Beauty: Learning your lines

Picture / Glenn Jeffrey

It's not certain how much eyeliner helped Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren and Edie Sedgwick with their careers, but one thing's for sure - it helped them get noticed. And with the mod look on the comeback trail, now's the time to go in for some liner.

Two things you don't want to do. No liquid liner with the upward tabby-cat's eye flick at the end - so dated and not even retro in an Elizabeth Taylor's Cleopatraf way. And no hard black lines top and bottom - far too Footballers Wives. A softened pencil is the modern way to line eyes.

1. Elizabeth Arden Fling/Flair Dual-Ended Eye Pencil
$34 for 1.38g

One pencil, two colours. Clever concept this. The soft metallic flesh-toned pink is best used to wash over the eye, and the flattering shade of army green at the other end is the liner. Soft enough to blend easily.

From selected department stores and pharmacies.

2. Becca Ibiza Line and Illuminate Pencil
$50 for 3.9g

First, the creamy, shot-gold sparkly illuminator floats over the lid. Then, for hard-core liner devotees, there's a black pencil that is also kind on the eye area and smudges gently. Edie would have loved it.

From Glamorpuss, ph (09) 524 4741.

3. M.A.C Delphic Fluidline
$34

Fluidline is a gel liner and bears no relation to liquid liner other than both are applied with a brush. This gives a lovely, long-wearing and smudgeproof line that, by nature, is soft and smudgy. It almost blends itself. As for the colour, this get-me-noticed turquoise with a splash of silver pearl is pretty special.

From Smith & Caughey's Newmarket and M.A.C Chancery.

4. Chanel Aqua Le Crayon Kohl
$47 for 1.4g

As part of the summer collection that pays homage to a girl on the beach, this metallic blue looks amazing with iridescent gold and pink tones. Chanel has thoughtfully included a sharpener, because a blunt pencil won't do you any favours.

From selected department stores and pharmacies from June 18.

5. Lancome Chatagne Waterproof Le Crayon Kohl
$42 for 1.2g

What an excellent colour this no-nonsense brown is. It suits just about everyone. The soft pencil, which glides on easily, can be smudged with the angled sponge at the other end of the pencil.

On top of all that it's waterproof, so it's ideal if you're caught in a shower.

From selected department stores.