Karoliina's Guide to Glitter - Glitter Eyeliner with Lash Glue

New Year is coming, so I spend some time perfecting my skills with applying glitter. I did a super glittery look and took pictures for tutorials, so here's how to apply glitter as eyeliner with lash glue!

Glitter! On my brows, as liner and on my lips.

First I put on foundation, concealer and powder to prep my face. I added a very subtle smoky eye just to contour the eye area a bit. You should always wear at least a nude eyeshadow to prevent liner transferring to your lid, especially if your eyes are hooded like mine.

Glitter liner works with many looks, but a dramatic smoky eye gets an extra kick out of colourful glitter liner! Do any eyeshadow look you wish first, then apply glitter. Leave mascara to be applied after the glitter. If you use false lashes, add those last, after the glitter and mascara.

You need:

Water proof gel liner and a brush to apply it with (preferably liner in a color that matches your glitter, but plain black also works)

Lash glue and a brush if it doesn't come with one

Fine glitter

A small brush to apply glitter with, I use a soft lip brush

A plate or a palette

Fan brush or other soft, large brush

Inglot gel liner

1. Apply gel liner. The line you draw will be your guide when applying glue later. It will show through the glitter, so make it crisp and neat. Let the liner dry. I used teal liner and glitter that has teal and purple particles so they match nicely.

2. Get your lash glue and glitter ready. Sprinkle some glitter on your plate or palette so you can easily pick it up with a brush. If your lash glue has a brush that can do precise work, use it. If not, get another eyeliner brush ready. Make sure you have the glitter on the palette, the glitter brush ready and grab your lash glue.

I use latex free glue by Revlon that comes with a brush and dries very fast. If you have latex glue, it dries slower and you have some time to work with it, so it's not a disaster if you run out of glitter or drop your brush. With the latex free stuff you need to be fast!

I'm using Darling Girl Cosmetics glitter in Kaleidoscope. It's very fine so it won't irritate your eyes. Don't use craft glitter, it
can really hurt if you get it in your eye!

3. Apply lash glue on top of the gel liner. Grab your glue brush and gently apply a thin layer of glue on top of the line you drew with the gel liner. Do one eye at a time so the glue doesn't dry before you have time to add glitter!

I'm allergic to latex so I use Revlon Precision to glue on lashes and other things.

 4. Pat glitter on the glue. Take a clean brush and dip it in the glitter you sprinkled on the palette. Then pat the brush on the glue you just brushed on. Don't press hard, the glue will pick up the glitter as soon as it touches, the brush is just there to help you place the glitter. Glitter will only stick to the glue if you primed your lids with eyeshadow first, so don't worry if you miss the glue streak. Pat, pick up glitter, pat, and repeat until you feel the brush no longer sticks to the lid. That's when you know the glitter has coated all the glue it can. Don't worry about glitter falling on your cheeks, we'll fix that later!

I use a small, soft lip brush to put the glitter on. The main thing is that the brush is small but still a bit fluffy, not pointed, so it picks up much glitter and can transfer it to a large area. If patting on glitter feels uncomfortable on the lid, your brush might be too stiff.

Pat, pat, pat!

 5. Clean up. Because you put on foundation and powder first, you skin is not sticky and the glitter fall-off can be just brushed away. Use a large, soft brush to gently swipe the loose glitter away. The trick is to use the brush very, very lightly to avoid pushing the glitter against your skin so that it could stick. Do light swipes until you are satisfied. Usually a few glitter particles always remain, but when you use very fine glitter, they are not very noticeable.

Swipe, swipe, swipe!

And you are done! Apply mascara and false lashes if you want to and enjoy. Fine glitter stays well on the glue base so it won't be in your eyes or on your cheeks later in the evening. To vary this look, you could do a line with black first, and the just above it add a coloured glitter line!

6. Removal! Use an oil based make-up remover to wipe off any loose glitter and gel liner. Use a cotton pad folded in half to gently scrub off the glue. It helps if you keep the skin tight! Just place you finger next to your eye and softly pull the skin towards your temple to make it taut. Don't use force when scrubbing, just repeatedly swipe over the liner so the glue starts to roll off. If you got some on your lashes like I did, you need to squish your lashes between two fingers and gently pull out the glue. Washing the eye area with warn water helps the glue to become soft.