Eyeliner tattoo top and bottom: upper lash line, lower lash line, or both

“Top and bottom” is one of the searches that brings people to my profile. It is a fair question: many people line both lids every morning and want the same from a tattoo. The upper and lower lash lines behave differently on the skin, and the lower one carries risks the upper one does not. Here is the difference, and how to decide.

The upper lash line

Almost all eyeliner tattooing happens here, and for good reason. The skin is stable, the lashes hide the pigment in their roots, and a filled upper line makes the whole eye look more defined. It can be a classic lash line, with pigment only between the lashes, or a powder eyeliner with a soft band above them. The two are compared on the eyeliner tattoo page.

The lower lash line

The lower lid is a different surface. The skin is thinner, it sits close to the waterline, and it moves with every expression and every tear. Three things follow.

Spread

Pigment placed under the lower lashes can migrate slightly as it heals. On the upper lid the lashes hide this. Below the eye, a soft spread reads as a shadow, and a shadow under the eye reads as tiredness.

Colour shift

Thin skin shows the tone of the pigment through it. A dark lower line that looks crisp at first can soften toward grey or blue over the years, and under the eye that looks like a dark circle.

Harder to undo

A lower line that spread or shifted is slower to correct than an upper one, because the area is delicate and close to the eye.

What a lower line can and cannot give you

A fine, sparse lower lash enhancement, placed only in the lash roots and kept softer than the upper line, can make lower lashes look fuller. A solid drawn lower line, the kind people make with kohl, is the look that ages worst as a tattoo.

How I approach it

I start every eyeliner client with the upper lash line, because it gives most of the effect people want from “top and bottom” with none of the lower-lid risks. Once you have lived with a healed upper line, many clients find they no longer reach for the lower pencil. Whether a lower enhancement makes sense for your eyes is a conversation for the consultation, after I have seen your lashes, your skin under the eye, and any dark circles a lower line would sit on.

If you already have a lower line

Old lower liner that spread or turned blue is common. It can often be lightened over several sessions; the general approach to old work is in old brow tattoo turned grey, and the eyelid version follows the same order: lighten first, then decide.

Healing and aftercare

Swelling for a day or two, darker line, tiny flakes, a pale second week, the true result at week four, and the retouch at six to eight weeks. No mascara for ten days, contact lenses out for 24 hours, no lash extensions for four weeks. The details are in eyeliner tattoo healing and aftercare, and how long a liner lasts is in how long eyeliner tattoo lasts.

To see how a filled upper line changes your eyes before deciding on anything below, book the free consultation.

Questions about top and bottom eyeliner