Eyeliner is a lot like underwear: We all aspire to wear the sexy and daring options, but most mornings (and a lot of the evenings), we stick with what's comfortable. The sexy stuff is reserved for special occasions and daydreams. So it is that every woman on Instagram seems to always be wearing dramatic cat-eye liquid liner, but IRL, it's mostly some subtle espresso pencil nestled into the lash line (maybe winged out oh-so-slightly). "Most women tend to get stuck in a rut with eyeliner," says makeup artist Nick Barose. So how's he going to help us climb out of it? By sharing three recent not boring eyeliner looks he's created on up-and-coming actress Tessa Thompson. She's fast becoming as known for her inventive beauty looks as she is for avoiding "cheeky-girlfriend roles", holding out to play more important, complex characters, as she recently did in Creed and Selma and will on the upcoming HBO series Westworld. These eyeliner ideas are similarly non-status quo. Get ready to get out of your eye makeup comfort zone—in a good way.
Look 1—Clean, graphic lines:
Drawing sharp, clean, committal lines on top and bottom gives you a little bit of an Egyptian queen effect, Barose says—and who wouldn't want that? On Thompson, he applied black gel liner (like MAC Fluidline) with a very pointy liner brush, making the wings jut straight out versus looking curved or flicked. "The easiest way to do it is to start with the tails first and decide how long you want it to wing out," he notes. Not confident with winging-out? Try the tape trick. And the rest of this look is so easy. "Keep your eyeshadow simple with just a sheer wash of shimmery highlighter and not too much mascara; you don't want to take away from the graphic beauty of the lines," Barose says.
Look 2—Retro reinvented:
"This thicker liner has that classic Audrey Hepburn shape—but it doesn’t always have to come in black or brown," Barose says. "Have fun with it. Try fun mermaid colors like shimmery blue, or green." Shown on Thompson: NARS Larger Than Life Long Wear Eyeliner in Rue Saint-Honore. Optional: Amp up the volume even more with a dab of shine mid lid and on the lower lash line."I used shimmery blue eyeshadow (NARS Dual Intensity Eyeshadow in Giove) to catch the light and make the blue pop even more."
Look 3—Morning-after eyes:
Give your liner sexy glam-rock vibes by smudging long-wear pencil on top and bottom, including in your waterline (on Thomson: Dolce & Gabbana The Eyeliner Crayon Intense in Onyx). Then layer a little black or pewter shadow on top. "The effect is more of a smudged-out, thick liner than smoky eyes, so be sure to keep the lines' shapes and not go too smoky; it gives a stronger attitude," Barose says.
Watch How to Wing Out Your Liner Like a Rodarte Model: