liner notes

Eye liner can be very transformative in that it can take me from dead-looking to drop-dead gorge in seconds flat - even without a stitch of other makeup (true story). Thing is, perfecting liner can take YEARS - it wasn't until 2002 that I mastered lining my inner rims, which totally changed my life. There are tons of formulas and techniques to be learned, but what I'm about to tell you works like a charm every. single. time. To make it work for day, I stick to brown or deep copper shades, but for nighttime I'll go with plum, gunmetal, or black for a more intense look. But no matter which shade you pick, I promise it'll stay on all day and give you an amazing, non-smudgy, defined look, like Rachel Bilson here. This girl is like the queen of perfect eye liner. She ALWAYS gets it right.

1. Pick your color of choice, then get that shade in a waterproof pencil formula and a liquid formula (I like felt-tip ones the best because they're great for liner virgins AND pros).

2. Dust a taupe shadow all over your lids from lash line to right under your brow bone to even skin tone and give liner a good base to adhere to. I use MAC Omega for this, but it'll only work if your skin is fair or medium. If you're dark, pick something closer to your skintone.

3. Sharpen your pencil so that it's super pointy. The finer the point, the easier it is to be precise with your line. Now it's time to tightline - a trick that makeup artists have been using forever that I swear by for getting a professional look. First, apply the eyeliner right to the lash line, kind of like you're lining your lashes rather than your eyes. Many recommend even pushing it down into the line or even making little dots in between the lashes to get as close as possible. Hint: if you see a white space between the line and your lashes, you made a boo-boo - so start over! When finished tighlining, go over the line with your liquid liner pen to emphasize and darken the line even more.

4. Now, tightline the bottom lash lines starting at the inner corners. When you get to the outer corners, extend the pencil outward a bit, then smudge with a Q-tip to get a look like Rachel's. This will be a bit easier than the top, since you have a more flat, visible surface to work with. Just be careful and try not to jab yourself in the eye. Beauty may be pain (sometimes), but it isn't blindness.

5. Finish with two coats of mascara on top lashes only. I never was a big fan of mascara on the lower lashes for this look, since you want to keep smudging to a minimum. Definition is key.

Ta-da! You're done. Now, as with any dramatic eye look, go for a sheer dusting of blush and a light lip color.