Eyeliner vs. Mascara: The Ultimate Guide to Picking the Right One for Your Look

If you wear eye makeup, we know you’ve got all kinds of mascaras and eyeliners rolling around in your makeup bag. (Well, at least, that’s true for us.) They each have their place in your routine depending on the look you’re carving out. But have you ever wondered which of the two the experts would use, for example, to give the illusion of wider or more upturned eyes?

We asked pro makeup artists Jeanine Lobell and Shadi Malek to break down the how-tos of using mascara and eyeliner for a few of the most common eye makeup concerns. They shared not only which product is best for getting the look, but also how to use the dynamic eye makeup duo together. (Because spoiler alert: Most of the time, they use both.) Read on to learn more.

Meet the Expert

• Jeanine Lobell is a celebrity makeup artist and founder of Stila Cosmetics and Neen. Her work has worked has appeared in Vogue, W, Vanity Fair, and Harper’s Bazaar.
• Shadi Malek is a celebrity makeup artist with nearly a decade of experience in the makeup industry.

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Best for: Making Your Eyes Look Wider

ILIA
Limitless Lash Mascara
$28.00

We’ve all been there: You got no sleep, but somehow you need to appear wide awake. This is a job for one beauty essential—mascara. However, Lobell wants you to skip your bottom lashes. “I would focus mascara mainly on the top because the bottom might draw more focus to a ‘tired’ look,” she says. One other helpful product, even though “mascara is your friend,” as Lobell put it, is a flesh-toned colored pencil or liquid liner to take out any redness.

Additionally, Lobell suggests starting out by curling your eyelashes pre-mascara and opting for a lightweight formula (her favorite is Illia’s Limitless Lash). “Hold the curler in place for a second or two and then go in with the mascara, coating it twice at the root and then brushing upward so it’s darkest by your eye,” she says. “That will make your eyes look their perkiest and [most] awake.”

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