Why I stopped lining my eyes in black

Often, we line our eyes in black. I guess that's what we usually see on models, in ads, and our mother tells us to "line that waterline!"

To the tune of Lay All Your Love on Me - ABBA

I've lined my eyes in black ever since I got my hands on a (not-so-decent) eyeliner. 11-year-old me would sit in front of the mirror for maybe an hour trying to get the line right. Maybe I would get it right on the left side but not on the right. Repetition not intended there.

And I would have a go at lining that waterline - absolutely terrified of poking myself in the eye and having to explain to my mom that I failed to do something once again.

So she would line my waterline, with ease, and I wondered what I was doing wrong. Maybe overthinking it? Women do it all the time and they don't poke themselves in the eye or make a mess on their waterline. And somehow it makes them beautiful.

But even after having my mom line my eye perfectly in black eyeliner, I still did not look beautiful. I didn't like it at all. In fact, I didn't like how my mom looked in black eyeliner either. I hated it! In fact, I thought my mom looked way more beautiful without makeup. I didn't like it when she put on makeup, and, from that day on, I hated when she put on makeup and then used black eyeliner. Layers of paint/powder to hide the true beauty that lie beneath. Why?

Now for years I've been trying to perfect the black eyeliner on the waterline. I would hide my work and perfect it at home but never go out wearing that fashion trend that made me look like a monster.

But now I've realised that perhaps it wasn't the trend that was off, it was the fact that I was using black eyeliner. They simply did not match my eye colour. I have hazel eyes and not a very dark rim around them, as many people have. Instead of 'opening' my eyes, they made them look smaller as they weren't 'lining' anything complementary. Those who paint will know...

I line my eyes in brown now as they will match my hazel eyes. No, I haven't seen it done, and no makeup artist has suggested it to me, but I think this is what is right for me. It will match my eyes and skin colour, and give my eyes the 'pop' they so rightly deserve.

I think my mom should line her eyes in brown too.