Drawing on two sharp, symmetric eyeliner wings every day doesn't come easy to most. That's why literally everyone on the internet has come up with some sort of household hack to make the cat eye easier.
But which of these tricks really work? I, a known hack hater, tried five of the most popular to find out — and here they are, ranked from epic fail to "wow, I think I might actually use this."
6. A spoon.
Because, according to the internet, spoons can do literally everything.
This is the most uncomfortable thing to put near your eye. And I've applied concealer with EGGS.
Oh, memories.
Anyway, this objectively sucks. Using the spoon's handle to draw the bottom line is easy, but using the other side for the top puts so much pressure on your eyeball, you want to give up almost immediately.
I see where the DIY beauty queens were going with this, but the spoon takes so much finagling that it's all-around just easier to freehand. No thank you.
This hack was only salvaged by my ability to fill in what I couldn't reach with the spoon atop my eyelid. Plus, the eyeliner transfers onto the spoon and spreads to other parts of your eye, as you can see by the tiny line just above the wing.
The method here is to lather some eyeliner onto the open end of the pin and use it as a makeshift stamp.
Which, as you can see, will not do most of the work for you.
But it doesn't hurt like the spoon, so I'm already in favor if it.
It did, however, leave a nice little stencil for what I would call a petite wing. Not bad, but I also feel like I should take most of the credit here.
How good this one looks will depend heavily on how well you manage to fill it in yourself.
Also: If big, bold wings are your game (like they are mine), this is not the liner trick for you.
4. Tape.
A tried and true.
This is without a doubt the easiest to use, given that it's completely hands-free.
And it delivers near flawless results, but it certainly comes with its catches.
If you don't remove enough of the tape's sticky backing (by sticking it to other stuff and taking it off), it can really damage your skin. It can also take your foundation clean off.
Either way, it's certainly easier, faster, and less idiotic than the former two.
3. Sticky notes.
Sticky, but not as potentially damaging as tape. This has promise.
They make you look like an absolute GODDESS.
Jokes aside, the sticky notes will fall right off if you move your face too much or don't hold them up — but it isn't totally uncomfortable.
They do smell kind of bad, though. Like walking into an Office Depot.
And, you know what? It worked.
It was better and quicker than the previous three, and it didn't tear my skin apart. But it still can't beat my own freehand wing, unfortunately.
2. Floss sticks.
Formerly for your teeth, now for your face!
Much like the hair pin, this one requires you to create a makeshift stamp — but with this one, you can stamp on both the top and bottom lines and simply fill in the middle.
I was terrified the liner would get smeared all over my face, but it transferred to two thin, sharp, even lines.
To my disbelief, it worked better than most, and I was done in seconds. I was... a fan?
My only issues with the floss sticks were that they left small dots at the very outer tip that I had to clean up, but if I did this more than one day in a row, I could probably learn to prevent that.
They also don't really allow you to pick the length of your wing. So once again, if you can't handle a wing this wide, walk away.
1. A business card.
*not-so-subtle self-promotion*
Praise be: The business card is light and comfortable to hold, and I don't feel like a total joke while doing this.
And when used right, it WORKS. Legitimately, this is my DREAM CAT EYE.
*knife emoji*
It's quick, it doesn't stick to my face, and it lets me make my wings as big or as little as I please. DING DING, we have a winner.
Who would have though that I'd come out of a household-hacks post with an actual success?
I certainly didn't. Internet, you managed to prove me wrong this time.
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