Fall In Love (all over again) With White Eye Liner

Mon, 2 May 2011 5:10PM

Dear Primpers, I’m about to give you a little lesson in makeup history. A few years back, 2006 to be exact, everyone, from your Nan to your next door neighbour was tracing their lower lash line with a white eye pencil. And for good reason. When applied correctly (enter pic of Nicky Hilton) it has a knack for making the whites of your eyes look whiter and your skin, brighter. The only problem with the trend back then was that 99.9% of us were terrible at applying it and cut a long story short, the stuff ended up getting a bad rap (through no fault of its own) for giving us alien-like, iridescent-looking peepers. But fast forward to today and our makeup skills have come a long way and we’re committed to not making the same mistakes. Here’s a shot of white liner at its best to get you inspired…

NH looking exceptionally beautiful with a classic bun and makeup.

Here’s to wider, brighter-looking eyes, Primpers…

Keep the best ’til last: It’s best to wait until you’re about to apply your mascara before tracing along the bottom lash line with white liner. That way, it stops you from going over board with the product and what ever you do, avoid blending it in the corners as it can look too harsh.

Softly Softly: The thing with white eye liner is that unlike a charcoal pencil, it’s meant to look barely-there. To avoid creating a harsh white line, trace along the lower lash line and follow with a cotton tip to gently smudge the liner for softer definition.

Be a Golden Child: It’s best to keep your white liner for days when you’re wearing neutral shadows, like gold and beige as it’s difficult to keep the liner looking soft and subtle when paired against dark, heavy eye shadows. Wearing white liner also cancels out the need to use a shimmery shadow on the inner corners. Bonus!

Say no to the faux: If you’ve recently fake tanned, put your white pencil away for a few days. Fake tan does a stellar job on it’s own of making your teeth and the whites of your eyes look instantly brighter.

If like us, you’re in the market for a newbie, you can’t go wrong with:

shu uemera Eye Light Pencil, $30 or Benefit Mr Frosty which will set you back $34 big ones.

P.S. If you’re looking to take your white eye liner to a whole new level, take a look at this Ah-May-Sing shot from the Ginger & Smart show at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week.

Primpers,

Did you try white liner the first time around?

Are you keen to try it again?

Have you got a favourite white eye pencil we need to know about?

Words: Eliza Ashe. Pic: Getty.

Posted by: Eliza Ashe

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Tags: eye makeup, eye shadow, eyes, featured how to, ginger & smart, gold eye shadow, mascara, neutral eye shadow, nicky hilton, rafw, white eyeliner