How To Use Eyeshadow as Eyeliner
Follow my expert guide and discover how to use eyeshadow as eyeliner.
- 15th March 2023
- By Charlotte Tilbury
4 minute read
Darlings, did you know that you can use your eyeshadow as an eye-enhancing eyeliner? My pigmented eyeshadows are perfect for lining and defining the look of your eyes! Discover how to use eyeshadow as eyeliner and follow my tips and tricks for getting a gorgeous, soft glam eyeliner look!
How To Use Eyeshadow as Eyeliner
Eyeliner is a transformative step in your makeup routine and is the perfect way to amplify every eye look! If you’ve mastered a lacquered, liquid liner like The Feline Flick or a pencil eyeliner like Rock ‘N’ Kohl or The Classic, discover how to create a well-defined eyeliner look using eyeshadow.
Precisely applying a pigmented eyeshadow shade to the upper and lower lash line works in the same way that your eyeliner would, accentuating the look of your eyes and framing your eye look with dimensional colour payoff. You can even create a perfect feline flick using your eyeshadow, darlings!
Using eyeshadow as eyeliner is perfect for creating a softer, more understated eyeliner look. Whether you prefer blended, blown-out eyeliner or love a sharp and precise wing, discover how to use eyeshadow to create gorgeous eyeliner looks!
What You’ll Need: How To Turn Eyeshadow into Eyeliner
To create a classic eyeliner look using eyeshadow, here’s what you’ll need:
Eye Liner Brush: My skinny, synthetic eye brush with a super-fine point.
Your favourite Charlotte Tilbury Beauty eyeshadow palette: Choose a pigmented shade that will add dreamy dimension to the lash line.
Tilbury Tip: I recommend using the SMOKE shades in any Luxury Palette – the deepest, bottom-right shades – or the deepest matte shades in The Super Nudes Easy Eye Palette as eyeliner, as these will add the most depth to your eye look and will easily double as a liner.
Step 1: Create your Eyeshadow Look
Whether you love the natural neutrals in my Super Nudes Easy Eye Palette, the rosy browns in Pillow Talk Dreams or the soft minks in The Sophisticate, choose your favourite eyeshadow palette and create a soft glam eyeshadow look that enhances the natural sparkle of your eyes! My eyeshadows are expertly curated with colours that blend flawlessly together and are easy to use, so that EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE can create mesmerising eyeshadow looks that accentuate every eye colour!
Step 2: Choose your Eyeshadow and Brush
To use your eyeshadow as eyeliner, choose a richly pigmented shade such as chocolate brown, rosy red, plumy purple or midnight black that will define the look of your eyes. Once you’ve chosen your perfect, eye-enhancing eyeliner shade, reach for your Eye Liner Brush and get ready to apply a crisp, classic liner!
Step 3: Define the Lash Line
Tap into your eyeshadow with your Eye Liner Brush and tap off any excess, then glide the fine tip along the upper lash line to define the look of your lashes. Staying as close to your lashes as possible, use the tapered tip to build pigment from the inner corner to the outer corner to create an ultra-thin line that accentuates the look of your eyes.
Step 4: The Feline Flick
Darlings, I am FAMOUS for my feline flick eyeliner look! To get the perfect cat eye using eyeshadow, sketch a sharp line from the outer corner of the eye that angles upwards and outwards. Once you’re happy with your flick, join it up with the liner you’ve created on the upper lash line to get the full, feline effect!
Tilbury Tip: Eyeshadow is less stubborn than eyeliner, so it’s easy to blend out your liner and buff out any mistakes!
Step 5: Define the Bottom Lashes
Blend your eyeliner with your bottom lashes by running your eyeshadow along the bottom lash line. For bigger, brighter-looking eyes, keep your eyeliner on the outer corners of the eyes, running it underneath the waterline towards the pupils for a sultry look that keeps the centre of the face looking bright and open.
Tilbury Tip: For an even brighter-looking eye look, glide the nude shade of my Sleep Cheat Liner Duo through the waterline for an eye-opening effect.
Step 6: Finish with Mascara
Complete your eye look with lashings and lashings of Pillow Talk Push Up Lashes! mascara! My push up-effect mascara is the key to enhancing the look of your eyes, tying your eyeshadow and eyeliner look together by stretching and defining the look of your lashes! Formulated to provide length, volume and a 24-HOUR LIFT EFFECT, this mascara is an unmissable finishing touch for every eyeliner look!
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Author Details
Charlotte Tilbury
Founder, President, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Charlotte Tilbury Beauty
With over 30 years experience, Charlotte Tilbury MBE is the world's number 1 makeup artist and British beauty entrepreneur. Charlotte established Charlotte Tilbury Beauty in 2013, which is now a record-breaking beauty brand that has won over 400 awards.