Dear Sarah: How do I wear black eyeliner without looking like Fairuza Balk in “The Craft?”

Today’s question comes from Holly, but before we get into it, I must say, I personally like Fairuza’s eyeliner in “The Craft,” so perhaps my answers won’t exactly help. Regardless, I’ll try to channel this Fairuza:

rather than this Fairuza:

Now, onto the eyeliner. I think the key to pulling off black eyeliner can be summed up in three points (three points which, I notice after the fact, don’t really make sense and sort of blend together, but whatever, let’s go with it):

1. Don’t use actual black eyeliner. A shade of black – perhaps something with green or grey undertones – will be softer than using the BLACK VERY BLACK BLACKEST color. I exclusively use the MAC Powerpoint line of eyeliners (read more about why I’m so obsessed here.) My favorite go-to color is Engraved, but have recently had an affinity for Black Russian, a sort of shimmery blackish-grey. I also really like Buried Treasure, which has the greenish undertones mentioned above. They’re all black, but not gratingly so.

2. Practice makes perfect. I remember when I first started wearing eyeliner, I thought to myself, Self, are you ever going to be able to draw a straight eyeliner line? I really thought I was going to be completely eyeliner inept FOREVER, but like anything in life, practice makes perfect and now I can apply a perfectly straight line quick and in a hurry.

The key to applying eyeliner, though, is approximately 90% the type of eyeliner and only 10% skill. If you’re using a cheap eyeliner, no amount of practice will get rid of that eyeliner-ripping-through-eyeball feeling. So, while you certainly may get better at applying eyeliner, it won’t become easier. An easy-to-apply eyeliner, like the type mentioned above, really fights most of the battle for you.

3. If you mess up, embrace it! You can’t win ’em all, and sometimes eyeliner just goes on kind of wonky. Here’s where I simply take my favorite eyeshadow and apply a little on top of the eyeliner with a slanted brush. I have many, many, MANY eye shadows, but my favorite for eyeliner-ing is Embark (by MAC, who else?) A note about avoiding eyeliner mess-ups: Always make sure you have a sharp eyeliner pencil. The duller the pencil, the more likely you are to mess up.

Now that you have the basics, there’s an extremely important decision you need to make for yourself:

Are you a Bottom?

A Top?

A Top and a Bottom?

This all depends on your complexion, comfort-level, and skill. I personally am a Top ALWAYS and a Bottom sometimes. You just have to mess around with what you’re comfortable with, but I recommend starting out small and working your way up crazy eyeliner lady.

Holly, I hope this helps you jump into the eyeliner game! Let me know how it works out! And hey, if you still look like Fairuza Balk in “The Craft” afterward, that’s cool too!

Any other questions for Dear Sarah? Let me have ’em! (Ahem, if you want to talk booze, you know I’m game!)