Flip-Side Liner Is About To Be Your New Favorite Trend

The cat-eye sits pretty at the top of our favorite-liner-looks list. But, we all know this trend is damn hard to perfect. No matter how many times Alexa Chung tries to teach us her ways — or even if we flip the look upside-down — it's one that will continue to elude us.  That's why our ears (and eyes) perked up when we spotted a new trend at New York Fashion Week. It seems that plenty of makeup artists are forsaking the ever-popular upward flick for the flip-side — a line that curves down. So far, we've seen it on the runway at rag & bone, Suno, and Edun. And, not only does it feel fresh, but it's also insanely easy to do. 

At rag & bone (above), makeup artist Gucci Westman for NARS was inspired by Milla Jovovich in The Fifth Element and Jean Seberg in Breathless. "Rather than doing a traditional shape that kicks up, I'm making it go down, so it's more graphic and it's not cutesy," she tells us. It's subtle — the flick bends down ever-so-slightly.  Backstage at Suno (right), makeup artist Alice Lane for Maybelline felt that a typical liner situation "wasn't intelligent enough... So, we applied the liner, and then pulled [the line] out," she says. "Even if she has eyes that go down, it doesn't look sorrowful... This kind of breaks the rules of eyeliner, because it doesn't go up." Hers is a more abstract, dramatic version: It shows just how versatile a flip-side flick can be.

Finally, at Edun (left), makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury for MAC did a "nod to the mod." Again, the end of the flick slopes down slightly — which is exactly what tends to happen when we muck up our cat-eye to begin with. So, even our liner mistakes are becoming high-fashion! (Score one for the lazy-girl team.) There are no rules to how far your down-turned liner can, well, turn, so go ahead and play with the shape. You may be pleasantly surprised to find it even chicer than that feline thing you've been doing for eons.  See you on the flip-side.