Time to get creative with eyeliner

Backstage at the AW16 shows, make-up artists got graphic with a host of cool and creative eyeliner looks. Katie Wright reveals how to draw on the trend yourself.

Fri, 28 Oct, 2016 - 01:00

EVERY fashion month, there are — without fail — a handful of out-there make-up looks, and at the AW16 shows, some of the weirdest involved that usually tame tool, black eyeliner.

At Altuzarra, the thick, irregular scrawls looked like they’d been applied, quite frankly, by a five-year-old, while at Phoebe English, models appeared to have got in a fight with a felt-tip pen (and lost!).

But there were also some stunning designs that beautifully straddled the weird/wonderful divide, and which you can easily achieve at home.

So relinquish your quest for absolute precision and embrace what make-up legend Val Garland calls “the purity in punk”, with these rebellious techniques...

UNDER CONTROL

Flipping the feline liner trend on its head, bare lids were underscored with a black-rimmed lower waterline at Preen, Emilio Pucci and Rahul Mishra.

The effect was most subtle at Preen, right, where Val Garland described the kohl-crayoned look as “tough and cool... young American punk”, and boldest at Mishra, where liquid liner was extended to a sharp flick at the inner corner of the eye.

Crucially, lashes were left mascara-less, so as not to detract from the bottom-heavy vibe.

Urban Decay Razor Sharp Water-Resistant Longwear liquid eyeliner in Demolition, €20 (www.debenhams.ie)

BareMinerals 5-in-1 Advanced Performance Cream Eyeshadow in Soft Linen, €20.50, debenhams.ie.

FLICK FIX

Bringing the retro flick into the 21st century was make-up artist Lynsey Alexander at Kenzo, right, who described her creation as “naughty Japanese schoolgirls meet [cartoon series] Sailor Moon”.

It may look tricky, but the beauty of this liquid liner look is that the application isn’t totally precise, and you can vary the size according to how confident you’re feeling.

A tiny touch of glitter at the inner eye adds a playful finish.

Too Faced Sketch Marker Liquid Art Liner in Charcoal Black, €20, Debenhams (www.debenhams.ie)

Burberry Shimmer Dust Black Glitter, €24 (www.burberry.com, free p&p)

THE HIP CAT

It bares the strongest resemblance to the classic cat-eye, but by splicing it with a ’60s floating liner, the negative-space design at Oscar de la Renta looks thoroughly modern.

“Practise really does make perfect when achieving a gorgeous graphic eye,” advises BareMinerals make-up artist SJ Froom.

“Some people find using an ink pen eyeliner rather than a liquid liner is easier to control.

A tip for getting straight lines with your eyeliner, such as for a modern angular flick, is to hold a credit card across the outside corner of the eye and apply liner along the edge.”

MAC Superslick Liquid Eye Liner On the Hunt, €23, (www.brownthomas.com)

Yves Saint Laurent Couture Eye Marker in Noir Scandale, €29 (www.debenhams.ie)

GLOSSY POSSE

“Victorian, swampy, indie club kids,” was Sam Bryant’s inspiration for the Simone Rocha make-up look, where a dense black crescent across the eye matched the ribbon-tied Alice bands that some of the models sported.

This was a two-pronged approach: first, kohl pencil was used to sketch and fill the doe-eyed shape, then black gloss was painted over the outline to add an extra wet-look dimension.

BareMinerals Round The Clock Intense Cream-Glide Eyeliner in 8pm, €18 (www.boots.ie)

Dior Diorshow Pro Liner in Backsage Black, €27 (www.debenhams.ie)

FLOAT YOUR BOAT

Taking the floating liner look and blurring it almost beyond recognition, at Giamba, lashings of liner in the eye crease were reminiscent of Natalie Portman in Black Swan.

Start with a slick of Vaseline, then use a soft kohl pencil to gradually build the density of the line, blending out with a sharp liner brush to finish.

Oh, and bleached eyebrows are optional...

Zoeva Soft Kohl Eye Liner in Noir, €6.50 (www.zoevacosmetics.com, plus p&p)