Beauty NARS Eye Pencil Guide: Smoky Eyes With Kohl and Gel Liners
An educational guide from the Beauty AMZ research team. No hard sell, just what you need to know.
A short history of the smoky eye
The smoky eye has survived every beauty trend cycle for over a century because it does something no other eye look does: it adds depth and mystery while suiting every eye shape. Kohl-rimmed eyes date back to ancient Egypt, where darkened eyes signaled both beauty and protection. The modern smoky eye crystallized in the 1920s with the vamp look, returned with 1960s mod Twiggy-adjacent drama, and became the default evening eye of the 2000s. NARS and its contemporaries pushed the look toward lived-in, rock-and-roll smudginess rather than precise cut-crease perfection. Today's smoky eye is softer and more wearable than its predecessors, blended diffused rather than drawn sharp, which is exactly why the pencil, the original smoky tool, is back at the center of the technique.
The gradient: anatomy of a perfect smoke
A convincing smoky eye is a gradient with three zones. The darkest color hugs the lash line, creating the depth that defines the look. The medium tone blends through the middle of the lid, transitioning the dark base into skin. The lightest touch, often just clean skin or a soft highlight, sits at the brow bone to keep the look lifted rather than heavy. The transitions between zones should be invisible, which is why blending brushes matter as much as the pencil. Work in thin layers: it is easy to add more darkness, but nearly impossible to remove it without starting over. The lower lash line gets a scaled-down version of the same gradient, connected to the upper at the outer corner. Step back from the mirror frequently; smoky eyes look different at arm's length than they do six inches from the glass.
Locking dramatic liner for long wear
Dramatic liner fails in predictable ways: creasing on oily lids, migrating on the lower line, and fading at the outer corners. Each has a fix. Creasing is prevented by primer and by keeping heavy cream products off the lid before liner. Lower line migration is controlled with waterproof formulas set with powder. Outer corner fading, caused by the natural movement of smiling and blinking, is fixed by carrying the pencil for a quick evening touch-up rather than over-applying in the morning. Setting spray is the final seal, but it must be applied with eyes closed and from at least eight inches away to avoid disturbing the blend. With these layers of insurance, a pencil smoky eye genuinely lasts from desk to dance floor.
Recommended Products
These are the products our research team rates highest in this category.
Best for: Everyday color variety across eyes, lips, and brows
ZITAINY 12-Color Waterproof Eyeliner and Lip Liner Pencil Set
- Twelve waterproof matte shades in one affordable set
- Tri-use design works as eyeliner, lip liner, and brow pencil
- Strong pigment payoff with long-lasting smudge-resistant wear
- Hook-line pen tip helps outline and define with control
Pros
- One set covers liner, lip, and brow needs
- Waterproof formula holds through long days
- Twelve shades for around nine dollars is strong value
Cons
- Matte finish only, no shimmer options in the set
- Pencils need sharpening, no retractable mechanism
- Color payoff varies slightly across the twelve shades
Best for: Colorful creative eye looks on a budget
muxou 14 Pack Waterproof Colored Gel Eyeliner Pencils
- Fourteen shimmering shades in one set
- Waterproof gel formula resists smudging
- Smooth glide for easy application
- Dermatologist tested for sensitive eyes
Pros
- Unbeatable variety for the price
- Fun metallic and shimmer finishes
- Great for experimenting with color
Cons
- Quality varies across shades
- Not as pigmented as prestige singles
- Bulk packaging, less portable
Ready to Choose?
See our top product picks for nars eye pencil, or jump straight to the head-to-head comparison of the two most popular options.
The 90s brown-liner ombre technique, done right
The 90s brown-liner look is driving liner sales again, and most tutorials get the technique half right. The structure: a deeper brown liner defines the outer edges and corners, while a lighter shade fills the center. The part everyone skips is the blending. Without blending, you get a harsh outline; with too much, you get mud. The method that works: line the outer two-thirds of the lips with the deeper shade, fill the center third with the lighter shade, then press the lips together twice and blend only the boundary with a clean fingertip or brush. Two presses, not ten.
Product pairing matters. A creamy liner blends into an ombre; a dry, waxy one leaves visible borders. For the smoky-eye context of this guide, the same gradient logic applies around the eyes: deeper liner at the outer corner blended inward reads modern, while uniform heavy liner all around reads costume. The NARS eye pencil buyer guide covers the pencil lineup, and the black eye pencil guide shows the gradient technique on the eyes themselves.
Wearing liner alone as the full lip color
The minimalist "liner only" look, wearing lip liner across the whole lip as the color, is an underrated technique that almost no guide covers properly. Not every liner works solo. The best candidates are creamy, pigmented formulas that do not drag: dry liners worn full-lip crack within the hour. Fill the entire lip with the liner using the side of the pencil, not the tip, then blot once and press a tiny amount of balm into the center. The result is a lived-in, stained effect that looks intentional rather than unfinished.
The setting step is what separates a good liner-only lip from a patchy one. After filling, dust the faintest veil of translucent powder over the lips through a tissue, then reapply a sheer layer of the liner to the center. This sandwich makes the color last hours longer without the dryness of a liquid lipstick. Liner-only wear also solves the "invisible ring" problem by eliminating it: when the liner is the lipstick, nothing can outlast anything else. The NARS pencil comparison shows which formulas have the creaminess for full-lip wear.