80s eye makeup is all about using color to express your personality!
The 80s and Makeup
To understand 80s eye makeup, it helps to know the underlying factors that drove it. These eye makeup styles have a "hard" edge that is quite futuristic, or "space aged" looking. To see what this decade's makeup was all about today, look no further than Lady Gaga as she often sports the cosmetic look and fashion styles of this decade. If you want to take a look at how 80s makeup evolved, peruse Madonna's 80s look.
Creating 80s Eye Makeup
If you are interested in this particular style, these steps will help:
80s Eye Makeup Steps
The key factors to keep in mind with this eye makeup style is to one, exuberantly play with color and two, more is always more. The updated 80s' look can be achieved by:
- Gather All of Your Tools: Make sure you have all the eye makeup products you'd normally use to create a typical cat eye, plus a vivid shade of eye shadow to use as a highlighter.
- Begin the Cat Eye: You can use black, brown, or even purple eyeliners and shadows to create your cat eye. If you tend to have oily lids, sweep a flesh toned or light colored shadow all over the lid. Then, hold the eye taunt as you create the "cat" eye with your pencil.
- Be Bold: This is not the time to be timid. Don't be afraid to draw an exaggerated, angular eye (sharp angles are prevalent in 80s makeup). Follow up with a dark eye shadow if need be.
- Add Color: Now it's time to add your pop of color and it should be bright, if not shocking, color. Think bright green, orange purple or even red. Sweep this color from the upper part of your eye lid to the brow bone.
Additional Tips
- The use of bright color cannot be overemphasized; it's this color that signifies that you are wearing and 80s look. Color is literally the stamp of this decade. If it's bright, it's right.
- The rest of the face can also look very "80s" with the addition of blush (and lots of it) and shiny red lips.
- If you keep the rest of the face simple (minimal lips and cheeks) know that you'll be sporting the "updated" version of the 80s look, and if you add these cosmetics then you'll be showing a complete 80s makeup face.
Back to the Future?
They say that if you live long enough, you'll see almost all the makeup and fashion trends come back, and if you came of age in the 80s, and take a look at Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, it's easy to see that this may be true. Even the ever-beautiful, always stylish Beyonce was photographed wearing line-backer like shoulder pads; definite proof that 80s trends are resurfacing. And speaking of the 80s and fashion, Marc Jacobs also lifted makeup inspiration from the decade with his recent (July 2009) fall fashion show.
There, he asked legendary makeup artist Narciso Rodriguez to create 80s' styled makeup looks for the models. The end result was a true representation of the Cyndi Lauper look-layer upon layer of color. The updated version, however, feature streamlined hair and clothing, something the Girls Just Wanna Have Fun songstress would have surely have disapproved of!
Should You Try It?
To be sure, 80s eye makeup is a lot of fun and who wouldn't want to play with all of those fabulous colors? The key thing to keep in mind is that in all likelihood, this 80s resurgence is just a trend, and like most trends, are often better suited for the young. Young women and teenagers should go ahead and experiment with the look. It's a gloriously odd, futuristic take on makeup, and when one is young, there is no better time to play with color.
For those bit older, why not take the Brooke Shields approach to the 80s eye? Go with a full brow (neat and groomed) use shadow, rim the eyes in a neutral shade all around and use a pinkish/apricot blush. Top it all off with cherry or baby pink lips. This way everyone gets to take part in the trend while looking age appropriate.
