10 Best Gel Eyeliners For Beginners - Featured

Got an eye for makeup?

Biggest beauty goal: Getting your eyeliner to lock into place. I mean, there’s little point in adding “eye-conic” eyeliner looks to your repertoire, only to have them slip and slide off your lids before your office pantry break is up, right?

And yet, the sad fact of the matter is that the sun, sweat, smudge and shine in our heatwave-stricken city can – and will – make short work of your meticulous makeup. What’s a woman to do? Easy-peasy: Scroll through the gallery slides to find out!

Marc Jacobs Beauty Magic Marc'er Precision Pen Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner, $44
Marc Jacobs Beauty Magic Marc’er Precision Pen Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner, $44

Top up with a thinner texture

Okay, so your liner is looking a little worse for wear. Don’t “repeat” the same mistake, so to speak. Take it from an expert: “Select a more fluid liquid liner when touching up during the day, as this will amp up the intensity of your previously applied pencil or gel without creating too harsh of a line,” advises maquillage master Low Jyue Huey of The Makeup Room. And hey, as the good woman herself notes, “switching things up and playing with different products is fun” and will add textural interest to your eye ensemble. Duly noted!

Feeling brave enough to progress to intermediate-level liner? Try some tone-on-tone action – take it up a notch by layering on a water-resistant gel liner in a complementary colour (black-on-black or blue-on-black, for instance).

Nars Velvet Eyeliner, $36.
Nars Velvet Eyeliner, $36.

Powder up, powder ranger!

The chief culprit of a fleeting flick is excess sebum on your eyelids. If you’re grappling with greasy lids, the primary course of action is to prime with a powder prior to swiping on your pencil product, like Nars’ nifty new Velvet Eyeliner. Simply sweep on the tiniest smidgen of translucent face powder along your lash line, patting it up onto your lids for maximum sebum-sopping power.

Even better, be a “kiasu” powder-puff girl and top up mid-day with another layer of loose powder. And because you want to abstain from too much tugging on your already lined peepers, be sure to pick up your powder with a small fluffy brush and dust it on without exerting pressure or pressing of any sort.

Bourjois Volume Reveal Mascara, $23.
Bourjois Volume Reveal Mascara, $23.

Make do with mascara

Searching for a smudge-proof solution to streaky gel liner? Drumroll, please: Just don’t use eyeliner – reach for mascara to line your lids instead. 

Wait, what? Easy-peasy.Grab an angled eyeliner brush and dip it into the tube of your mascara of choice – I’m batty for Bourjois’ voluptuously vivacious Volume Reveal Mascara, $23 – then brandish the brush as you would any conventional eyeline. 

Now for the whys and wherefores. Most mascaras have a weightier proportion of waxes and oils in their formulas, making them highly “hydrophobic” (chem-speak for water-repellant) and therefore better suited for our budge-proof purposes. Top takeaway: Moisture-resistant mascaras make for an excellent eyeliner alternative!

Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water, $19.90.
Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water, $19.90.

Swab off smudges with some micellar magic

Made a makeup boo-boo? Try this quick-and-dirty – or is that quick-and-clean? – hack on for size. All you need is a bunch of cotton buds and some micellar cleansing water on standby – try Garnier’s especially efficacious Micellar Cleansing Water, $19.90.

Dip the cottony end of your bud in your cleanser of choice, press the moistened tip onto the superfluous smudge on your lid, then sweep out and up towards the temples in one deft, decisive move. You can then pat in some concealer to cover up the newly smudge-free swatch of skin. 

Right, then. Here’s hoping these top tricks will have your everyday eyeliner staying put from Singapore dusk to Singapore dawn. Here’s to keeping your flick “on fleek”!

Text: Eugene Quek, Her World Plus / Additional text: Arissa Ha

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