Makeup trend: an eyeliner line, connecting past and future

Over the last few days, we were utterly enchanted by the looks we spotted at the 2018 Cruise collections, not only regarding fashion, but also when it comes to makeup. Did you notice that the Chanel and the Valentino shows had something in common? So did we – and it’s a simple line of eyeliner, one which tells a long story, a story almost as old as the world itself. And that’s the story of eyeliner! Even though Karl Lagerfeld clearly drew inspiration from Ancient Greece for his show, his makeup choice definitely hinted at Ancient Egypt. If Cleopatra sprang to mind while you were watching the models, well, that was exactly what was supposed to happen.

Egypt was where eyeliner originated, as a mix of powders and animal fats that was originally used to prevent infections, to protect the eyes from sunlight, as well as to protect children from the evil eye. The most interesting aspect was the shape being used, which was forever called “cat-eye” since then, since it was inspired by this sacred animal in ancient Egyptian culture, and by cat-goddess Bastet. To see this shape get widely used in makeup again, we have to fast-forward by a couple of millennia, though, all the way to 1950. It was in this decade, with pin-ups, and later on, in the 1960s, that marking the shape of the eye with such utter precision became a massive trend again.

From that moment on, cat-eye eyeliner travelled all the way to our days, in plenty of different variations, and in different levels of exaggeration depending on one’s look. Adele turned her eyeliner into her trademark, Ariana Grande never leaves the house without hers on, and can you even think about Amy Winehouse without remembering her incredibly bold eye makeup? Our short excursion into the history of eyeliner ends with Valentino’s show, where we saw an almost futuristic, minimalist and very modern shape get used, which still remains easy enough to reproduce without the help of a makeup artist. Get inspired by the looks in the gallery, and all the best with your upcoming makeup tries!