Eyes wide smudged: Intense black eye make-up is in

1. THE LOOK: Intense black eye make-up – the messier, the better. 
     
2. WHO’S DOING IT? Julia Fox, who debuted some out-there looks over the last week courtesy of Pat McGrath and Kanye West. Chanel also opted for heavy black graphic liner and messy, smokey eye make-up for its SS22 Couture show.
   
   
3. HOW CAN I GET IT? Break out your kohl liner and black eyeshadow, swirl your make-up brush around and go to town.

Paris haute couture week has provided some intense make-up looks both on and off the runway this season, and they all involve a load of black eyeshadow and liner. First, Julia Fox caused a stir with some very dramatic black eyeshadow looks courtesy of her recent Ye-ssification (think Black Swan meets the Nightman from It’s Always Sunny). Designed by Pat McGrath, and touched-up by West himself, the looks ranged from a smokey wing that reached up to Fox’s temples, to a rounded, imbalanced graphic look that had people joking Fox’s make-up artist was being paid off by Kim Kardashian. 

Chanel then solidified the trend during its SS22 couture show. While the majority of models walked the runway with dramatic, sharp double-winged liner, others sported severe, asymmetric smokey eyes. According to Chanel, the make-up was actually inspired by the Constructivists, an early 20th-century art movement that reflected the modern industrial world with its austere and abstract style. 

Intense smokey looks also featured in the Schiaparelli SS22 couture show thanks once again to Pat McGrath. Wearing spectacular ensembles that transformed them into glittering extraterrestrials, a selection of models walked with heavy black eyeshadow which was sometimes paired with Euphoria-esque glitter tears.

While these black eyeliner looks are more dramatic than we’ve seen in a while, they haven’t come out of nowhere. This trend has emerged from a recent shift in beauty trends that favours a freer, more expressive attitude towards make-up. This approach is messier, more imperfect, more accessible to all skill levels. Think of it as the shift from Euphoria season one to season two – this is not Maddy’s painstakingly applied rhinestones, it’s Kat’s messy blocked two-toned eyeshadow look and Cassie’s sloppy NYE glam.

We’re also seeing the influence of the comeback of Indie Sleaze in these looks which are reminiscent of the grubby aesthetic of Alice Dellal or Effy Stonem the morning after a big night out, eyeliner still smeared under their eyes. You can almost hear the opening ooohs of “Golden Skans”. 

The good news about this new era of make-up is that, unlike the contours and cut-creases of IG baddie make-up, or the surgical precision needed for Euphoria-esque rhinestone application, it's very accessible no matter what your skill level. All you really need is some black eyeliner, some black eyeshadow, a brush, and a can-do attitude. Then head out on a big night out, down some tequila, fall asleep on someone’s sofa, and wake up good-to-go.  

Julia Fox’s looks were created using Pat McGrath Labs products, including the PermaGel Ultra Glide Eye Pencil ‘XTREME Black’, the FetishEyes Mascara, and the PermaPrecision Liquid Eyeliner. But you can really use any brands – we love Milk Makeup’s Kush Mascara for dramatic thick lashes, and you can’t go wrong with Charlotte Tilbury’s Rock 'N' Kohl Eyeliner Pencil or the Tom Ford Eye Defining Pen, a favourite of Dazed’s senior Instagram editor, Vanessa Hsieh.