If you ever smeared a half inch-thick circle of black eyeliner under your eyes as a teen—and didn’t we all?—then you already know full well how tricky bottom eyeliner can do. Do it correctly and you’ve got natural-looking definition that goes perfectly on its own or with other eye makeup; do it wrong and you look ten years older and ten hours more sleep-deprived.

Fortunately, applying eyeliner to your lower lid the right way isn’t actually hard; it just needs to be approached with a bit more caution. Get your freshly sharpened liner pencil at the ready, and you’ll have mastered the perfect bottom eyeliner look in no time.

Keep your lines thin.
Take a hint from Kate Middleton‘s worst—and perhaps only—recurring beauty faux pas and keep eyeliner on the lower lid thin and inconspicuous. The obvious pitfall of bottom eyeliner is that it can create the impression of dark circles beneath your eyes, which is distinctly undesirable. Keeping the line thin and soft by using the side of the tip of your liner pencil rather than pressing down is key for not enhancing under eye darkness (which, let’s face it, we all have).

Line only the outer three quarters of the eye, avoiding the inner corner entirely.
Adding dark liner to the inner corner of the eye “closes” the eye and makes it look smaller—that’s what you don’t want. Instead, use a light hand to sketch out a soft line just below your bottom lashes so that there’s a bit of waterline exposed to keep the area looking light. It’ll add the definition you’re going for without changing the proportions of your eyes.

Don’t line the inside rim.
Lining the waterline in black to define the eyes has grown in popularity in the past few years, but we strongly advise that you don’t do it, especially on the lower lash line. Not only will it make your eyes look darker and smaller (are we sensing a theme here?) but the potential eye health repercussions—infection, itchiness, and just run of the mill irritation—make it even more unappealing. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

Be careful about blending.
You want to blend the liner into the lash line and at the edges so it looks naturally defined rather than harsh, but blending too much can cast a grayish shadow around the area, which will again contribute to the appearance of dark circles. Blend upward and side to side, and if you notice the liner starting to make eyes look a little dull, it’s time to stop blending and start cleaning up.

Always clean up afterward.
Yes, always. Dark, smudgy liner that extends too far down past there lash line will make you look tired and worse for the wear, not bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. A tapered Q-tip dipped in makeup remover will get the job done, and clean up the area so that your eyes stand out the way you want them to—as in, people will ask you how to get the same look, not if you’ve been up all night.