Waterline Eyeliner: A Makeup Guru’s Secret on How to Get it to Stay Put! Must Read!!

If you’re anything like me, eyeliner just doesn’t stay very well in the waterline.  I swear, even if I use waterproof eyeliner, it just doesn’t stay.  Furthermore, I have the WORST allergies, and it seems like I do nothing but sneeze and put up with watery eyes.

No longer do I have to deal with such tragic eyeliner issues!  (The allergies are another story 🙁 )  I tested this trick out thoroughly, I mean really put it to the test.  I put on my eyeliner, then ran six miles.  It was still there!  I also did this for the Def Leppard concert (read more here), and it stayed- too bad my hair didn’t fare as well…lol!

Now, just to let you know up front, I CANNOT take credit for this advice, I merely combined tips from other artists to get this to work!  The first part I got from a Facebook video by a Sephora makeup artist named David; the second part came from my friend Troycie, a Dior makeup artist.

First of all, as David from Sephora said, there’s a little science involved here.  (I LOVE science!)  Waterproof liner is waterproof, that means it repels water.  So, when you try to put it in your waterline, it’s no wonder there are often difficulties.  On the other hand, kohl eyeliners are not waterproof, but they were made for use in the waterline.  They tend to absorb water, so application to the waterline tends to be really easy.

So, here’s what I did…

White kohl liner from Essence, beige kohl liner from Sephora

I already had several white eyeliners, but I needed kohl.  I just got a cheap one from Essence because I didn’t know if it would work.  I’ll probably end up getting one of the Smashbox kohl liners in white as well.

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I put kohl eyeliner on my waterline first, then topped it with waterproof eyeliner.  Since the kohl absorbs the water, the waterproof liner went on with ease.  Then, I set the liner with eyeshadow.  When I went running, I did it very lightly in case it didn’t work- I didn’t want to get eyeliner or eyeshadow all over in my eyes while trying to run.

Before running

I took a photo before my run, then after three miles, and again after six miles.  On top of being sweaty, it’s HOT here.  It stayed, it stayed, it stayed!  The only problem was, that since I used a white liner, the black waterproof liner I used didn’t look as black.  So, an easy fix for that was to get a beige kohl liner.  You can get one from Sephora, as David suggested, for just $10.

After running 3 miles

After running 6 miles

When I tried this again for the Def Leppard concert, I used the beige kohl, topped with Urban Decay’s waterproof All-Nighter liner, and it looked black as ever, and it stayed put!  (If you only use black eyeliner, you can get a black kohl pencil, but the beige will work for pretty much anything.)

My waterline stayed fabulous throughout the whole Def Leppard concert!

I’ve found that if I want to use colored liner in my waterline, sometimes the white kohl works out better.  With darker or deeper colors, the beige seems to work better.  I also found that even if I don’t set the liner with shadow, it still lasts a LONG time.

https://youtu.be/InYIyar44vA

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Do you have any tricks for getting liner to stay in the waterline?  Scroll down to comment below!

See also:

OMG, Def Leppard, Tesla & REO Speedwagon: Best Night Ever!

I Ran a Half Marathon This Past Week (Sort Of…)