As much as I love makeup, and buying makeup and trying new makeup . . .I also have a frugal side. For example when I walk into a store and see 15 new colors of gel eyeliner, I want to buy them real bad because how much fun is a colorful winged liner look, ya know? But there’s a little voice in the back of my head like “B*tch you have got 15 pencil liners in all those same colors, get a grip.”

So I pull myself together and think outside of the box, and sometimes I’m glad I did. This is one of those times, because as it turns out there is seriously no difference between a creamy pencil eyeliner and a gel liner aside from how they are packaged, you just need to know what to do. It’s super simple, ready?

Choice of brush is important. You want to treat the pencil as if it is just a pot of gel liner, so an angled eyeliner brush makes the most sense, but keep in mind that a very thin brush with densely packed bristles will be the best choice to get a nice sharp line. I like to use my Sephora Angled Eyeliner Brush, they discontinued it in the store but you can get in on amazon for a few extra bucks. Another good alternative might be the Japonesque Angled Eyeliner Brush, as it appears to be a similar shape and density. The moral of the story is, if you use a big splayed out brush, you are going to get a big splayed out line.

Ok now choose an eyeliner pencil. I prefer the Urban Decay 24/7 pencils because they are just my favorite in general, but any pencil that is very pigmented, goes on creamy and sets well would do. I’m going to choose my Urban Decay pencil in the color “loaded” for this . . .

Now simply drag your brush across the tip of the pencil several times until it has a good amount of product on it.

It should look a little something like that.

And now just apply is as you would apply a gel eyeliner! It goes on pretty much the same way, so you can get a nice sharp wing, or whatever look you’re going for.

You can also apply it straight from the pencil along your lash line and then use this method to create just the wing at the end, which is a fun way to save some time. AND you can use this method with a classic black pencil if you run out of gel eyeliner! It’s a neat little trick. Yay, fun colored liner!