Help please! Liquid Liner Tutorials!

I can do eyeliner pencils, shadow liners, gel eyeliner, I can even do pen liner--but there is one thing that consistently eludes me: True liquid liner. Which is a shame, really, because nothing is as crisp and long-lasting, as 60s-ish and Catherine Deneuve-ian. But seriously, how the hell do you do it?

Because EVERY time I try--no matter what the brand--I get oil-sludgy globules stuck in my lashes, which I then try to pull off, which then tattoo themselves semi-permanently to my fingertips, which I inevitably end up smearing sootily across my face--so the end result is me looking like a chimney sweep or a coal miner or a turn-of-the-century newsie, decidedly NOT a teenage Catherine Deneuve.

If you've got liquid eyeliner secrets--application tips, product recs, zen mantras you tell yourself when you mess up for the kajillionth time--give 'em here, please.

More from Luckymag.com:

Beauty Spy: Black + Shimmer

Lollapalooza Style: Cat's 3 Favorite Eyeliners for a Rock 'n Roll Look