By Joely Walker
The monochrome eye got people talking backstage at Paris fashion week SS13 over 7 months ago. Why? Because it took an old classic and turned it upside-down (quite literally).
Black feline flicks across the upper lash line and a secret line of white liner on the inner water line has been a household look in make-up for years. A slick of black liner has a great way of making eyes instantly look more done and I always feel a little naked without it. Whilst white liner, when used on the lower lash line, makes your eyes look like theyve had a full eight hours sleep. So what happens when you switch them around? Lets see...
I started the day on precarious ground, feeling jetlagged and hormonal. Not the best way to feel when I have to experiment with make-up, which is usually my trusted perk-up. But in the name of the blog, I gave it a go anyway. The first thing I noticed was that it was really easy to do. You can be more haphazard with white pencil as you dont need to do the perfect line. I used Rimmel Soft Khol in Pure White, £2.99, to do the feline flick it had great pigment payoff and lasted ages. Next up was LOreal Paris Contour Khol in Jet Black, £4.38, a really soft pencil with a great texture to smudge in to the lower lash line to achieve the Galliano-effect. To balance out the eye this look needed a strong brow, so I used my trusted Nars Brow Perfector pencil which has a great angled edge making arches a doddle.
Finished - I was pleasantly surprised. And although it was different to what Im used to in my daily play-it-safe make-up where I only really experiment with lip colours, it felt, dare I say it, a little cool. So off I went to work feeling confident with my new look... and then I met my honest, trusted critics aka my colleagues. They were not as into my look as I was. Comments ranged from you look ill to you eyes look smaller and you look tired, in fact the only positive was well it definitely draws more attention to your eyes.
Mission failed. I think it would have worked better to use a flash of colour instead of white. More the Stella McCartney teal that Senior Beauty Writer, Amy Lawrenson trialled.
Verdict: cool but not for me. White is better used as a secret weapon to highlight and contour, not as a staple colour.
Best For: easy experimentation
