In observance of Wings Week here at Defector, Lauren and Heather decided to try their hands at winged eyeliner on Tuesday afternoon. Here, in the style of The Not-So-Great Defector Bake-Off, are their results.
Lauren: So on a scale of 1-10, how afraid are you of poking yourself in the eye?
Heather: Honestly, probably a two. I think I never learned how to do eyeliner properly, which meant I mostly just drew the wing of the liner and nothing else.
Lauren: OK, I did the same. But that was out of a paralyzing terror of poking myself. I’m a 9 if not a 10, ever since I first learned how to do makeup. Once, I stabbed myself with a mascara wand, and it was miserable!
I much prefer the relative safety of blush and eyeshadow, but I’ve gone through various phases of butch and femme through my 20s, and a few years back, I turned to the little eye-pen flourishes as a way to feel girlier (particularly when my eyes were set against the void of a mask). When I did wings then, I literally would draw just a slightly curved line from the corner of my eye up to the end of my eyebrow, like this:
I'm open to a more advanced lesson.
Heather: My friends were getting into makeup during the 2015-16 era of cut creases and brow dip, which mostly meant that I was too overwhelmed. I was a middle-schooler and convinced that I was “not like other girls,” but I also couldn’t get over the idea that in the process of learning how to do my makeup, I would mess up and have to keep removing allllll this makeup, which felt gross.
Lauren: So what brought you to wings?
Heather: I always thought eyeliner looked cool, specifically the wing, but the first time I attempted it (eighth grade), I was so horrified with the results that I gave up for a few years. Then my friends and I got really into those calligraphy brush pens. When I realized they kind of looked like liquid eyeliner, I went out and bought a pen. I immediately became obsessed with it.
Lauren: How’s your confidence level for today? Mine is … low, because of the aforementioned phobia, and perhaps because I’m not very good at following verbalized directions.
Heather: Uh, mine is also pretty low. I confess that while I still do winged eyeliner pretty often, I don’t even own liquid eyeliner anymore. Most of the time, I use eyeshadow and an eyeliner brush. I am very big on “figure it out yourself” which also means I never learn how to do many things the official way.
Lauren: Oh yeah, the only “tutorials” that I’ve really been able to absorb are real-life ones with pals. But I texted a few of them for suggestions on something to try for Wings Week, and I got back, like, 10 winged eyeliner videos on YouTube. It was a bit overwhelming, but this one from Alexandra Anele felt like the best mix of detailed and accessible.
I bought a new liquid eyeliner for the occasion, but I just found a working one that’s already been opened in my disgustingly crowded makeup drawer. I’m going to add some New York Liberty-flavored eyeshadow, because I’m going to the game tonight and in my dreams I will actually be able to wear my work outside.
Heather: I’m a little terrified of how long this might take, because I can sit in front of a mirror for half an hour trying to fix my little wings. Any estimates on how long you’re willing to spend on this?
Lauren: In the interest of journalistic ethics, I have resolved to present my work exactly how it is, with no mistakes erased, so it might be over quick. But maybe I’ll regret it all and start over.
Heather: I salute you. Godspeed!
Lauren: I’m gonna slap on the shadow, and then get to work with Alexandra.
[30 minutes later]
Lauren: I’m going to use an old sportswriter trick. Heather, in one word, how would you describe your performance out there today?
Heather: Confused is probably the best word to describe it. I was trying to figure out if I had enough eyelid space, and then I did something! Not sure it looks anything like the tutorial, though. How did you feel out there in the field today?
Lauren: You know, there’s always going to be more you can do, but I think at the end of the day, we got the job done over at my apartment. Alexandra’s instructions were simple to follow, and the visuals in her video were very clear, and I can’t say enough about her contributions to this win.
Usually, I do my makeup over the bathroom sink, but this time out, I opted to go with the spot a lot of guests in my apartment tend toward for their makeup—sitting on the floor in front of this long, orphaned mirror that leans against a wall in a room that’s more photogenic. I didn’t mind it! It’s too damn hot outside, but there’s something to be said for seeing sunlight while you work.
Heather: I’m living in a lower-level apartment this summer, and my bedroom is completely shafted, but I usually do my makeup on the windowsill because it serves as a nice side table. However, I usually have to kneel on the ground, and the lighting is pretty bad, so it’s actually a pretty uncomfortable setup. I decided to do my makeup on my kitchen table, because the kitchen is the only room that gets natural light in the apartment. My portable mirror and eyeshadow palette are currently sharing real estate with a cutting board, a rice cooker, and a few mugs.
Lauren: I guess you could say we’re both … winging it.
I started on my left eye by making a thin line from the corner of my eye to up by my brow—a little longer, perhaps, than necessary, but still not bad. Then I brought the pen back to form a hollow triangle. From there, the execution wasn’t what you want. As I moved the pen closer to the actual border between my lid and the eye, I started to struggle. Real or not, I could feel what seemed like poison liquid at the very top of my eyeball. It’s the pain of getting soap in your eye with the disorientation of crying upside down, and that uncomfortable experience made me physically shaky. As I tried to fill in what was left, I made a stray mark up above the wing.
I was happy enough with what I had so far, and thus I decided to take the points rather than risk ruining a perfectly decent look. I got it reasonably symmetrical on the other side at least, even if my fears were not conquered.
Heather: I watched the video all the way through first, and I determined that I would use my eyeliner brush and then a black eyeshadow. I started on my left eye, and when I finished, I felt like it still looked like normal eyeliner, albeit a little thicker than I usually do it. I watched the video again to see what I did wrong, but that just left me spiraling over whether or not my eyelid was the right size for this. The inner triangle did not triangle. I ended up wiping everything off and attempting it again.
Lauren: To be honest, despite picking this video, I actually have no idea if I possess hooded or, uh, unhooded eyes.
Heather: Me neither. I think I need, like, a doctor to tell me. The right side went a little worse, and the slant by my eyelid crease ended up a little smudged. It’s safe to say that my two wings are cousins and not twins. I smudged some actual eyeliner on my lower lash line, because that’s what I usually do, then called it a day.
And the full effect, because I was in the kitchen:
Lauren: Holy shit, we should have just held weapons instead of doing our makeup. Here’s my final look for the game tonight.
Heather: Looks good and I love the pop of eyeshadow, but I think it’s missing something…
Lauren: To my utmost regret, I don’t think they’ll let me carry a gigantic knife into the arena.
