Makeup the Eras: The eyes have it

Bold, colorful eyeshadow defined 1980s makeup

click to enlarge Makeup the Eras: The eyes have it
Liesbeth Powers/Inland 360
Laura Rogers, of Clarkston, looks in the mirror at an 80’s inspired makeup look on Monday in Lewiston.

Sit back, close your eyes and take yourself back in time with me as we travel to the 1980s.

You’re in high school, sitting at a bulky wooden desk and talking with the class about the Reagan-Carter presidential election. Your teacher is writing tomorrow’s agenda on the chalkboard. The bell rings, you pull out your Walkman with AC/DC’s “Back in Black” cassette inside and take the bus home. You plop down on your parents’ gigantic floral couch and watch whatever was on at the time, but — give or take a couple of years — you were hoping it was “Three’s Company” or “Family Ties.”
click to enlarge Makeup the Eras: The eyes have it
Liesbeth Powers/Inland 360
Johnson and Rogers

Now, what did you look like? The fashion of the ’80s could warrant its own article. People across the country and around the world were heavily drawing their fashion inspiration from their favorite music artists. Musicians such as Madonna, MC Hammer and Boy George were some of the main style influencers of the time. Athletic wear, including basketball shoes, track suits and leg warmers, was a popular style choice.

The makeup in the ’80s definitely was glamorous. It was an era of embracing diverse products, all in the spirit of fun and experimentation, and wearing bold and vibrant eyeshadows was the epitome of cool. To truly stand out, you’d wear bright pinks, bright blues and bright purples, so that’s where I started with the look for this month’s model, Laura Rogers, of Clarkston.

Of course, there were variations of the ’80s look. Someone who didn’t wear the bright colors of the decade might sport a “rocker eye,” a look consisting of a gel liner you would blend all over the lid to create what we now call a “racoon eye.” To finalize the face, you’d add a dark lip liner to elevate the drama (a look not limited to women; think the goth look of The Cure’s Robert Smith).

click to enlarge Makeup the Eras: The eyes have it
Liesbeth Powers/Inland 360

The base application of the time was really just to look smooth, by applying a thin layer of a matte foundation and setting it with a light powder. Then came blush on the apples of the cheeks, blended out and up to the temple, almost meeting the eyeshadow. This technique (which is gaining popularity again now) was called “draping,” but you could also just call it contouring with blush.

Lips depended on what type of eye look you were wearing. The women sporting colorful eyeshadow often paired it with a bright pink or fuschia lip th at would also match their blush. The women wearing dark raccoon eyes often wore a nude lipstick or no lipstick with just a lip liner. One of my favorite takeaways from the decade is the fr osted/metallic lipsticks. The most popular color was a pale pink, but later some women tried matching their lipstick shade to their eyeshadow to really tie it all together.

There are a ton of options if you ever want to try a 1980s-inspired look. Here’s what you’ll need if you’re going for a traditional look:
  • Vibrant eyeshadows (such as neon pinks, purples and blues). On Laura, I applied a neon blue to the inner corner, blending it out with a neon pink eyeshadow. Then I blended it out toward the temple with her blush.

  • Bolder brows sculpted with a pomade or gel.

  • Bright, adventurous lip colors.

  • Glitter or face gems.
click to enlarge Makeup the Eras: The eyes have it
Liesbeth Powers/Inland 360

Read more about 1980s makeup fashion at these sites I used as sources for this month’s column:

history.com/topics/1980s/1980s

fashiongonerogue.com/80s-makeup-trends-guide-how

Johnson, of Lewiston, creates makeup looks inspired by different decades in U.S. history, using you, our readers, as her models. She can be found on Etsy at BlackMagicBeautyShop and Instagram @blackmagic._beauty.
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