This Cheap Eyeliner Pen Makes A Cat-Eye Easier Than Ever

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but it's hard to make a case for an uneven cat-eye. Of course, nobody is perfect — and liquid eyeliner is easily considered the master of all time-consuming beauty evils. That’s why I gave up on the cat-eye — and all eyeliner — back in high school. The lines were always too thick and made my round eyes look buggy, not sexy. No matter how hard I tried, my flick skills were less than amateur. Fast-forward to years later and I'd mustered up the patience to try again — and it was a major success. Except, the trick wasn’t in my steady hand or the ability to take my time. It was the eyeliner itself. The golden rule of liquid eyeliners is this: Shaky hands will benefit from a marker formula, as opposed to one that requires a brush. Why? Pens are more stable and easier to control. And L’Oréal’s Voluminous Liner Noir Liquid Eyeliner is proof of that. The first time I tried this product, it was because another liner I had been using (with mixed results) had dried up in a couple of weeks. But with this drugstore hero, I drew a medium-size flick in the corner of my eye, dragged it across my upper lashline, and finished the entire look within a few minutes. Say what you will, but that deserves a gold medal. Since the marker is tapered, I can press down on the corner of my eye and drag the pen without lifting up once. This results in a solid, opaque line. Having mastered both subtle and dramatic looks, I was able to complete my eyeliner training within a week and now I feel confident every time I do it. Sure, I’m still mediocre compared to everyone on Instagram, but for now, you’ll catch me with a moderately even cat-eye five days out of the week. L’Oréal Voluminous Liner Noir Liquid Eyeliner, $9.99, available at Ulta Beauty.