SIMPLE BROWN eyeliner is the unassuming product that defines Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard And Soft tour makeup. Now with over 61 million views on TikTok, the singer-songwriter sent the beauty community rummaging through makeup bags to recreate the look when she posted a tutorial for her “everyday tour pre show glam routine or whatever,” as she nonchalantly referred to it. But Eilish isn’t the only beauty muse to prove the power of the pencil, with Gracie Abrams and Zoë Kravitz also fans of lining their eyes with a flick of espresso brown.
Below, BAZAAR has curated the best brown eyeliners with pigmented formulas and rich brown shades to update your eye makeup.
Related: Define eyes with best matte, shimmer and glitter eyeshadow palettes
@billieeilish leave me alone i barely know what im doing but heres what works for me & what i do before every show on tour 💋🎂💌🎉👯♀️🎄🙉☕️ love you guys
♬ ilomilo – Billie Eilish
Best brown eyeliners to buy in 2025
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BEST AFFORDABLE BROWN EYELINER
MAYBELLINE NEW YORK Tattoo Liner Gel Pencil in Bold Brown
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BEST AFFORDABLE BROWN EYELINER
MAYBELLINE NEW YORK Tattoo Liner Gel Pencil in Bold Brown
$17.99
Billie Eilish’s pick of pencils, this Maybelline New York brown eyeliner delivers an intensechocolate shade. The pencil glides with ease to sketch a wing or lay down colour for a soft, smokey eye, before the gel formula sets for a long-lasting eye look.
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BEST WATERPROOF BROWN EYELINER
YVES SAINT LAURENT Lines Liberated Eyeliner in Deconstructed Brown
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BEST WATERPROOF BROWN EYELINER
YVES SAINT LAURENT Lines Liberated Eyeliner in Deconstructed Brown
$63
Smudge-resistant and waterproof for 24 hours, this Yves Saint Laurent brown eyeliner is ready for couture-worthy creativity and runway-ready performance. The creamy formula and deep espresso colour are paired with an in-built angled brush tip, which can be used to stretch eyeliner into a wing or smudge into a smoky eye.
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BEST BROWN GEL EYELINER
M.A.C COSMETICS Colour Excess Gel Pencil Eyeliner in Sick Tat Bro
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BEST BROWN GEL EYELINER
M.A.C COSMETICS Colour Excess Gel Pencil Eyeliner in Sick Tat Bro
$47
A gel formula with M.A.C Cosmetic’s Line-Lock technology, this pencil has a fine tip that’s best for creating sharp wings and crisp cat-eyes. It’s also a mechanical pencil, so there’s no sharpener needed to keep the eyeliner working at its best.
4
BEST BROWN EYELINER FOR SMOKY EYES
MAKEUP BY MARIO Master Pigment Pro Pencil in The Perfect Brown
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BEST BROWN EYELINER FOR SMOKY EYES
MAKEUP BY MARIO Master Pigment Pro Pencil in The Perfect Brown
$44
Created by Mario Dedivanovic, the makeup artist known for creating sultry eyes on celebrities Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez and Ariana Grande, this pigmented Makeup by Mario brown eyeliner is suited to dramatic eye looks. To adopt Dedivanovic’s technique, create a line along the eye, gently smudge up and out and then line along the lashes for added intensity.
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BEST BROWN KAJAL EYELINER
VICTORIA BECKHAM BEAUTY Satin Kajal Liner in Cocoa
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BEST BROWN KAJAL EYELINER
VICTORIA BECKHAM BEAUTY Satin Kajal Liner in Cocoa
$57
As a kajal eyeliner, this Victoria Beckham Beauty pencil is soft and smooth with rich colour payoff. This makes the eyeliner easy to apply and effortless to blend across the eyelid, lower lashline and waterline. The pencil is also available in a range of brown shades and finishes, including matte, shimmer and ‘jewel’ glitter.
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BEST BROWN EYELINER FOR BEGINNERS
ZOEVA Velvet Love Eyeliner Pencil in Perfect Cocoa
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BEST BROWN EYELINER FOR BEGINNERS
ZOEVA Velvet Love Eyeliner Pencil in Perfect Cocoa
$31
The Zoeva Velvet Love Eyeliner Pencil has a formula that’s light and lasting like a gel, but rich and blendable like a cream. This makes it the pencil perfect for beginners playing around with new eyeliner shapes and techniques. Just pick up a detail blender brush or angled brush and start sketching.
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BEST BROWN EYELINER FOR TIGHTLINING
LAURA MERCIER Caviar Tightline Eyeliner in Espresso Brown
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BEST BROWN EYELINER FOR TIGHTLINING
LAURA MERCIER Caviar Tightline Eyeliner in Espresso Brown
$48
For those seeking bold definition, this Laura Mercier eyeliner is designed to deliver pigmented, lasting colour to the lashline and waterline. It’s crease-proof and water-proof for 16 hours (so it won’t fade or settle into fine lines) and also claims to be safe for sensitive eyes.
Which eyeliner does Billie Eilish use?
In her viral makeup TikTok, Billie Eilish uses the Maybelline New York Tattoo Liner Gel Pencil in Bold Brown to define her bright blue eyes.
Eilish starts creating her statement eyeliner by carefully using a cotton Q-tip to remove excess moisture from her top and bottom waterline. Then, the singer tightlines her eyes — that is, filling in the waterlines — with the brown eyeliner and uses the tip of the pencil with a flicking motion to extend a small line from the outer corner of her eyes and lower lashline. To perfect the shape, Eilish then applies a matte brown eyeshadow over the eyeliner with a Real Techniques angled brush — like in the Artist Essentials set — and uses a pointed Q-tip to clean up any mistakes and sharpen the line.
Who should wear brown eyeliner?
Brown eyeliner isn’t as dark and dramatic as black eyeliner, which makes it particularly flattering for those with blue, green and hazel eyes and light to medium hair colours. The softer shade of brown eyeliner also makes it a beautiful choice to enhance delicate features and apply to fine skin around the eyes.
Why use brown eyeliner instead of black?
Brown eyeliner is a soft but just as striking alternative to black eyeliner, as beauty muses Billie Eilish , Gracie Abrams and Zoë Kravitz prove. Shades of brown aren’t as stark as black, which makes brown eyeliner particularly flattering for those with light eye and hair colours, and those with delicate features. This also means that brown eyeliner may be more forgiving for makeup beginners to work with, as it’s more subtle and soft.
Related: Nine of the best eyeliners to buy, according to an aficionado
