Sixties Graphic
Cut crease, pale lip, all eye. 5 steps, roughly 20 minutes, rated advanced.
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The sixties put everything into the eye and left the rest of the face almost blank. A dark line drawn in the socket, spidery lashes top and bottom, and a lip that barely exists.
It is the most technical look here, because the socket line has to be drawn slightly above your actual crease to be visible with your eyes open.
What you will need
- A pale matte shadow for the lid
- A matte deep brown or grey for the socket
- Black gel or liquid liner
- A small pointed brush
- Strip lashes, and lower lashes if you are committing
- A pale nude lipstick
No specific brands. Any version of each will behave the same way.
Blank out the lid
Cover the entire lid with concealer and set it with a pale matte shadow so there is no colour and no shadow of your own.
The pale lid is what makes the socket line read as graphic. On a bare lid the effect just looks like a heavy crease.
Tip
Take the pale shadow slightly past your natural crease. The socket line is going above it, so the pale needs to reach up too.
Draw the socket line high
With a small pointed brush and a matte deep brown, draw a line following the curve of your socket but a few millimetres above your natural crease.
Check it with your eyes fully open and raise it further if it disappears. Visibility beats anatomy for this one.
Tip
Draw the line, then look straight ahead. If you cannot see it, it is too low, no matter how correct it felt while looking down.
Blend upward only
Soften the top edge of the socket line upward toward the brow bone, and leave the bottom edge crisp against the pale lid.
That asymmetry, soft above and sharp below, is the entire sixties eye in one detail.
Tip
Use a clean brush with no product on it for the softening pass. Adding more shadow will thicken the line rather than blur it.
Liner and spidery lashes
Line the upper lash line in black with a small, clean flick that stays lower than the socket line, then apply a full strip lash.
If you want the full reference, draw three or four individual lower lashes underneath with liquid liner rather than using mascara.
Tip
Drawn lower lashes should be short, separated and slightly uneven. Perfectly even ones look printed on.
Strip the rest of the face back
Barely any blush, no contour to speak of, and a pale nude lip in a flat matte or a soft satin.
Anything more on the lower half of the face immediately pulls attention away from the eye and breaks the proportion.
Tip
If a truly pale lip washes you out, use a nude one or two shades lighter than your own lip rather than a concealer lip.
See it on your own face first.
Two minutes of questions, one optional photo, and this look gets rendered onto your own colouring before you spend anything.
Common questions
It is drawn on your anatomical crease rather than above it. Raise the line until it stays visible looking straight ahead, then rebuild the pale lid underneath.
Yes, and it is one of the better options, but the line needs to go considerably higher. Work entirely with your eyes open rather than looking down into a mirror.
No. A softly smudged lower line gets you most of the way there and is far easier to wear outside of a photoshoot.