How to: Make Eyeliner Out Of Eyeshadow

This is my easiest tried and true method of turning eye shadow into eyeliner. Below you will find two different types of products used to make this work and the pros and cons of each.

  

First of all you will need a flat bristle eye brush. You can definitely use a regular eyeliner brush however, it will be a lot easier using a bigger flat bristle brush because it will pick up more of the eyeshadow and you won’t find yourself having to keep going back and picking up more product.

For this particular method I am using the MAC 208 brush. I love this brush because I find it to be multifunctional and use it every day in my regular make-up routine. If you are looking at picking up one of these brushes yourself – they are great for filling in your brows, applying eyeliner to both your upper and lower lid, perfecting a cat eye wing and for applying sharper eye shadow looks in the outer V of your eye.

The next product that you will need is a makeup setting/hydrating or finishing spray. My favourite product to use when creating eyeliner out of eye shadow is the Mac Fix +.  This is another one of those multifunctional products that you can find so many different uses for! Using a spray like or similar to this is the easiest method of creating eyeliner and I would definitely recommend the Fix +.

All you will need to do is gently spray your make-up brush with your chosen spray then proceed to dip your wet flat brush into your eye shadow product and voila! Apply eyeliner as usual.

The second kind of mixing product that you could use is Vaseline (petroleum jelly). This product is cheaper and more affordable; however I find that I end up needing to pick up more eye shadow to really build the colour on my eyes to make it opaque.  All you need to do is dip your make-up brush into the product, be sure to wipe off the sides and pick up your eye shadow as usual.

For tutorial purposes I am using Sigma’s E17 Waterline Liner but this isn’t necessarily a brush that I would recommend to use with Vaseline. In my experience, it is better to use a cheaper brush as I find this product is quite harsh on the bristles which tend to separate after use (even after cleaning the brush!). I have spoken to some people who do create eyeliner using Vaseline and use this product in their water line. This is just something that I would not do and would not recommend – who wants Vaseline in their eye?!

The major pro of this make-up trick is that you can really turn any eyeshadow of any finish/colour/texture into eyeliner which will save money in the long run! I would say that a con is that in my personal experience, this will not last as long as regular liquid liner. One thing you definitely want to remember is to always apply a primer before applying the eyeliner as it will play a big part in keeping your makeup exactly where it is all day.

Have you ever turned eyeshadow into eyeliner? How do you do this? Is this something that you would try? Let me know your thoughts!