Do you put eyeliner on your waterline or underneath your eyes?
Lining the rim of your eyes, also called tightlighting, requires placing eyeliner on your waterline, aka the inner rim of your top or bottom eyelid.
Apply liner to your lower lash line.
You may choose to line your lower lash line. Pull your lower eyelid down slightly and fill in the lower waterline from the outer corner of your eye to the inner corner of the eye, close to the root of the eyelashes. You can fill it in with black or brown eyeliner.
It is best not to use liquid liner at all on the bottom lashes since it has the potential to smudge unevenly and create fine lines below the eyes. Additionally, it can make the eyes appear harsh because it is difficult to blend.
"The reasons eye doctors do not recommend to wear eyeliner on the waterline of your eye is because there are specialized glands there that produce and excrete oil.
Line the eye just above the lash line on the top lid and just below on the bottom lashes. The key is connecting the liner at the outer corner. A pencil or liquid eyeliner works well as it won't shift from the outer corner where it can get damp from your eyes natural moisture.
The waterline—a beauty term, not a medical term—is the line of skin between the eyelashes and the eye. It's as close to your eye as you can put eyeliner without actually drawing on your cornea.
Wearing eyeliner on the bottom of the eye can brighten the eye, create a smoky look full of sex appeal and drama, or add light definition. However, if overdone, this same look can give the eye a heavy, sagging appearance.
A little white or nude eyeliner on your bottom lid can work wonders to make you look more awake and refreshed. Gently pull on your under-eye and trace the line between the lower lashes and the inside rim.
Despite what you may have heard, it's not the best idea to apply dark eyeliner to your bottom waterline because this can actually shrink the appearance of your eyes. Instead, apply your go-to eyeliner just below your lower lashes to help make your eyes look bigger.
On what shade to choose to brighten the waterline, Aharon notes that “it really depends on your skin tone, the natural color of your waterline, and the effect you're attempting.” For every day, she's partial to an off-white or nude shade that's a bit more versatile and subtle than a stark white.
What kind of eyeliner do you use on waterline?
“The best liner for the waterline is a pencil liner that has a creamy payoff yet is long-lasting,” says Jaikaran. A creamy-textured pencil (like Maybelline's TattooStudio pencil, below) won't tug or skip across your waterline, meaning there will be less chance for irritation.
Many mature women find that while they may have loved a bold black liner in the past, it doesn't suit them the same as it once did, and prefer to opt for softer shades like brown or charcoal. (You can find these shades from Inglot AMC Eyeliner Gel and Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Waterproof Eye Pencil.)

DON'T wear mascara on your lower lashes. Playing up your lower lashes can make your eyes look droopy and draw attention to dark circles. It makes the eyes look older and accentuates the under eye wrinkles.
Eyeliner is much easier to apply when your lashes are bare, so do your liner after eyeshadow but before mascara.
DON'T line your whole eye.
Drawing your eyeliner from outside corner all of the way to the inside corner of your eye, on top and bottom, is just a whole lotta eyeliner. It's harsh and unflattering, and makes your eyes appear smaller. It also makes it look like you wear a studded black belt over your Billabong t-shirt.
One simple way to get big eyes with makeup—especially if your eyes are naturally smaller—is to apply eyeliner just to the outer third of your upper lid. This simple trick helps draw attention to the outer corners of your eyes, which in turn creates the illusion of wider eyes.
Apply White or Flesh-toned Eyeliner on Your Waterline.
It closes up your eye to a great extent and makes it appear smaller. However, if you use black eyeliner under the lower lash line and use a white or flesh-toned eyeliner on the waterline, it will open up the eye and create the illusion of bigger eyes.
It can make eyes stand out and add drama. As you get older, black liner can continue to be a go-to product in your beauty kit, but you may have to tweak how you're using it so it doesn't age you. Some of our favorite beauty experts gave us their best tips on how to wear black eyeliner at every stage of life.
A makeup artist once told us that harsh, thick eyeliner will age you like no other, especially if you only apply it to your bottom lash line.
Tightline. Tightlining is probably one of the sure-shot ways you can use eyeliner to make your eyes seem bigger. The key is to apply a black or dark brown eyeliner on your upper waterline and lash line. You need to make sure the skin beneath your upper lashes is all covered with the pencil.
Does eyeliner on top lid make eyes look smaller?
Whether you prefer to create a cat eye, or define your eyes with a thin line, liquid eyeliner can help to visually close off the eyes. Making a perfectly precise, almost harsh, line along your upper lash line can create make eyes look smaller, whereas a soft, smudged eyeliner can do the opposite.
The Trend. Waterliner is exactly what it sounds like: applying pencil eyeliner or powder eyeshadow to your lower lashline waterlines, AKA inside your actual eye and not just under it.
A makeup artist once told us that harsh, thick eyeliner will age you like no other, especially if you only apply it to your bottom lash line. Think about it this way: Why would you want to add more shadow to that already-annoying area?
White eyeliner is a makeup artist trick for brightening up the face and making your eyes look bigger and more awake, particularly when used on the bottom waterline. When using a dark color on the bottom lash line, it can make eyes look smaller and drawn-down, but white has the reverse effect.
Also known as the “four dots eye trick” or “four dots eye thing,” the trend involves applying four dots of white eyeliner on the inner and outer corners of your eyes, as well as above and below the center of your eye, to create a hypnotic love spell of the sorts.
One of those has to do with the fact that white eyeliner can make your eyes look bigger by opening up your waterline. Even so, white eyeliner will have fallen out of style by 2023.
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