Weekly Q&A: How To Pick The Right Eyeliner For Light Skin And Eyes

June 30, 2009

Val84: “Hey Phyllis, I have blonde hair with fair skin and blue/green eyes and I am having trouble finding a color to line under my eyes. Black and brown eyeliners often drag my eyes down, making them look smaller and tired. I have tried everything but nothing works. Any suggestions?”

Unless you are going for a rock chick look à la Avril Lavigne, black can be a bit too harsh against lighter skin. Some great alternatives are gunmetal/charcoal gray like MAC Knight Divine Eyeshadow, midnight blue, plum (this will make green eyes pop) or even olive. Brown would work too but you need to pick a honey shade with golden undertones and stay away from coppers or anything with red undertones.

You can also use a liner with a metallic finish/sparkles to keep the line from looking flat and to make your eyes pop. Rimmel London‘s new Underground line has a great collection of metallic pencil liners that will glide on easily without breaking the bank. Swatches




If all else fails, try considering defining the lower lash line by skipping eyeliner and using a mascara on your bottom lashes instead. This will still open up your eyes minus the harshness of an actual line. Just make sure you use a mascara that is water-proof to prevent smudges.

6 Comments

  • Reply Caki June 30, 2009 at 8:00 pm

    Dear Phyllis
    I read from your blog about eyeliner reviews and decided to try Barry M liquid eyeliner in black. One thing that this liquid eyeliner is bothering me is that it seems to sting my eyes. do you get this stingy feeling too when you apply ? what is the cause of it ? and will this make my eyes age faster ?

  • Reply Phyllis June 30, 2009 at 8:42 pm

    Aww I’m sorry to hear that! I personally did not experience any problems with the Barry M Liquid Liner, neither did my sister (she uses this too).

    If you experience a burning sensation, you might be allergic to some of the ingredients in it. I would suggest you to stop using it immediately.

    p.s. No it won’t make your eyes age faster but it might cause irritations on your skin.

  • Reply Kristine June 30, 2009 at 9:38 pm

    Are the Rimmel Underground eyeliners similar to the Urban Decay ones?

  • Reply Val84 July 2, 2009 at 7:13 am

    Thank you so much Phyllis, I really think this will work for me. I love your blog! It has both professionalism and PERSONALITY which is hard to find on other beauty blogs 🙂

  • Reply AlinoTiesto December 16, 2011 at 5:07 am

    The Best eyeliner is The Chanel …. It’s Perfect Becoz it lasts 4ever

  • Reply AlinoTiesto December 16, 2011 at 5:12 am

    if you want to look your eye bigger,put the eyeliner from the top of your upper eyelashes and from down of your bottom eyelashes,don’t put eyeliner inside your eyes,otherwise it’ll look small..but first apply silver eye-shadow on your eyes then the eyeliner and try to make it thin… it’ll look hot.

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