Rae Morris’ Five Eyeliner Tricks You’ve Likely Never Done Before
March 24 | 3 minute read
Words by Julia Lubitz
Rae Morris is one of Australia’s greatest makeup experts – and exports. She has travelled the globe to wizard her artistry on famous faces for fashion shows and magazine covers. She has produced her own line of makeup brushes handcrafted in Japan, published a book and hosted in-person makeup masterclasses. After making an appearance on the MECCA Talks podcast, we had to share her never-heard-before eyeliner tricks that work on everyone.
The Ponytail Trick
Want to make your eyes look more awake in minutes? It’s all in the position of your ponytail. Rae’s trick to finding the right angle of a winged liner is by visualising a ponytail pulling the hair, thereby lifting the face in the direction of your hair strands. If you visualise your ponytail at the back of your head, your winged eyeliner should be done horizontally. If you place your ponytail higher up towards the crown, your winged eyeliner should angle upwards. The way to determine the angle is to imagine a straight line from the corner of the nose to the outer corner of the eye. Never angle it steeper than that, she says. A winged liner ranging between horizontal and this imaginary nose-to-eye-corner line will work on anyone – guaranteed!
If you want your eyes to look more lifted, don’t stop eye makeup at the end of the eyes – always extend out. Look at your eyes in the mirror. Spot the highest point on your top eyelid and the lowest point on your bottom lid. (Remember, Rae says, it may be different for each eye!) Try to connect them with your eye makeup beyond the outer corner of the eye in either a C- or V-shape. Rae’s pro tip: take a photo of your eyes, print it out and actually draw the lines on the photo first.
Clean Up the Mess
“Don’t worry about perfecting it,” Rae emphasises. It’s always best to do a rough job and then clean it up to sharpen the line. Use eyeshadow or gel first to stamp out the desired shape and length. Use your fingertips if you want. You don’t even need to look in the mirror. “I’ve seen the best makeup artists do this at fashion shows,” she says. Then, clean up the shape with a pointed cotton tip dipped in micellar water.
“Liquids are great but I prefer to practice with a gel,” says Rae, who does the aforementioned mess-then-clean technique only with gel liners. Her reason: some liquid liners will chip in the process.
Eyes Wide Open
Do your eye makeup with your eyes open! If you need to lift your eyelid skin or close your eye to do an eye colour, Rae says, you’re not going to see it when you open your eye. So, do your eye makeup with eyes open, looking straight ahead. If you’re new to this, cream eyeshadows are easier to work with. It’s also why it’s best to use brushes that have sponge-like bristles, so they don’t move the skin. Rae prefers short brushes for better eyeliner precision. Think of a toddler drawing with crayons – the shorter the pencil, the more in control of the colour!
