Kajal (a.k.a kohl) can be used to different ways to make your eyes shaper. In this post, I will connected with some of the top talents in the beauty industry to bring you the best ways to apply Kajal.

How to Apply Kajal on Hooded Eyes

Applying kajal  on hooded eyes is a great way to make them more defined. People with large eye hoods often find it difficult to express their eyes. Kajal helps to draw out your waterline and provides an outline around the whites of your eyes. This helps your eyes “pop” and draws attention to them. The best way to apply kajal on hooded eyes is to apply it to the waterline.

In this post, I connected with Hannah Maruyama, a beauty professional and owner of YAMA Studios from Honolulu, HI and ask her to provide for me her best tips for applying kajal on hooded eyes.

Here’s How to Apply Kajal on Hooded Eyes:

1. Go from beneath your lashes.
2. Wiggle the kajal to get between the lashes to make the lash line look fuller.
3. Use a Q-tip, brush, or clean pinky to very gently smudge the kajal like liner. You don’t want too much or it will transfer to the upper part of the lid and look messy. Smudge out and slightly up.
4. Keep the liner on top thin, and if you apply any to your bottom lashes, start from the outside and don’t go past your iris. It will make your eyes look smaller and heavier.
5. If you do wings, make them small and smokey, so you don’t make your eyes appear smaller and also to keep the wing from transferring.
6. Set with eyeshadow of a similar shade and go!

Remember that practice makes perfect and in the case of applying kajal where you are working very close to your eyes, you want to work slowly the first couple of times until you get the hang of it.

The Difference Between Kajal and Eyeliner for Hooded Eyes

For people with hooded eyes, kajal can be used to make your eyes look sharper and give them more depth. That’s because kajal is applied to the upper and lower waterline of both your eyes. This helps to give your eyes an outline and “draw them out” from under the hood, making them more defined. You can add more strokes of kajal if you want to go for a darker look.

Eyeliner on the other hand, is used to help shape your eyes differently. For example, a winged eyeliner (cat eyes) can make your eyes appear longer. Eyeliner

How To Keep Kajal from Smudging on Hooded Eyes

If you have oily skin or watery eyes, there is a chance that your kajal will smudge thoughout the day.

Here’s How to Keep Kajal from Smudging on Hooded Eyes:

1. Before applying kajal, wash your eyes and pat it dry with a soft tissue. This will help to keep the upper and lower waterline areas dry and clean. If you have oily skin, this will help to clean the oil under the eyes as well, making it less likely that oil will come in contact with your kajal.
2. Dab some powder at both corners of your eyes before application. This helps to absorb moisture and oil in those areas and prevents your kajal from smudging.
3. Keep blotting papers with you and blot oil off your eyelids and surrounding eye areas throughout the day. Blotting papers are great because you can use them without worrying that they will take off your makeup.

Of course, if you don’t have time or don’t want to be to be bothered by all this, you can try a smudge-free kajal pencil.

How to Apply Kajal on Eyebrows

The best way to apply kajal on your eyebrows is to spread kajal on a eyebrow brush or mascara wand and then apply it on your eyebrows.

Monica Davis,  a professional hairstylist, beauty consultant, and founder of the MyStraightener, shares with me her method for applying kajal on eyebrows.

The application process should go like this:

1. Draw the contour with a sharpened tip first. Alternatively, you can use a hard, sharp eyebrow brush with some Kajal on it.
2. Apply it in soft short strokes and fill the brow area from the center of your face to the edge. Hold Kajal under around 70° angle to avoid applying too much product
3. To achieve an even layer, spare the product with an eyebrow brush.

Stick to these tips to achieve the right Kajal effect on eyebrows:

• Make sure you have dry or medium eyebrow skin – otherwise, you will over-grease it.
• Choose the right color – your Kajal must be 0.5-1 tone darker than your eyebrows.
• Don’t use Kajals with shimmer – this type of product is for costume parties only as your eyebrows will shine like stars.
• Sharpen Kajal to draw accurately – although Kajal is quite thick and soft, you can sharpen it to draw accurate lines. This tip is super-important if you have thin light-colored eyebrows or wish to make bushy eyebrows look sharper.

