If you look in a mirror long enough or closely enough, you'll notice the inherent asymmetry of your own face. Everyone's face is like that. Personally, I have some wonkiness happening. Thanks to a middle-school volleyball injury, my nose skews to the left side. Thanks to genetics, my right eye is slightly smaller than my left. Despite all this, I — along with everyone else who does their makeup — strive for perfectly symmetrical winged liner, brows, and lipstick. We brush on the same colors of eye shadows on each lid, too. But if you really think about that premise, it doesn't exactly make good sense. Our faces aren't symmetrical, so why should we make the colors of our eye makeup symmetrical?
Lately, I've been thinking about that idea a lot — mostly because makeup artists have been exploring new options. More and more MUAs on Instagram have been experimenting with color-blocked eye makeup. As someone who has tried more lipstick and highlighter colors than, oh, anyone I know, I've been itching to try something, anything new, makeup-wise.
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My eye makeup routine has been getting pretty lax lately, too. I used to be all about the winged liner life, but lately, I've been resorting to sheer washes of rose gold and peach. Compared to the rest of my makeup — black lipstick! purple highlighter! — it's incredibly boring. To break out of this routine, I gave myself a challenge: try color-blocked eye makeup out for three days straight. Here's how it went down.
The look: Glossy pastels
Pastel eye makeup for spring is as predictable as a Disney Channel original movie, but it's still all over Instagram right now. I've yet to try the trend, so no better time than the present. Plus, I thought pastels would be a good, low-key way to ease into that two-toned life. I weirdly don't have the Kat Von D Pastel Goth Palette, which would have been perfect for this look, so I resorted to two shades of the
: M-26 (a sky blue) and M-30 (a sea foam green). First, I covered my whole lid with one color — from lash lines to creases. Then, I created flicks. I also etched it along my lower lash lines before swiping on mascara. Because the liner is aggressively matte, I added some shine on top with the Milk Makeup Face Gloss. For blush, I stuck with the pastel theme with the peachy Glossier Cloud Paint in Beam.
My biggest obstacle for the look was picking a lip color. With three pastel shades already on my face, I wasn't trying to look like a sheet of candy dots by adding a fourth. Instead, I went with the absence of color: black. Then, I coordinated my makeup with some colorful enamel pins and a crisp white shirt.
The reaction to my pastel look was overwhelmingly positive. Several of my fellow editors complimented my new look. My sister Kendall also texted me sweet words of praise over Snapchat. Later in the day, I was in the elevator with a bunch of dudes, and I caught a couple of them staring at me. It took me a good minute to realize my makeup was the culprit — not my Gigi Hadid-level natural beauty.
The look: Accidental Harley Quinn
For my second look, I wanted to pay homage to my OG inspiration for this challenge: Kat Von D. The contrast of the pitch black shadow and the neon green genuinely got me excited when I saw it come across my feed. The neon green shadow the makeup mogul used isn't on the market just yet, so I used the next best thing: fuchsia.
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For my black eye, I brushed a gray shadow all over my lids first. Then, I went back into my outer corner with the darkest black I could find: Stiletto from Too Faced's Natural Love Palette. For my pink eye, I took the same approach. I used a watermelon tone all over, then blended a fuchsia from the Urban Decay Full Spectrum Palette onto the outer corner. For lipstick, I choose the perfect dead girl gray a.k.a. Rituel De Fille's Forbidden Lipstick in Strange Creature.
This particular makeup combo was the hardest to dress around. My closet is filled with printed dresses and skirts, which I was scared to wear because I didn't want to be too too. As soon as that sentiment even crossed my mind, I freaked out and went on a shame spiral. We should never worry about offending anyone else's eyes in the quest to fully express ourselves, right? Still weary, I slipped on a white T-shirt and a black slip dress. I coordinated with some pins with fuchsia accents, though.
Before leaving the house for the day, I posted a selfie of my color-blocked eye makeup of the day on my Instagram Story. By the time I got to work, a couple of my friends commented on my Harley Quinn vibes. I've never read a DC comic before or seen Suicide Squad, so the resemblance was welcome although not intentional.
The look: Mismatched wings
If you're still not convinced that you should try color-blocked makeup, this is the easiest of the trio of looks I tried. Instead of drawing on two black cat eyes with the Kat Von D Tattoo Liner, I just swapped in emerald green for one. Specifically, I wielded the L'Oréal Paris Infallible Eye Paint Liner in Wild Green.
If I were on America's Next Top Model, Tyra would have criticized my safe choice. No one really realized I did something different. However, it was like wearing a new pair of fancy lingerie. Not everyone could see it, but I still felt a surge of confidence. This was also the easiest look to style, too. I didn't stray away from my printed skirts, opting for a vintage purple, black, and green floral midi.
I 10/10 would recommend trying color-blocked eye makeup. Knowing I was trying something new was like a morning coffee without the caffeine crash. I was excited to head over to my vanity and create the looks. I even flipped my makeup routine around because I wanted to dive right into the eye section. Usually, I do my foundation, cheeks, eyes, then lips. But during my experiment phase, I found myself going from foundation to eyes. Once I was done with my makeup, I couldn't stop smiling. I felt a new kind of confidence in myself — akin to when I discovered the wonders of black lipstick for the first time. I felt like the way I see myself, internally, was being reflected externally. Now that I'm out of my shimmery, symmetrical eye makeup comfort zone, I've been opting for more colorful matte eye shadows like bright yellow and tangerine orange. And let me tell you, it's so damn fun.
More trends you should try:
- The Floral Eyeliner Trend Has Totally Taken Over Instagram
- Everyone Is Shaving Their Heads This Season and We Are Totally Here For It
- Kim Kardashian Accidentally Started This Viral Instagram Makeup Trend
Now, go behind the scenes of Sienna Miller's May 2017 cover shoot:
