What Are the Different Types of Eyeliners?

Whether you love it or hate it, you know you can’t live without it. From classic cat eyes and sultry smoky eyes to trendy graphic liners, eyeliner can be used to create a variety of makeup looks.

This makeup bag staple isn’t just about making your eyes pop though, it’s also about expressing your personal style and creativity. That said, there are a variety of eyeliners available on the market, and it can be confusing to know which one to get. While it isn’t always an exact science, understanding the differences between the types of eyeliners will definitely push you one step closer to achieving the perfect eyeliner look.

Below, we’ve compiled the X most popular types of eyeliner and created a simple guide on their unique characteristics, the best ways to use them, and their advantages and disadvantages.

Pencil Eyeliner

One of the most popular liners and, perhaps, the simplest to use, pencil eyeliners are often touted as the best for beginners. This type of eyeliner falls between dry and creamy formulas; it glides on smoothly but offers a good amount of traction, giving you more control over the application. Its consistency allows for smudging and layering, so you can build up the color and shape one stroke at a time.

There are two types of pencil liners: regular and mechanical. Regular pencil eyeliners are similar to traditional pencils in that they become dull over time and require sharpening if you want to get precise lines. On the other hand, this also allows you to control the thickness of the line you want to create. Mechanical eyeliners are retractable versions of regular pencil liners. They’re more convenient and less like to break, but are more difficult to sharpen.

Pencil eyeliners aren’t as sharp, precise, or pigmented as the other types of liners. Unless you have the caliber of a professional makeup artist, a pencil liner isn’t the best choice for creating the perfect cat eye. Where they excel is in softer, subtler looks.

Apply it on the upper lash line to open up your eyes, smudge it out for a smokey eye, or use it to line the upper and lower waterlines to intensify your gaze.

Pencil eyeliners can last up to three hours. Although some are designed to be waterproof, they tend not to last as long as liquid eyeliners.

Liquid Eyeliner

Considered to be one of the best but trickiest types of eyeliner, liquid eyeliners are often the go-to choice for creating high-drama looks like a winged eyeliner. Its liquid formula is designed with intense pigmentation, allowing you to draw sharp lines with precision. Unfortunately, this is also what makes it notoriously difficult to master.

Liquid liners glide on very smoothly. But unlike other types of liners, they don’t have much traction and are “slippery” to apply and thus, require a delicate touch and steady hand to work with. Its sharpness works to its detriment as any mistakes are more obvious. This type of eyeliner also dries more quickly than others, so it’s not ideal for smudged or softer eyeliner looks.

There are two types of liquid liner. The first is a brush tip, which has pliable bristles that are perfect for drawing fine lines and details. The second is felt tip, which is firmer and produces more consistent lines. Both types can come in either pen or bottle form.

Liquid eyeliner is ideal for creating any sharp eyeliner look such as a dramatic wing, cat eye, or graphic eyeliner. Its waterproof formulations have excellent staying power and are a great option for those with oily eyelids. However, they cannot be used to line the waterline.

Gel Eyeliner

Most eyeliners contain waxes in their formulation, but gel eyeliners are particularly high in wax content. This gives it a water-resistant quality that makes it waterproof, sweat-proof, and budge-proof. It’s also what gives gels their thick, creamy consistency. Although they can be a little intimidating to a beginner, they’re actually slightly easier to apply than their liquid counterparts.

Gels come in little pots and are applied with an angled brush. It might take a bit of practice but this gives you the ability to adjust the thickness of your strokes and create different eyeliner looks. Combining the best of both worlds, gel liners have the intense pigmentation of liquid eyeliner and the spreadable consistency of pencil eyeliners. This means that you can pretty much create any eye makeup look from either type of eyeliner.

Gel liners are an excellent choice for creating a dramatic cat eye. They can also be smudged for a smokey eye look or applied to the waterline.

Cream Eyeliner

While it’s often confused for gel liner because of its packaging, cream eyeliners are actually more similar to other cream-based types of makeup. This type of eyeliner has a soft, creamy texture that was basically designed for smudging. Like gels, cream eyeliner is applied by dipping an eyeliner brush into the product and brushing it onto the eyelid.

Cream eyeliners are a great choice for creating subtle or natural eyeliner looks and smokey eyes. However, they do tend to smear throughout the day. You can prevent this by setting it with powder eyeshadow or choosing a smudge-proof water-resistant formula.

Kohl Eyeliner

Also known as kajal, kohl eyeliners are made of a combination of waxes and natural pigments that give them a creamy consistency and intense dark color. It’s sometimes categorized under cream eyeliner and often mistaken for a regular eye pencil, but it actually falls somewhere in between the two; it has the texture of cream with the ease of use of a pencil.

Kohl was traditionally made by grinding minerals with a dark greyish-black hue. Modern kohl eyeliners aren’t made of the same materials but rather, refer to the dark color. Today, you can find a kohl pencil in a variety of colors.

If you have sensitive eyes, this soft-tipped pencil liner will glide smoothly on your lids. Use kohl eyeliner to create the smokey eyes of your dreams or to line the waterline.

source https://degreesofvanity.com/what-are-the-different-types-of-eyeliners/