The ‘reverse cat eye’ is the chic new eyeliner trend that’s flattering on everyone
In case you hadn’t heard, we’re no longer wearing cat eye eyeliner on our lids.
In fact, the classic eye makeup look has relocated completely to our lower lash line for a flipped-on-its-head vibe that’s being coined the ‘reverse cat eye liner’.
And ironically (as far as trends go), this one’s had a bit of a tiki tour of a journey in the sense that the look was originated and well-loved by online beauty gurus well before it hit the runways of Paris by way of Dior. And now, it’s even hit viral status on TikTok, racking up a whopping 6.2 million views. Though, in all honesty, we think we’ve long before seen some of our Muslim brothers and sisters rocking similar kajal-centric eye looks come Eid, but we digress...
Earlier this year, YouTuber PAINTEDBYSPENCER debuted the look on his channel.“Today, I’ve created one of my signature looks: The REVERSE Cat Eye,” he said in the video. “This reverse cat eye is a fun and edgy twist to the original cat eye and I think it looks really flattering on everyone!”
Fellow Youtuber Hayley Bui even gave the trend a crack and experienced great success by utilising a combination of pencil liner and black eyeshadow, which she applied with an ultra thin and flat lip brush.
But it wasn’t until Dior’s haute couture Fall/Winter 2021 show this week that it became evident that the trend had really started gaining traction.
Creative and image director of Christian Dior Makeup, Peter Philips, was the man responsible for the grunge-inspired swathe of cat eye liner that decorated the lower lash line of the models as they strutted down the catwalk.
Image credit: Getty
Image credit: Getty
Image credit: Getty
In an interview with Vogue, Philips described it as “elegant and a bit edgy. It’s a very graphic eye, but it's got a bit of a soft edge.”
But it seems the look was – for all intents and purposes – a rather pleasant case of deja vu for Philips, who played off of previous runway shows for inspiration.
“We actually went back to what we did for pre-fall, which was an under-eyeliner, where I added glitter patches on top, which Maria Grazia really liked,” Philips explained.
“But, we wanted to do it in an intense blue using a matte black and with the colour Denim from the 5 Couleurs Couture [Eyeshadow] Palette over it.”
The front row is tagging along when it comes to the trend, too.
Zendaya Coleman pulled up at the Valentino Womenswear F/W 2022 runway show in Paris wearing an extreme version of the reverse cat eyeliner trend, almost a year after we saw the subversive eye makeup trick take centre stage at Dior.
Image credit: Getty
It seems the catwalk isn’t the final destination for this pervasive trend, either. Now that TikTok’s got its hands on the reversible eye look, it’s ascended to viral status with a stratospheric number of views (6.2 million to be precise) that won’t stop climbing.
PAINTEDBYSPENCER (AKA the creator of the trend) kicked things off with a TikTok-friendly version of the look (yes, that is Usher’s ‘Yeah’ playing in the background), and it wasn’t long before the duets started to roll in...
Now that it’s TikTok famous, you should probably learn how to nail the reverse cat eye eyeliner trend...
It would seem you’re in the market for a new eyeliner. These are the 10 best eyeliners for any occasion.
Main image credit: Getty
Briar Clark got her start in the media industry in 2017, as an intern for Marie Claire and InStyle. Since then, her keen interest in fashion and beauty has landed her gigs as a Digital Content Producer and Beauty Editor with titles like Girlfriend, Refinery29, BEAUTYcrew and beautyheaven. She loves the way seemingly innocuous topics like skin care and style have the ability to put a smile on people’s faces or make them think about themselves a little differently. A big believer in self love and experimentation, Briar has made a point of becoming the Australian beauty industry’s unofficial guinea pig for unusual treatments and daring hair trends. When she’s not testing out the latest beauty launches, Briar is big on broadening her horizons, mostly in the form of food but she’s also partial to travelling to new destinations both near and far (and of course, allocating an extra bag to bring their best beauty offerings home with her).
