My first attempt at powder eyeliner. It was fairly easy applying it to my upper eyelid. My lower lid is another story.

After finally getting the hang of pencil eyeliner last week, I decided it was time to give powder a try. Armed with the Laura Mercier Color Wardrobe, an angled brush I picked up at Sephora, and a few of Q-Tips, I was ready to do battle.

Actually, it was more tussle than battle.

On my first attempt, I pretty much nailed my upper eyelids perfectly.  I simply wet my brush, dipped it in the powder and pressed the brush into my eyelashes. Pretty simple and sadly, anti-climactic.

After last week’s challenge with using the pencil liner, I was expecting more of a challenge.

Why was I so afraid? This was easy.

I only messed up the outside corner of my upper eyelid. There is a reason you use an  angled brush! But I was able to fix it right up with a trusty Q-tip.

Then it was time to do the lower lid.

It looks OK in the photo above, but in person it was a hot mess.

First I applied way too much pressure. The brush’s bristles felt like pins. My eye started tearing, causing the powder I applied to run.

Drunken raccoon, here I come.

Did a few tears and eye pain stop me?  Nope. I continued across my eye. But my hand became more jumpy out of fear of pressing too hard again. The result was a very jagged line under my eye.  No amount of smudging could salvage what I did.

Feeling a bid defeated, I sucked it up, wiped away the eyeliner and went back for round two. Starting with my lower lid, I relaxed my hand and gently pressed on my eyelash line.

No pain.

My second try at applying powdered eyeliner. Once I relaxed my hand and stopped pressing the blasted brush into my eye, things got much easier!

I followed my lash line, applying the powder to only the outer 1/3 of the lashes.  Gone were the jagged lines and the drunken raccoon. Just a few strokes with the Q-tip and I was staring at one smooth line. Sweet!

Do I still think eyeliner is the devil?  No.

I’m a little excited about playing with different colors and trying more dramatic looks down the road. For now, I’m just happy I didn’t poke my eye out.

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• Eyeliner Is The Devil! (dot2trot.com)