The Retro Winged Eye – Revisited

I seem to be getting a lot of comments on the Retro Winged Eyeliner look that I did back in November. It’s definitely a favourite among many of my readers, and I’ve been asked to give a step by step tutorial on how to achieve such a look.

Retro Winged Eyeliner

Don’t be mistaken by the simplicity of this look – while yes, the face (base) is quite simple the eyes do take a lot of effort (most of the difficulty lies in having both eyes be identical).

Retro Winged Eyeliner

What you will need (for the eyes):
1- A cream eye liner (I used the Stilla Smudgepot – but any cream liner will use). I suggest you use a cream liner over a liquid liner (or the tip of a liquid eyeliner) because it doesn’t provide a lot of control, especially with a look like this. When applying liner – rest your elbows on a countertop. This will help steady your arm and give you a more controlled line.
2- An eyeliner brush
3- Mascara
4- False eyelashes (this is optional – however, my model is wearing individual false eyelashes).

Retro-Winged Eyeliner

Step 1: Apply the base foundation with a brush (I use the Sephora’s Professional Platinum Foundation Brush). Set it with powder. Make sure that you apply foundation on the lips – this look goes well with a very neutral and nude look.
Step 2: The cheeks are left very bare – no blush is used. On the hollows of the cheeks however, I used a bronzing powder. My favourite bronzing powder is MAC’s Deeper Refined Bronze.
Step 3: Now that our base is done, we can move on to the eyes. With a fluffy brush, apply a nude coloured eyeshadow all over the eyelid.
Step 4: Fill in eyebrows with a matte brown eyeshadow and an eyebrow brush. For my model, I used Kat Von D’s Leather (available in almost all of her eyeshadow palettes). This is a dark brown – and worked with my model’s colouring (hair and skin). If you are lighter skinned with lighter hair – use a matte brown that is slightly lighter.
Step 5: Taking your eyeliner brush, use your bottom lash line as a guide to start drawing you line on the top of your eyelid. When you get to the outer corner of your eye, pretend you are extending the lower lash line towards your brow by making small flick to extend it.
Step 6: If you wish to thicken up the line – go over the eyeliner with more eyeliner. The flick is key in this look.
Step 7: Make sure that both eyes are even and add mascara. If you wish to add false eyelashes – do so. This will give you a more dramatic look and open up your eyes.