How to Perfect Your Cat Eye with a Stencil

You’ve expertly blended and buffed a killer eye shadow look and next up in your eye makeup routine is reaching for your liquid eyeliner and drawing on your winged liner. If you’re anything like us, you can relate to the struggle—one wrong move and all of your hard work will go to waste! Luckily, winged eyeliner stencils exist for a reason. There’s no need to have a constant love-hate relationship with winging it; with the help of this handy winged eyeliner tool, you can put all of your worries about liquid liner to rest. Don’t believe us? Keeping reading for a step-by-step tutorial on how to use an eyeliner stencil to perfect your cat eye, along with a few other winged eyeliner tips and tricks to keep in mind for seamless application and a flawless final look.

WHAT IS A WINGED EYELINER STENCIL?

Winged eyeliner stencils aren’t all too different from the stencils you used in grade school, but this time they’re for your eyes. Since the perfect cat eye can be difficult to freehand, we advise using a cat eyeliner stencil to make things easier on yourself. Without a stencil you run the risk of smearing, smudging, and ending up with completely uneven wings. The stencil, however, helps ensure that your cat eyes turn out to be the exact same shape and size on each side.

HOW TO USE A WINGED EYELINER STENCIL

Thinking that not even a stencil can provide you with the skills needed to wing out your eyeliner? Well, get ready to be impressed with your own eyeliner mastery. Simply follow our tutorial and you’ll be giving thanks to this easy winged eyeliner tool in no time.

Step #1: Ready the Eyeliner Stencil

First off, you’ll need a stencil! Grab the L’Oréal Paris Infallible Flash Cat Eye Waterproof Brush Tip Liquid Eyeliner, which comes with a removable winged eyeliner stencil attached to its cap. The stencil itself looks like a scalene triangle and features a smaller triangular opening—that opening is the spot you’ll fill in to get your wings. The eyeliner also features a precision brush tip and a waterproof formula that make it ideal for winged eyeliner. So, pop out the stencil and move on to the next step.  

Step #2: Get into Position

Position the open part of the cat eyeliner stencil at the outer edge of either eye, angling it upward or downward to your preferences. Lay the stencil flat on your skin to ensure you’ll be able to get your most precise wing.

Step #3: Color in the Lines

Use the brush tip of the liquid eyeliner pen to fill in the stencil and draw your wing. Continue to keep it flat against your skin and avoid moving it, as this can mess up your cat eye.

Step #4: Remove the Stencil

Carefully lift the eyeliner stencil from the outer edge of your eye to reveal your wing and avoid any smudging.

Editor’s note: Don’t stress if your wing isn’t perfect! Whether you missed a spot when filling in your stencil or accidentally messed up your wing when removing the stencil, you can easily fix any mistakes by going back in with the eyeliner pen.

Step #5: Complete Your Line

Continue your liquid eyeliner line across your upper lash line to complete the look. Use small strokes to ensure that your wing is as straight and even as possible Then, just repeat the same process on your other eye. That’s all there is to it!

3 OTHER WINGED EYELINER TIPS

Still think there’s room to improve your winged eyeliner game? Beyond using a cat eyeliner stencil, we’ve rounded up a few tips for creating your best flicks.  

Winged Eyeliner Tip #1: Consider Your Eye Color

The color of your eyeliner can make all the difference in your overall beauty look. If you have light hair, consider opting for a brown shade instead of the traditional black, as it can sometimes be a harsh contrast against pale strands.

Winged Eyeliner Tip #2: Make Micellar Water Your BFF

If you notice an unwanted smudge of eyeliner, use a bit of micellar water, like the L’Oréal Paris Micellar Cleansing Water Complete Cleanser Waterproof - All Skin Types, on a cotton swab to remove it. This will eliminate the need to redo your entire eye makeup look!

Winged Eyeliner Tip #3: Wait It Out

After you’ve applied your eyeliner, try to wait around 30 seconds before looking up and moving on with the rest of your makeup look. This will give your liner time to dry and prevent any transfer from your lash line to your upper lid that could spoil your eye makeup! Use this time to catch up on your social media feeds (and perhaps get some more makeup inspo).

Speaking of makeup inspiration, we’ve got plenty! Aside from the classic cat eye, there are essentially endless eyeliner styles that are worth trying. Head over to our article on 21 Eyeliner Ideas You Can Definitely Do to get started.