How to smudge your eyeliner is a great makeup trick to know. Smudged eyeliner helps provides a softer, smoky finish to your eye makeup that subtly frames and defines your eyes and allows your eyeliner to look more natural while preventing it from appearing too harsh or severe.However, it can be extremely easy to mess up smudged eyeliner as well and end up with a look that’s more akin to a raccoon than a smoky and sophisticated beauty expert.
Fortunately, there are many easy ways to achieve perfect smudged eyeliner without struggle or disaster. Keep reading to discover how to smudge your eyeliner flawlessly every time.
1. Use Pencil
It is possible to smudge any eyeliner formula, including gel, cream, and liquid. However, pencil eyeliner is most definitely the easiest eyeliner formula to smudge. Smudged liquid eyeliner can easily end up looking flaky and choppy. Many gel and cream eyeliner formulas are designed for smudging, but they can get messy and end up all over your face. Pencil eyeliner is easy to blend and smudge smoothly and it stays put without running and melting down your face.
An excellent pencil eyeliner to use for smudging is the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil ($20.00). It is a soft formula that smooths on like a velvety cream that is easy to blend and smudge and then hardens up within thirty seconds for a long-lasting finish that won’t smudge any more than you want it to as the day progresses. Plus, this eyeliner pencil is available in a wide multitude of colors, from shimmery turquoise to darkest black, in order to fulfill all of your color desires.
2. Add Color
If you’re worried about your smudged eyeliner appearing too raccoon-esque, use a colored liner for a brighter, unique finish instead of a traditional black shade. Smudged colored eyeliner is more forgiving than black liner; if you apply lines that are too thick or the liner smudges outside of where you want it to go, the results are not disastrous as they can be with black eyeliner.
Colored eyeliner looks more natural than black eyeliner when it is smudged farther up your eyelid or below your bottom lash line and will look like you put it there on purpose. Using colored eyeliner for a smudged look provides a softer finish that adds a pop of brightened fun to your makeup look. The Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil ($20.00) mentioned in the last tip is a great choice for smudged colored eyeliner because it is effortlessly smudge-able and is available in forty different colors and finishes from all over the rainbow.
3. Squeeze Your Eyes Shut Tight
The number-one lazy way to smudge your eyeliner effortlessly is to squeeze your eyes shut really tight immediately after you apply your eyeliner. This trick might sound crazy, but it really works and is used by well-known celebrities like actress Chloë Grace Moretz (from Carrie and If I Stay) to create an artful smudged look.
This trick helps create a smudged look that appears more natural, because it is. Plus, it’s incredibly effortless. Swipe eyeliner in thick, smooth lines on your top and bottom lash lines. Immediately after you apply the liner, scrunch your eyes shut as tight as you possibly can, ideally until they start to water a little bit. Then, open your eyes and use the end of a Q-tip to blend and extend the smudged liner until it looks even and smooth, and say hello to effortless smudged eyeliner.
4. Set Your Eyeliner
It seems a bit ironic to set your smudged eyeliner in order to prevent it from smudging, but it’s a necessary step in applying smudged eyeliner. There’s nothing worse than smudging your eyeliner flawlessly and then realizing a few hours later that it has melted down your face far away from where you carefully applied it.
An easy way to prevent your smudged eyeliner from running down your face is to set it with a translucent finishing powder after you apply it. After you finish smudging your eyeliner, let it dry and harden for about a minute. Then, use your finger or a concealer brush to liberally dust translucent setting powder over your liner. It will dry invisibly and keep your smudged eyeliner from budging throughout the day. A great invisible loose setting powder is the Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Setting Powder ($33.00).
5. Use An Angled Brush
You can use almost anything (your finger, a Q-tip, a cotton ball) to smudge your eyeliner–it all comes down to what works for you. However, a great tool to invest in if you’re just starting out in the realm of smudged eyeliner is a small angled brush.
The firmness and strategic angled shape of an angled brush helps you maintain control of your smudged liner and smudge even the most stubborn eyeliner without irritating your eyelid. A great angled brush to try for smudged eyeliner is the Urban Decay Perversion Angled Brush ($16.00).
Smudging eyeliner is a great way to soften and neutralize your liner for a unique, artful look. Using the tips in this post can help you learn how to smudge your eyeliner seamlessly for a smooth and smoky finish every time.
