The pro eye makeup tips that might just change your life

eye makeup tips

Consider every look a winner from now on

Beauty Crew Editor / February 16 2018

Eye makeup falls into that blessing/curse category. When it’s good, it’s SO good. And when it’s bad, well… we’ve all been there. 

Well thank god for us all, legends like makeup artist and brush creator Rae Morris are willing to share their insider tricks to ensure we look as flawless as we all deserve. 

Now if you don’t know anything about our friend Rae Morris, she’s pretty high up there in the makeup artistry game. She’s worked with some of the world’s top makeup brands and has painted the faces of more celebs and models than you can count. And beyond that, she’s also added makeup brush creator to her resume. And guys, these brushes are good – in performance and quality. Kim Kardashian’s go-to makeup man Mario Dedivanovic has praised them, and both Lady Gaga and the Queen of Qatar are regular customers.

But we digress. So, Rae Morris: knows makeup; knows makeup brushes. Below she shares some pretty epic application tricks that might just change your life when it comes to your eye makeup.

1

Stamp your liner

There’s no getting around it: doing liner (especially winged liner) is HARD. You need a steady hand, pigmented product and a brush that glides easily. There’s so much room for error. But here’s Rae’s genius hack: stamp your liner across your lash line instead of sweeping it.

“In Japan, they use a square tip[ped brush] for eyeliner; they use a stamping technique. They pick up the gel or eyeshadow or whatever [with the brush] and just bang-bang-bang [across the lash line]. You just stamp it across. Then [you] use the point if you want to wing it out. This technique is good for those who have a bit of skin drag, anyone who doesn’t have a steady hand or [if] there is a lot of skin movement. You just go stamp stamp, and you’re done,” says Morris.

So if you didn’t quite catch what that meant, here it is in a nutshell: using a square-tipped brush and your liner formulation of choice, place the fine tip of the brush against your lash line and gently press down and lift. Then, next to the short line you’ve already made, stamp the brush down again, and continue until you reach the end of your lash line.

Try: Rae Morris Jishaku #17: Square Lash Liner or Wayne Goss Brush 08 Eyeliner Brush

square liner brush
TOP TIP: If you need to sharpen the point of your liner brush, Morris recommends ‘sharpening the sword’. Once you notice the bristles starting to flay, swipe your brush flat side down on the back of your hand, then turn over and do the same on the other side. This will keep the point sharp for any liner or brow work.

2

Apply your eyeshadow upside-down

Let us clarify: we don’t mean you should be mid-headstand to apply your eye makeup, but rather you should turn your brush upside-down. Instead of doing your regular application where the handle of your brush sits under your eye area, flip it and apply your eyeshadow so that the handle is pointing up towards the ceiling. 

“A great tip is to use [your eyeshadow brush] upside-down when applying eyeshadow. When doing your eyes, you want dark [from the base of your lid] to light [at your brow bone]. So, put your dark colour on the tip [of your eyeshadow brush], turn it upside-down and line the tip with the base of your lid and blend it up – you get no flicks happening. It’s amazing,” says Morris.

 

3

Finish with a sweep of a clean brush

Think your eyeshadow is blended? Think again. “My makeup teacher always said, if you think something is blended, do 100 more strokes,” says Morris. Her tip? Grab a clean brush and sweep it across your lids to blend the lines. “It’s also great for when you want to extend your eye [look] to the temple. It just extends and soften lines,” she says. The key to this step? A 100 per cent clean and dry brush.

Try: Rae Morris Jishaku #4: Square Kabuki or Zoeva 227 Soft Definer

blending brushes

4

Lift from underneath

So you want to lift your eyes by creating a flick? You’ll love this trick from Morris:

“It’s what you do under [your lower lash line] that is going to give you that lift. Get your gel liner or eyeshadow, and do the eyeliner underneath and sweep the line up and out.” Once you’ve got your line sorted, you can join the flick to your top lash line and fill in the gap as needed. Same rules apply if you want to use eyeshadow to give your eyes a lifted effect.

Ready to try this tricks on an on-trend eye makeup look? Here's how to create a burgundy smoky eye

Do you have any no-fail eye makeup tricks you rely on? Please share in the comments section below

Main image credit: Getty

Carli was BEAUTYcrew’s Editor from launch in 2016 until May 2020. You can find her words right here on BEAUTYcrew, and previously on beautyheaven.