Today was the first day in the past two (or three) weeks I felt makeup motivated enough to do something more ambitious than color in the crease, color on the lids and a little in the outer corner, and I’m hoping it’ll break me outta my current eyeshadow rut (*crosses fingers*).
I call this a “graphic cat eye,” and you may or may not remember it from this Buxom Eyeshadow Bar post a while back.
It’s an exaggerated version of cat eye liner (aka “winged liner”) done with colorful purple eyeshadow (instead of liner), and it’s one of those makeup looks that might seem hella complicated, but it’s really not at all. The hardest parts are probably getting the wing angle and the shape of the eye symmetrical on both sides, but if you go slowly and work in layers, I’m sure you’ll be perfectly fine.
Here we go! 🙂
First, I started by curling my lashes and tightlining my upper lash line with black liner…but you can skip that if your lashes are naturally curly (lucky you!), and/or you’re just not that into tightlining (oh, and I do both eyes together at the same time to keep them symmetrical).
Next, I lined my upper lash lines and drew a wing using an angled brush and a dark plummy purple eyeshadow, but I started by sort of marking in a couple layers first with the shadow and the brush head dry to get the general shape. Then I wet the brush head, dipped it back into the eyeshadow again and went back over the line and wing to deepen the color and create a slight gradient.
The shape, angle and length of your wing, which is probably a tad messy at this point, kinda serves as a roadmap for the rest of the eye look.
Next, to give some depth to my eye socket, and because it also enhances the gradient effect, I swept a cool brown eyeshadow into my crease as a transition color.
After that, I refined the shape of the cat eye with an angled brush and a different purple eyeshadow (all that really matters is that it’s different than the plummy shadow you used earlier), basically doing the same thing I did with the plummy purple shadow, by starting out building it up with a few layers using a dry brush head to get the general shape, then wetting the brush head, dipping it back into the shadow pan, and retracing the lines to slightly sharpen the edges (you don’t want them too sharp though).
At this point it looked pretty jacked up, LOL! But that’s OK because it should come together eventually…
Next I filled in the cat eye shape using a flat eyeshadow brush and the same purple eyeshadow from the last step.
Then I sharpened any remaining edges that still needed a little extra definition using the same angled eye brush from earlier.
Lastly, I patted a small amount of highlighter into the inner corners of my eyes, coated both my upper and lower lashes with mascara and lined my lower water line with a beige eye liner (I just felt like the bottom lash line needed something a little subtle there and bright).
Fin! 🙂
Makeup worn in this look
- Plummy purple eyeshadow — Buxom Eyeshadow in VIP
- Purple eyeshadow — Buxom Eyeshadow in Posh Purple
- Cool brown eyeshadow — Light matte brown from the Chanel Entrelacs palette
- Tightline eyeliner — Chanel Waterproof Eyeliner in 88 Noir Intense
- Mascara — Chanel Le Volume de Chanel
- Highlighter — MAC Cream Colour Base in Hush
- Cheeks — Guerlain Terracotta 4 Seasons in 03 Naturel Brunettes
- Lips — Urban Decay Lip Liner in Naked2, Urban Decay Lipstick in Naked2, and Buxom Lipgloss in Karen
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
This is freaking gorgeous!!!
Thanks Leticia! Happy Friday to you, and I hope you try the look (if ya do send me a pic).
Okay this is super gorgeous!!! I am sure Tabs will agree…
So would you say Buxom eyeshadows are worth it?
Hi Preena,
It’s Tabs approved, I think! He hasn’t scratched me (yet). lol
I really like the Buxom shadows from the new Eyeshadow Bar line. It’s the one where you can buy individual shadows to make your own palette! They’re a great deal and the shadows perform well. They’re like Urban Decay without the fallout. If you’re interested here’s the full review from a while back:
Take a Bite Out of Buxom’s Delicious Eyeshadow Bar: Customize Your Own With Six Shadows for $40
Let me know if you have any more questions. Happy to help!
OOO this is such a fierce look! Love it!
Thanks Sunny! Plus it’s kitty approved. MEOW!
I love this look. I’m so glad you did a tutorial for it.
I loooove this! I’m not sure I can pull it off but I want to!
Gorgeous!
WOW, I really want to try this (whenever I’m makeup motivated enough)!
Friggin gorgeous. One day, I will own a Buxom eyeshadow, particularly No Faux. So purr-ty 🙂
Even if I managed to perfectly follow all of these steps (which is highly doubtful) I’d never look as good as you do! I swear, I just cannot do the graphic cat eye look! It always looks off on me…
I think your cat eye is really purrfect ? I’m going to try it
So beautiful! And a great color.
Awesome eye look, thanks for sharing the method I am going to try it with pink.
This is gonna sound weird, but Karen! You have beautiful eye sockets! I am way jealous. I have a really hooded lid as a result of my fatty brow bone tissue that makes looks like these impossible to pull off. This look is amazing on you!
Ah this is such a fun yet easy-to-do look! Definitely going to try this. 🙂
Oh my gosh, so pretty! Will have to try playing around with this one 🙂
I love this! I definitely need to get more creative with my eyeliner, thanks for the inspiration!
Gorgeous look Karen! Must try sometime!
Can I ask what liner you’re wearing on your lower waterline? I’m looking for a nude liner that lasts specifically for that purpose!
Just beautiful! And my favorite shade of purple! Thanks for sharing, you make it look so easy!
Wow this is awesome! I’ll have to give this a shot with some purples in my collection I haven’t used yet. Purple looks stunning on your skin, Karen!!!!!! MOAR PURPLS PLZ