I can never draw a perfectly curved stroke along my upper lash line. Where can I find products that will help me line my eyes in a fuss-free manner?
If you do not have steady hands or the time to practise using a liquid eyeliner, smooth eye pencils are your best bet.
Most glide on easily and it is not obvious if the line you have drawn is not continuous or smooth. When you smudge the liner with a eyeshadow smudging brush, you can get a subtle smoky eye.
Two of the smoothest pencils I have come across so far are Nars' Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner ($36) and Shu Uemura's Lasting Soft Gel Pencil (at right, $36).
Alternatively, you can use a black or brown cream eyeliner or eyeshadow and apply it with a flat eyeliner brush that gives you more control.
Just place it horizontally along the inner corner of your lashline and glide it outwards. Or you could just carefully dab on the colour with the brush to form a continuous line.
My favourite eyeliner brushes are the angled no.22 brush from Sephora ($25) and the Eyeliner and Definer Brush from Tom Ford ($90). The bristles on both are stiff and packed densely, so I have greater control over the strokes I draw.
But if you still prefer the sleek lines of a liquid eyeliner, such as on singer-actress Selena Gomez, then try pens with ergonomic designs.
Both American brand Nyx's The Curve Liner ($29, from Sephora) and South Korean label Clio's Eye Guard Waterproof Liner (at right, $23.90, from selected Watsons stores) come in a shape that resembles a water pistol.
Both give you a firmer grip on the pen and the liquid liner is dispensed from a stiff, inch-long felt tip that helps you to draw smooth strokes more easily.
Then there is Bourjois' new Erasable Liner (at left, $19.50), a nifty tool that is also perfect for eyeliner novices. It comes with a liquid liner with a fine brush on one side and a pointed eraser on the other that allows you to make corrections precisely.
Just make sure you wait for the liner to dry first before you erase it, or it can get messy.
This article was first run in The Straits Times newspaper on August 30, 2013. For similar stories, go to sph.straitstimes.com/premium/singapore. You will not be able to access the Premium section of The Straits Times website unless you are already a subscriber.