The cat eye makeup look is one that is fun and surprisingly simple to create. You can easily wing your eyeliner to transform your day look into a nighttime look instantly. You could also spark it up by adding metallic eyeliner, dark eyeshadow, false eyelashes with sequins, or any other fun extras you can think of. First, let’s follow one technique to create a basic cat eye with liquid eyeliner.

You will need liquid eyeliner to create this look. My favorites include Wet ‘N Wild liquid eyeliner ($2) which has a brush tip, and Lancôme Artliner ($28) which has a pointed sponge tip. Don’t worry too much about getting trivial amounts in your eye when applying, as most reputable liquid eyeliners are ophthalmologist-tested and hypoallergenic, which means they are safe for contact lens wearers and shouldn’t irritate your eyes.

Be sure to brush off any excess liquid eyeliner on the product tube before applying to avoid loading too much onto your eyes. If you have trouble applying liquid eyeliner, it’s okay to draw your cat eye first with pencil eyeliner then trace over with liquid. Also, if your eyes tear easily, it’s okay to use liquid only on your top lash line and use pencil eyeliner to line your bottom lid.

1. Prep your eyelid by applying matte foundation and/or an eyeshadow primer. This helps to keep liquid eyeliner from smearing or fading easily.

2. Using brown or black liquid eyeliner, start in the middle of your lash line and glide your liner out past your eye a bit. I find that tracing your lash line closely keeps the line straight, and you can always go back and add more to get the line to your desired thickness.

3. Now, go back and start from your inner eye and glide the liner across until it meets the line you just made.

4. To get a perfectly winged cat eye, carefully extend the liner up to a point and fill in or trace over any uneven spaces.

Remember, practice makes perfect! Your cat eye can be as subtle or dramatic as you'd like it to be. Play around and have fun with this look.