Big, black circles around your eyes went out of fashion with ancient Egypt. Today, when applying eyeliner, you should keep it on the slightly natural side, no matter the color, shape or amount used.

Thick, dark lines around the eyes should instead be soft, and hues should appear harmonious with the lashes and lids. Wanting this look is simple. Getting this look can take a few well-used tricks. Whether you use an eyeliner pen, a pencil or liquid eyeliners, you still need to follow certain guidelines for when you apply the eyeliner and the colors you choose.

The first common mistake women make with eyeliner is in timing. Ideally, the liner should be put on before any eye shadow or mascara, but after powder and blush. If applied after the eye shadow, the liner should be lightly blended with the colored powder.

Painting a smooth, even line across both eyelids can be frustrating. The simple solution to this is to stop trying to create a single line. Use short, sweeping strokes with the liner to create the basic width and shape desired. This technique gives you much more control and much better results.

Trying to blend eyeliner in application or with a fingertip afterwards almost never works. For a quick, yet model-quality eyeliner fade, use a cotton swab and a tiny bit of petroleum jelly. Dab some jelly onto the cotton tip, and gently sweep the top of the eyeliner for a perfect blend. Always sweep from the inner eye out, which helps give the look of thicker lashes.

If you applied eye shadow before this step, you may need to touch it up after blending. Another reason eye shadow should be applied after eyeliner is that the colored powder can help hide bumps or dips in the liner’s overall look. Even if you do make a mistake, a simple sweep of eye shadow can fix it.

Generally, eyeliner should match the basic hues in your eye shadow. If you use smoky grey tones of eye shadow, your eyeliner should be a smoky tone, too, even if it isn’t grey. This doesn’t mean you have to use pastel green eyeliner with pastel green eye shadow, but it means you should pair colors logically.

Mascara should also be paired logically with eyeliner. If you use dark brown instead of black mascara, complement it with dark brown, not jet-black eyeliner. Remember, the perfect eyeliner should always enhance your eyes and lashes, never overpower them.