MEOW HISS

Bold choice, Claudia.

The most versatile & fresh eyeliner look in my opinion is the cat-eye. It can go classic or modern, sweet or sexy, perfectly angular or absolutely hideous. I've seen attempts at the cat-eye that just end up looking like a felt-tip pen was furiously scribbled in circles around each eye - this look is only fierce on raccoons, and they're born with it. 

I've been flicking eyeliner with various pointed objects dangerously close to my eyeballs for a while now, and I've picked up a few tricks. There are two main ways I prefer to do my eyeliner, one using a fine-tip makeup marker and one using an angled brush and some powder. 

GIRL YOU FINE

This way is arguably the easier of the two. Lots of drugstore brands make user-friendly eyeliner pens now, but for me the Maybelline Master Precise eyeliner is king. It has a long, pointed felt tip (no scribbling allowed!) that makes a clean wing every time. 

1. Here she is - available at Ulta or really any drugstore. Cap off to display that fine piece of ink, but store cap on and tip down like you would any other treasured pen (do only former English majors have treasured pens? Whatever).

2. Start with a blank slate. Here I'm only wearing Anastasia Brow powder and Inglot eye shadow in #351. To add dimension you can always add a darker eye shadow along your crease, but I think one fine motor skill is enough to master today.

3. Looking down to give yourself a better angle, begin at the inner corner of your eye (though not all the way, that becomes raccoon territory) and drag your liner along the lash line. Continue until you hit the point right above where your pupil would be if you were looking straight ahead.

4. Now for the wing. This may take a couple tries, but that's why we have makeup remover. Take your pen and place - do not stab - the point where you want your wing to end. Then, without removing the point, lay the pen down towards your lash line. Drag the pen, following the lash line, towards where you stopped earlier.

5. Touch up with makeup remover if you've got smudges, or lightly with the pen if you've got holes.

6. Add mascara, et voilà! Sweet and simple.



BRUSH UP

This was the OG routine for me when I first began doing actual makeup on myself - a big thank you to my mom for introducing me to MAC early on. I bought this brush about ten years ago, and it's still going strong. 

1. The eyeshadow I'm using here is Black Tied, also by MAC. I've been using this color as liner for about ten years as well - talk about brand loyalty. I like Black Tied because it's got a little sparkle to it, but not so much that I can't wear it during the day, and most importantly it's not matte. This will be explained later (I am mysterious and you are intrigued).

2. Synthetic fibers, which means the individual strands are thin yet stiff, and will hold onto shadow evenly across the whole surface. The angle helps with the wing, unlike a straight pointed brush which I've found can be too pliable. No one likes a mushy line!

3. This is where the magic happens. Wet your brush, but don't soak it. Rub it over your eyeshadow pot - if your eyeshadow is matte, this will do funky things to your shadow and that sucks. Hence why my shadow isn't matte! Your brush will have wet, black eyeshadow paste on it so try not to drop it at this point.

4. Like with the pen, drag your brush from almost the very beginning of the inner corner of your lid until the middle. If you did this with a dry brush covered in powder, you'd be spreading tiny flecks of pigment all over your face. But because your brush is wet, the color is staying in place. MAGIC.

5. For the wing, position your brush angled up from the end of your lid to the end of your eyebrow and drag across your lash line.

6. Depending on how firmly you press down your line will be bigger or smaller - here I did kind of a larger line for some drama, but you can minimize it just by how you pull your brush along.

YES KARL, BOW TO CHOUPETTE, DIVA QUEEN FELINE

Now, who's a pretty kitty?