Just imagine… What if every day was Caturday, and your cat eye flicks were always perfect?
Wouldn’t that be grand? 🙂
Some days it does work out that way. I’ll flick my wrist and tada! — a perfect cat eye flick.
Admittedly, those days are rare… Most of the time, the edges of my flicks start out blurry and muddy.
When this happens, don’t panic! It’s easy to fix.
Just grab your current concealer love, put a little on the back of your hand, and pick some up with a small, flat concealer brush. (Side note: if you don’t have a flat concealer brush available, an angled or pointed eye brush works, too.)
Next, run the edge of the brush along the bottom of your flick to sharpen the line.
You can stop there if you want, or keep going. At this point I’ll usually soften the concealer a little by gently running a pointed cotton bud along the edge. It helps to ever-so-slightly soften the edge and prevent an overly sharp, harsh line (that looks like I obviously applied concealer along the edge of my flick).
If you don’t have a pointed cotton bud on hand, you can also load a flat eyeshadow brush with face powder, and then gently run the tip of the brush along the edge of your flick. It’s another way to soften the appearance of the concealer.
Here’s how my flicks usually look before doing this trick — kinda muddy and undefined…
And here’s the flicks after…
They’re a bit sharper, but not too sharp. And they’re slightly better defined.
Just the way I like ’em.
When I do this trick, I’m usually already wearing my face makeup, because applying the concealer along the edge of the liner doesn’t disrupt my foundation or the other products I’m wearing.
Now, when I do my eye makeup before applying my foundation, concealer, etc., and I’m not wearing anything under my liner that could be lifted, I’ll often use this trick to clean up the edges instead.
Lastly, if you have trouble getting your left eye flick to match the angle of your right — for example, if one flick is always angled higher than the other, which is my big issue — this is also a great technique to keep in your back pocket, because it’s an easy way to slightly adjust the angle of your flicks.
I think it really helps to look straight ahead into a mirror, too, while doing the correcting… It makes it easier to properly gauge the angles.
Here’s to fabulous, flawless flicks! *Raises cup of tea* 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Three things:
Your hair looks adorable pulled back.
What’s the eyeliner you’re wearing in this one? So cute.
Have you tried the big Beauty Blender yet?
Hi Jennifer!
Thank you! The liner is MAC Technakohl Liner in Take the Plunge. 🙂 As for the big Beauty Blender, I have it on my list! Have you tried it yet? What do you think?
Great tip! Also, What brush did you use for your pictorial?
I really like the eyeliner too!
Hi Mandy,
Thank you! The liner is MAC Technakohl Liner in Take the Plunge.
As for the brush, it’s an old dual ended brush by Laura Mercier. The brush tip that I’m using is her Secret Camouflage Brush.
Thank you for sharing this trick, Karen! I love that you showed a “before” picture of your flicks–whenever I try to do a cat eye, it quickly turns into a hot mess and I get frustrated because my only frames of reference are all the “finished products” you see online or on people while they’re out and about. I’m giving this a try this weekend!
Love the idea. But what is that adorable compact you are holding in one of the pics?
Thanks for sharing your secrets! No Caturday without a feline flick will be my motto from this day on.
Aha! That’s smarts! I should try and up my flicking game a bit… I don’t wear winged liner enough.
Brilliant! I raise my cup of tea in return. Oh, look at that, I need more tea.
Awesome tip!
HANDY. Thanks!
You’re always so tricksy. 🙂 Lovely cat eye, as always!
This is such a great tip. I can always get one to look really good and the other not so much. I’m going to have to try this.
I usually do the eyes before the rest of my face so I use the cotton swab dipped in makeup remover trick a LOT. I used to think that I SHOULD be able to make it look perfect the first time. A MUA showed me the cotton swab trick and I had an epiphany: no, no one makes an absolutely perfectly flick in one swipe, lol!
Karen, can you recommend a nice, creamy undereye concealer?
Great tip, Karen! I will try that rather than trying to remove my mistakes. What is that beautiful shade of gray eyeliner you’re wearing in the photos?? I love it!!
While I generally prefer thicker, smudgier eyeliner, I occasionally do a cat’s eye…and I need this trick in my back pocket (so to speak). In fact, one of these days, maybe I’ll dedicate some time to perfecting the look prior to my reunion…which is not far away!