Eyeliner color: black vs. brown

Hi! I apologize if this has been asked before, I did a search and I came up empty handed. (I may just be a horrible searcher.)

I'm a make-up novice and I'm getting conflicting advice. I've read and have been told that for brown eyes (like mine, I'm Asian) brown eyeliners work best and that women with my eye color should generally avoid black eyeliners. On the other hand, I've seen many Asian women who use black eyeliners and it looks great. Should avoid this advice?

And I know that it's hard to be general when it comes to make up, but I've just read and heard from so many people that women with brown eyes should use brown eyeliner. Yet, I see so many women who don't.

Thanks for helping this confused novice!

Well, I have noticed that black can tend to make the eyes look smaller. Plus, you also have to consider the look you are going for. If you are pale, and aren't going for a specific, "goth-ish" look, then brown would be a better choice. Eye color really doesn't have much to do with it, since anyone can wear black or brown, but you have to take in other factors like skin color, how big your eyes are, etc.

Thanks for the quick answer, Solimar. That's what I thought as well, but I was just so puzzled by the general statement that brown eyes = brown eyeliner. I thought that I may have been missing something.

I have both and I dont see too much of a difference.

Its just how you apply it and the amount you put on.

Well brown eyes might not stand out much with brown eyeliner, so you could line your upper lashline with black, to kind of "thicken" well, visually thicken your upper lashes, and then line your lower eye with a complimenting color to your eye color. So, you may line your upper with black, and lower might be green.

I have brown eyes. If I'm going for dramataic eyes I will use a liquid black liner. I also like to use MAC's earthline liner, and a Clinique brown cream liner. It all depends on what liner I'm wearing. Black liner makes me eye lashes look super full

Wearing an eyeliner on the upper lashline can really open up the eyes, be it a blackeyeliner or any colors. But again, it depends on how one applies the eyeliner. If one applied a black eyeliner too thickly all around the eye area with little or light eyemakeup, it can give out a "gott-look". However, if one creates a smoky eye look, that very same black eyeliner can look wonderful and dramatic!

For daytime wear however, I do find that applying black eyeliner on the bottom lashline can appear too sharp/bold and can give a "gott-look" so i use plums and dark browns instead. I also don't apply eyeliner on the entire lower lashline, i only line the outer half of my lashline.

The thing with makeup application is that there are NO set rules. Makeup legend and guru Kevyn Aucoin has said this himself in one his makeup books (I still read his books every once in a while). One has to find a look that fits one's personality and what occasion to wear the makeup for. Some people are comfortable wearing bright colors for eyemakeup and some prefer to follow the natural look and use beiges/browns and other neutral colors.

Same is true with wearing eyeliners. Feel free to play with colors: try black, brown, plums, gold, greens, etc. They are all wonderful colors when applied well. If you keep on practicing, you'll discover wonderful results that would look great on you!

I like brown for a daytime look and black for an evening look. However, black is my fave

It kinda depends on what I'm going for. If I'm goign super casual or understated, I go for brown

IMO black should never be avoided. I love it.

You can mix it up with brown, or even gray. I have all 3 (benefit babecakes) and I prefer the black and gray the most.

I have about 20 different shades of pencil liner. My favourite's probably teal or navy. Black or brown? Why limit yourself -- they both look great in the right context, and so do lots of other colours!

black is too much, i only use that at night for a very dramatic eye look. at daytime i opt for brown eyeliners and white eyeliners. same with mascaras, i use brown mascara for day and black for night.

I use brown for everyday but if i want to kick it up i use black. Brown looks alot more natural than black to me.

I use black pencil and MAC fluidlines in blacktrack without any problems. It depends on you.

I'm Chinese and I know what you mean. I would say, brown in upper lashes is very natural day look. black on upper lash or a bit of bottom lashes area as well for a more obvious look

black is better for a night out.it's more intense

I always wear black eyeliner, I wore brown liner once... and it clashed horribly with my eye color (Hazel-Green) but black eyeliner always make the amber in the middle of my irises pop so well, I love it. It also intensifies my glasses, so my eyeshadow pops as well.

I use black all the time, unless I'm wearing any e/s shade of brown, and then I wear brown liner. Although, maybe I can wear either since I have blue eyes?

I use black a lot, I think it depends on how you apply it whether it looks like too much or too dramatic. I use brown eyeliner if I'm wearing brown or green shades of eyeliner, though.

black eyeliners make you look more dramatic than brown ones... but if u want a natural look maybe use a brown one...

i'm one of the dark brown eyed girl who uses brown eyeliner though