6 Reasons Why You Have Tragic Cat Eyeliner Skills!

The thing about cat eyes is that they can elevate your look from basic to badass in seconds, plus IMO, there’s a cat eye for every mood and occasion. However, this look has inspired many memes on social media, and not without reason. Nailing the perfect cat eye can be a task of Herculean proportions. If you haven’t pulled your hair out in frustration even once while trying to draw cat eyes, you’re not for real! Check out our super easy tutorial on the cat eye, but before you do that mull over all the things you’re doing wrong that are giving you rather sad cat eyes:

1. Trying to wing it in one swoop

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and the perfect cat eye is definitely not the result of one clean stroke. Instead, it’s more like 10 really short strokes; yes! You need to work this in this way: Trace your lashline, create the skeletal flick for the winged tip, connect the wing to the lashline, fill it in, fill in spaces to create a seamless line. Whew!

2. Using a compact mirror

When something needs fine and precise work like a cat eyeliner, you simply must zoom out. Like I said about tweezing your brows using a compact mirror, you lose perspective when you zoom in too much. Always apply your eyeliner in front of a large mirror, and stand at least two feet away while doing so.

3. Going for the kill

Whether you want a subtle flick or a fierce cat eye, always start small. Start with thin lines and flicks and gradually build the drama.

4. Using a frayed brush

A cat eyeliner is all about precision and details. Your tools have to be as sharp as your technique. It is absolutely important that you have a clean brush (makes sure there’s no crumbly, dried up, left-over product on it) with its bristles intact. You will immediately notice the ease with which you can apply your eyeliner.

5. Closing your eyes

If you have curly lashes, you might have to close your eyes while tracing the lashline. However, you can NEVER get the angles or the wing on the cat eye right if you shut your eyes. For perfectly symmetrical cat eyes on both peepers, trace the flick with your eyes open.

6. Covering your mistake with more liner

So my left wing is a little thinner than the one on my right eye. Let me just pad it up a wee bit and wham! I’ve got Amy Winehouse-esque eyeliner on. Instead of covering your mistakes with more product, take a Q-tip and clean up only what needs fixing.