instead of your usual cat eye:
1. Frame The Crease
Try moving your flick up from the corner of the eye into the eye socket to frame the crease. Even though it’s tempting to walk around with your eyes closed to show off your new look, you do need to open your eyes. A black eye won’t enhance your liner.
2. Skinny Line
If you don’t like a heavy Sharpie-like line, try just a touch of a liner. Make sure your pencil is very sharp, or if you’re using a liquid, pick the finest tip possible.
3. Blended Shadow Liner
So maybe your eyeliner technique is still a little less than precise. Blend the liner with some shadow, and you don’t have to worry about correcting all those wobbly sections. It will be our little secret.
4. Dual Liner
We layer our eyeshadow, so why not layer our liners? This gold and black combination makes me think of Cleopatra.
5. Upside Down Cat Eye
It looks a bit like a funhouse mirror effect at first, but it looks awesome.
6. Lined With A Flick
If you still fancy an exaggerated line, try lining your entire eye. Then add a little flick on your tear-duct just because.
7. Scoop
Who says eyeliner has to end in a flick? This thick band of color is like a shadow-liner hybrid. Bonus for the fact it’s purple. Not sure what color to choose? Check out these hacks to find your most flattering hue.
8. Cutout Cat Eye
Instead of just a solid line, why not do a cutout? They’re all the rage in fashion.
9. Tiny Double Flick Eyeliner
If a subtle change is more your thing, why not add a teeny tiny extra flick? Baby steps.
10. Liner Shadow
Instead of trying to do a smoky eye without ruining your foundation (why does it go everywhere?), opt for eyeliner over the lid and around the eye.
11. 60s Liner
Thick Amy Winehouse-style wings and dotted bottom lashes have distracted me from Cara Delevingne‘s eyebrows. That is impressive.
12. Cat Eye Variations
If you’re still dead set on doing a cat-eye, why not switch supersize it? Or do a really thick line? Maybe save the arrow for Halloween.
13. Crease Eyeliner
Using a liquid liner in your crease usually makes you look like you have two sets of eyebrows. How attractive. Connecting the line with winged eyeliner actually produces a flattering result.
14. Fishtail Liner
This will take a steady hand (or a template), but if it saves you from spending 50 minutes and 8 cotton balls, then the extra preparation time is worth it.
15. Double Lines
You have a lower lash line too, why doesn’t it deserve its very own flick?. It’s only fair.
Jessica Redman
Makeup Expert & Manicurists, Contributing Editor
Jessica is a writer who feels it is a job requirement to own every shade of nail polish. She thinks any bad day can be improved by a trip to Sephora–provided there aren't 10 people giving themselves makeovers, in front of the new lipsticks.