How To Apply Kajal as Eyeliner

Aleah Alvarado, Pro Makeup Artist & Founder of Haviic Cosmetics, suggests that the best way to apply kajal as eyeliner is to simply apply it to your waterline. If you have smaller eyes and want to give the illusion of larger, brighter eyes! Simply apply kajal eyeliner only to your waterline for that extra boost.

Below are 2 great eye makeup styles that you can try using Kajal as eyeliner.

Aleah recommends that you warm up the kajal eyeliner stick by holding it over a low flame so the product is easier to manipulate. Ensure that you let the kajal cool to a warm touch before using.

How to Make Cat Eyes with Kajal

1. Swipe an angled makeup brush over the kajal eyeliner
2. Use your lower lash line as a guide to draw a line at an angle going upwards towards your brow. Always start in smaller strokes and build up. Focus on the tip of your eyebrow to gage the proper angle placement of your line.
3. Look straight in a mirror and draw a line starting from the center of your pupil outwards to meet the end point of the first line.
4. Draw another line starting from the corner of your eye to meet the second line. Remember, small thin strokes are best.
5. Time to fill in! Use the same angle brush or the kajal eyeliner to fill in the spaces.

How to Make Smokey Eyes with Kajal

1. Swipe a flat eyeshadow brush over the kajal eyeliner
2. Apply on your eyelid starting from the inner corner towards the edge of your eye and build upwards. Be sure not to apply any product above your crease
3. Grab an eyeshadow blending brush and work, work, work. Swipe back and forth starting from the center of your eyelid and outward so there are no smudges or patches. Lightly blend the product from your inner eyelid towards the center using a smaller eyeshadow blending brush.
4. Optional: apply false eyelashes to really enhance that smoke and strut your stuff!

How to Apply Kajal in Eyes Having Dark Circles

Kerrin Jackson, a seasoned makeup artist (with 3 Emmy nominations) and founder of Utter Musings, shares with me that the best way to apply kajal in eyes having dark circles is to first apply kajal on your lower-lid waterline, upper eyelid waterline and then apply concealer around your eyes.

Note: If you have sensitive eyes, or is someone that tends to “tear up” easily, this may be a look that you should avoid altogether. Watery eyes makes kajal smudge easily, making this look a bit more challenging to achieve.

Here’s What You Need To Do:

1. Hold your lower eyelid down, using a gentle amount of pressure with your non-dominant hand.
2. Apply the kajal along the lower eyelid waterline (the eye area inside your lashes that meets the surface of your eyelid) until you have covered the area.
3. Repeat along the upper eyelid waterline, if this is the desired look you are going for.
4. Once you are happy with your application, and everything looks clean, you can move onto applying your concealer around your eyes. Use a cream product for this step as it is likely to last longer and be wax based, as opposed to water based. This will last longer, and lead to less chance of any muddying of the makeup over the course of time. The last thing you want is to have your kajal mix with you skin toned makeup and get that grey, messy under eye area that no-one is trying to achieve!
5. Once you have corrected under the eye, you can continue to applying you foundation or concealer over the top. Be sure to use a gentle, rolling or “stippling” motion (gentle, quick tapping action) that will not disturb the makeup you have already applied.
6. When finished with your foundation, you can powder everything and move onto your lips, or whatever else you fancy to complete your look to go with your beautiful, dramatic kajal eyes!

Tips For Applying Kajal in Eyes Having Dark Circles: 

• Setting this with powder is not recommended as the powder may get in your eyes, and can lead to irritation or dry eyes.
• Avoid applying the kajal any lower than your lash line on the bottom lashes. This will cause bleeding and look unsightly. If you do happen to go outside the lines, use a product like Makeup Forever Sensai. You can use it with a cotton swab to clean up any mishaps, and allow re-application of makeup straight over the top with ease. The same applies to your top eyelid and not bringing the kajal past your lashes onto your eyelid.
• When you are dealing with dark circles, it’s important to use the appropriate corrector color to cancel out the tone of the color the skin appears under your eyes. For example, if your under-eye area is a blue-tone, you will require an orange or peach based corrector. If the area is a greenish-tone, you will look for a more red based product. If it appears purple, then you will use a yellow-based corrector. This step will help create a neutral canvas for the foundation to go onto, without the color of the circles underneath showing through. It will also help to create a nice strong contrast to your dramatic kajal eyes.