We’ve never been quiet about our love for a well-executed cat eye—after all, what other makeup look can take you from brunch to happy hour to a night on the town in one expertly flicked swoop? But just when we thought we’d mastered the technique with help from resident Byrdie makeup expert and Avon Global Celebrity Makeup Artist Lauren Andersen, she goes and turns everything upside down—literally.
Backstage at Nicolas K’s S/S 15 show, models sported matte, bronzed skin, brushed-out brows, and—wait for it—reverse cat-eyes. Andersen, who refers to this look as Saharan Desert-inspired, says, “The focus of the look is on the inner corner of the eye. The rest of the makeup is matte and echoes the Saharan themes of the collection.” First, she applied a wash of Avon’s Glow Bronzing Powder ($9) across each model’s eye, then used a darker shade of the powder in their crease to add definition. For the upside-down cat-eye, she grabbed Avon’s SuperShock Gel Eye Liner ($5) (which she says is “emollient” and “goes on smoothly”) and lined both the upper and lower lash lines, creating a downward point at the inner corner and extending it out into a wing. “Then, I perfected and defined the lines with the Mega Effects Liner ($5), which has a point just like a pen,” she says. We asked her for any tips for those of us less adept with liquid liner, and she recommended two things: Q-tips and makeup remover. “Don’t feel like you have to make the line perfect the first time you try it,” she says. “That’s what clean-up is for!”
What do you think of this look and would you ever recreate at home? Tell us below!