TikTok’s Latest Viral Beauty Hack: Creating a Smoky Eye With Lip Liner

As far as TikTok is concerned, if there’s an alternative way of doing something, then by all means, make a video about it. One of the app’s latest hacks that comes by way of Australia-based makeup artist Sabrina Walsh involves trading your eye shadow for lip liner. 

Walsh demonstrated the technique in a video that she posted on December 14 in response to TikTok user @agrayle‘s request to show how this eye shadow technique can be achieved on one with a light or medium complexion and “deep brown eyes.” She starts off by scribbling Morphe’s Lip Color in Vibes across her upper and lower eyelids and blending it out with a brush, then completes the look with a layer of Fenty Beauty’s Sun Stalk’r Instant Warmth Bronzer in I$land Ting. Walsh has also demonstrated how those with dark skin can approach the technique, which you can check out in this video right here. 

She tells Allure that the technique was the result of some trial and error. “I experimented with lipsticks as eye shadow bases first and soon realized they were difficult to set, quite oily, and wouldn’t withstand a full wear test,” she explains. Walsh knew that eyeliner would fare well as a good eye shadow base, but she found them to be “far too dark” for creating “lighter, more natural makeup looks,” prompting her decision to try lip liner instead. 

Dallas-based makeup artist Victoria Jameson also gave the lip liner eye shadow base a try after seeing Walsh’s video pop up on her For You page. Even though Jameson admits replacing eye shadow with lip liner “works in a pinch,” she finds using a cream eye shadow “would give a similar result with longer wear.” New York City-based makeup artist Kacey Adam Spickard agrees that reaching for a cream-based product instead would help create a look similar to Walsh’s, but he recommends trying “a creamy eye pencil with a warm tone” like Charlotte Tilbury’s eyeliner in Pillow Talk. 

Ultimately, Spickard cautions against trying out this makeup hack because “there are pretty strict guidelines outlined by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about what is cosmetically eye-safe.” Cosmetic chemist Ginger King echoes these sentiments and advises to never use lip products around your eyes. “The pigments are not interchangeable. One can get an allergic reaction such as swollen eyelids,” she explains. Furthermore, she says that if the lip liner has already touched the lips and has not been sanitized, “it’s also bound to have contamination.”

Ashley Brissette, M.D., an ophthalmologist at Weill Cornell Medicine and clinical spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology, confirms that there is a risk of infection if one chooses to use lip liner around their eyes. “The mouth harbors a lot of harmful bacteria that could cause an eye infection that permanently damages the vision,” Brissette says. She recommends only using an eyeliner around the eyes, but if you’re inclined to try out Walsh’s hack, she advises “disinfect[ing] the pencil with an alcohol-based cleanser and then sharpening it to create a new tip that hasn’t been used around the mouth.” 

As it goes for eyeliner, you should also be careful “not to pull too much on the eyelids when applying the product, as the eyelid skin is very thin and sensitive,” Brissette adds. 

Whether you decide to try Walsh’s hack or reach for a warm-toned cream-based eye shadow or eye pencil, either way, you’ll end up with a timeless eye makeup look that is perfect for everyday wear. 

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