Have No Fear: It’s Just Eyeliner

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/18/fashion/eyeliner-bright-colors.html

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Graphic eye makeup — electric blues, purples, greens — was all over the fall runways. The message: Color is not seasonal. Wear it liberally.

Yet such supercharged colors are still intimidating to many of us.

The makeup artist Nick Barose, whose clients include Priyanka Chopra and Tessa Thompson, has been playing with brights for years. Mr. Barose goes for it most notably when working with Lupita Nyong’o. The watercolor palette he devised for the actress for this year’s Met Gala was dramatic, yet felt carefree.

“The color is the drama, so I keep the skin as natural as I can,” Mr. Barose said. Spontaneity is key, he said, when dabbling in such shades.

Eyebrows are brushed up and perhaps lightly filled in. “Or if someone has a naturally light brow, I might leave it,” he said. He leaves lashes bare or perhaps brushed through with a clear mascara.

“Always cover the eyelid with a light base of foundation or primer so the eyeliner stays in place,” he said.

As vivid pigment has gone mainstream, makeup companies have come up with new textures and the tools to deliver them. Here, Mr. Barose explains how to use liquid, pencil and crayon liners to brilliant effect.

Winged liner with painted-on lower “lashes” is a modern take on an iconic Diana Ross look. “Liquid liner is generally seen as retro,” Mr. Barose said. “But when you play with funky colors and texture, it gets a new life.” Here he used a metallic purple, Urban Decay Razor Sharp Water-Resistant Longwear Liquid Eyeliner in Retrograde ($22).

Mr. Barose acknowledges that perfecting liquid liner takes practice and a steady hand, but to make application easier, he suggests putting a mirror on a table and looking down into it so that the eye you’re working on can be open with the lid visible. And draw on the winged outer tails first.

“People draw the whole line and get to the tail, and they angle up too soon or late,” he said. “They end up with something asymmetrical. But if you decide beforehand, ‘I want it at this angle and this long’ and paint it in first on both sides, all you need to do is connect a line to that tail.”

The lower lashes are easy. Use the side of the brush and angle toward the outer corner of the eye.

Bright contrasting shades, like the green and blue here are bold — Lancôme Drama Liqui-Pencil Extreme Longwear Eyeliner in Pacifique and Côte d’Azur ($23) — but there are more subtle color combinations.

“For example, you could pair a rose with gold or bronze, shades that complement each other,” Mr. Barose said.

Application is familiar to anyone who has used a pencil liner: Just apply one shade from the inner corner to the middle of the lid. The second shade picks up where the first leaves off, extending just past the outer corner. The softness of the pencil allows for blending where colors meet, producing an ombré effect.

“It’s a simple technique, but the colors make it pop,” he said. “I wouldn’t use more than three colors. The beauty of this is that it feels spontaneous. You lose that if you have too many shades.”

Think of eyeliner crayons as eye shadow in a stick. “You can’t make a sharp line but you get the intensity of a liner on a larger area, without having to build it, like you would with eye shadow,” Mr. Barose said.

Pink is not a typical eye color, but it’s “quirky and having a beauty moment,” he said. He tapped a crayon, Lancôme Ombre Hypnôse Stylo Long-Lasting Eyeshadow Stick in Quartz Rose ($27, available Oct. 1), along the lash line and colored in sparse spots.

“This is the least precise look of the three,” Mr. Barose said. Choosing a similar, but not the exact same shade, for the lips is a way to make the overall look harmonious but not overwhelming or matchy-matchy.

The lip color he chose, Nars Satin Lip Pencil in Yu ($27), is a deeper shade and more sophisticated looking than a bright pink.

An Eyeliner Assistant

Three new tools to help you wing it.

Woosh Beauty Eyeliner Wheel The company recommends using this tiny pizza cutter ($29, ulta.com) with its eyeliner pot (sold separately), but it works better with a soft gel liner. Dip it and roll across your lash line. The wheel is helpful to anyone with a shaky hand.

VampStamp VaVaVoom Wing Stamp This stamp ($25, thevampstamp.com) comes in three sizes. The smallest, Kitten, is just right for an everyday wing. First, paint the stamp with a liquid liner, line it up with the outer corner of your eye and press. This tool works surprisingly well, but it isn’t as simple as “press and done.” To finish, draw a line from the inner corner of the eye, connecting to the wing. You may need to clean up the stamp with a felt-tip liner or makeup remover.

Woosh Beauty Corner Brush Stamper Instead of leaving behind a full wing, this brush stamp ($29, ulta.com) creates a V at the outer corner that’s less dramatic. Use it with liner or eye shadow. There will be shadow fallout when you press, so do your eye makeup first.