CAT'S EYE LINER LOOK

Dear Jellybean,

I've seen the "cat eye" look everywhere on celebrities like Rihanna and I really want to achieve that look. I've been searching everywhere to try and find it, but I just can't seem to find it. What eyeliner do I use and what technique achieves the look?
-Bianca

Dear Bianca,

Ah, the cat's eye liner effect. It's been popular at least since the days of Cleopatram, who rocked the look in Ancient Egypt, and it's still going strong on the red carpet, thanks to Rihanna, Angelina, and so on. Here are my tips on achieving it for yourself.

What You'll Need:

-Black liquid eyeliner pen
-Brown eyeshadow trio (light, medium and dark shade)
-Black or brown mascara
-Magnifying mirror
-Q-tips
-Makeup remover

To start, you'll want to set yourself up in front of a (hands-free) magnifying mirror, which is key to helping you do a great makeup application, especially when it comes ot the precision lining work.

Begin your makeup by shading your entire lids, from lashes to browbones, in the medium shade of eye shadow. Sweep the darker color into the creases of eyes and blend well. Highlight browbones and inner corners of eyes with the lightest shade, blending well again.

To line your eyes, you're going to use liquid liner. It's simply the best way to achieve this look, and Rihanna's makeup artist probably goes through tons of it in a week. Choose a liquid liner that comes in a pen. (Hint: The shorter the pen tip, the easiesr it is to apply). Maybelline and L'Oreal both make good ones, they're relatively inexpensive and you can find them at the drugstore.

Starting at the inner corner of your eye, barely touch the pen to your lashline and slowly drag it toward the outer corner of your eye. Keep the line as close to the lashes as possible! It's okay if the line is super-thin to start, too. You can always go back over it later, to fatten it up. As you get toward the end of the line, at the outer eye, flick it up and out a bit, to make a wing that extends a bit further than the end of your eyelid. Focus on getting the right angle, and don't worry if it goes way out. (You can use a Q-tip soaked in makeup remover to shorten the line after). Repeat on the other eye.

Apply two to three coats of mascara on the outer edges of your top lashes. The keys to non-clumpy application are wiping your mascara brush on a tissue before touching the brush to your lashes, and applying the coats one after the other, before lashes have a chance to dry. Move your mascara wand in the direction of the winged liner to emphasize the cat's eye effect. Leave bottom lashes bare.

When you're done, sit back a bit from the mirror, and with a normal expression on your face, check out your work. If the wings are uneven, use your Q-tip to even them out, so they look symmetrical.

To balance your intense eyes, keep cheek color subtle. Use a neutral or pale pink/peach blush, applied to the apples of cheeks and swept out to the temples. Keep lips natural - a beige/pink gloss or moisturizing lipstick will do nicely.