How long eyeliner tattoo lasts, and which style suits your eyes

Eyeliner is the treatment people search for most when they find me on Google, ahead of brows and lips. The two questions that come first are how long it lasts and what it will look like on their eyes. Here are both, from the session to the year-three refresh.

How long it lasts

Eyeliner tends to hold longer than brows or lips. The skin along the lash line is thin, gets little oil, and sits out of most of the sun. Pigment there fades slowly and evenly. Most clients come back for a refresh when the line has softened, not because it has gone, and the refresh is shorter than the first session because the line is already mapped.

Three things shorten the life of a liner: daily oil-based makeup removers rubbed hard along the lashes, sun without sunglasses, and retinoid or acid creams used close to the lid.

The two styles I do

Classic lash line

Pigment placed only between the lashes, along the root line. Nothing sits on the lid above. The lashes look thicker and darker, and the eyes look awake without makeup. Nobody can point to a liner because there is none. It suits every eye shape, including hooded eyes and mature lids.

Powder eyeliner

The lash line plus a soft shaded band above it, like pencil smudged with a brush. It reads as soft makeup with no hard edge. It suits eyes with visible lid space and people who wear liner most days and want its base to be permanent.

Which one suits your eyes

Hooded eyes

A classic lash line, or a powder band kept fine and close to the lashes so it sits below the fold when the eye is open. A wide band disappears into the hood and reappears as a smudge when you look down.

Mature or loosening lids

A classic lash line first. It lifts the eye without drawing attention to the lid, and it ages with the skin instead of against it.

Round or prominent eyes

A soft powder band can shape the eye, kept slim at the inner corner and a little stronger toward the outer third.

Almond eyes with visible lid

Either works. This is the eye shape where powder eyeliner shows most clearly.

At the consultation I look at your eyes open, closed and mid-blink, mark where pigment would sit, and show you in the mirror before anything is decided. The fuller comparison is on the eyeliner tattoo page.

Why I do not tattoo wings

A sharp wing looks right for a year. Eyelid skin loosens with age, and a wing drifts, thickens and ends up pointing somewhere new. A soft band and a filled lash line can always be made stronger at a refresh. A wing cannot be made smaller without removal. I say this at the consultation, not after.

How it heals

Swelling for a day or two, mostly in the morning. The line darkens, flakes in tiny pieces, then looks lighter than you wanted in the second week, and shows the true result at week four. The retouch at six to eight weeks is included. The day-by-day timeline and the aftercare rules are in eyeliner tattoo healing and aftercare.

What it costs

Classic lash line costs ₱7,990 and powder eyeliner costs ₱9,990, with the touch-up included for both. A refresh years later is quoted separately and costs less. The full list is on the prices page.

To see where each style would sit on your own eyes, book the free consultation. Bring glasses if you wear contact lenses.

Questions about how long eyeliner lasts