We all love the look of dramatically lined eyes, but actually achieving the perfect lines day in and day out is an ambitious task. All it takes is the wrong flick of the wrist to take your eyeliner from perfect cat eyes to redundant raccoon eyes. Eyeliner takes precious time to master, but we know you don’t have all day to waste in front of the mirror, you’re busy! What you do need is a bit of practice and the right set of tools.

We’re sharing our favorite eyeliner hacks to help you develop the tools you need to achieve the perfect eyeliner:

1. Begin with a pencil

Liquid liner should come with a warning label stating that it’s not intended for beginners. If you’re like me, there’s a good chance you struggle to get your liquid eyeliner to match. While you may never reach the nirvana of perfect eyeliner placement, you can set yourself up for more success by lining your eyes with a pencil eyeliner first. Once you have this in place, tracing it over with the liquid liner will be much easier.

2. Setting your eyeliner with an eye shadow

Struggle with having your eyeliner wear off? Try using a small brush to apply a loose powder or black eyeshadow lightly over your eyeliner. This will create a dark and vibrant look that should hold up for all day wear.

3. Fake it until you make it

Through no fault of your own, it’s just a fact of life that certain eye shapes are more difficult to line than others. We believe that everyone looks great regardless of their features, but it’s best to practice for your own eye shape. If you have monolids and desire to have a traditional eyeliner look, try using a gel liner to create an arch. This will give you that perfect shape and line. If your eyelids droop over your eye, draw a thick arched line above the natural lash line. Whichever look you choose, be sure to practice until it becomes easier.

4. Go bold

If you want pigment from your eyeliner apply, try applying a white eyeliner first. This will act as a primer canceling out your skin color and creating a clean base for your eyeliner and eyeshadow to pop..

5. Use eyeshadow

Sometimes the best way to get that long-wear and vibrant eyeliner is to use eyeshadow first. Simply use a small wet brush stroke on the shadow and let it dry.

6. Make your own gel eyeliner

The appearance of the pencil liner is often a little more subdued than we might like, but you can easily turn a regular eyeliner pencil into a gel eyeliner. It’s as simple as heating the tip of the pencil with a lighter. When it starts melting you can test the payoff on your hand before applying to your eyes. This results in a pigmented and darker application with control of a pencil.

7. Dot-to-dot

If you struggle to draw a straight line when applying eyeliner, start with small dots. They should be almost non-existent so that they don’t end being bulges in the middle of your eyeliner. Apply these dots on both eyes to ensure the perfect straight line and then simply connect them. Removing one dot that’s fallen in the wrong spot is a heck of a lot easier than removing an entire line.