I have loved bold eye makeup for as long as I have loved makeup, which is a long time. Back when I was still young enough that the best day of summer was the one where I collected an exceptionally large frog from an exceptionally large puddle and kept my dog from eating it, I read an issue of CosmoGirl and followed their instructions for a dramatic, dark, smoky eye. That afternoon I walked to my cousin’s house next door, painted eyes and bare feet ready to climb trees until sunset. My cousin’s brow furrowed. He stared at me blankly and said, “What did you do to your face?” It was awkward, but I was largely undeterred. I learned to reserve bold eye makeup for school and sleepovers, rather than tree climbing.
By the time I got to high school, my best friends and I felt like true makeup innovators. It was the early 2000s and we had virtually solved the problem of eyeshadow wearing off after just a few hours. You simply had to use chapstick as basecoat. Alas, no bright eyeshadow colors to be found at the drugstore? We just used gel pens. They were easy to apply and they came in pastel, glitter, and even metallic colors. Okay, I was never brave enough to do my eyeshadow with gel pens. But two of my childhood best friends did and I seethed with loving envy at their fabulous disregard for ocular safety.
Makeup has come a long way since the early 2000s. We can use actual eyeshadow primer rather than chapstick, and colorful eyeshadow exists in abundance, in the drugstore and beyond. My love of bright, bold, and playful eye makeup has only grown over the years, been nourished even, by the wealth of options and information now available.
Wearing bright eye makeup just… makes me happy! It’s like the sprinkles on a cupcake. Yes, a cupcake is great with just icing, but why shouldn’t I add sprinkles if the sprinkles are there to be added? ✨