You might think eyeliners existed since the beginning of time, but it wasn’t until 1920s that they came into being. Over the past years, eyeliner looks have modernized in the most alluring ways.
Hold your horses and scroll down to see what eyeliners looked like over the decades!
1920s
Eyeliners were just discovered by women so you can imagine how it went in the 1920s; a lot of experimentation and a lot of drama. Kohl liners were the first ones to have been used by women and heavy black eyeliner styles were trendy at that time. Billions were generated through the eyeliners by brands like Revlon and Maybelline. Afterwards, women started DIY versions of the Kohl eyeliner by combining soot with petroleum jelly.
1930s
By the 1930s, mascara along with the eyeliners had become a makeup routine. Subsequently, the sharp-edged heavy black eyeliners were replaced by soft eye makeup and slightly smudged, blended eyeliners with softer finishes. Women were extremely fond of the upper lid eyeliner looks! The liner was typically drawn atop the upper lid from the inner eye corners to the outer where it thickened a bit and then thinned to make a pointed end.
1940s
Eyeliners thinned to a point where only a thin line was drawn over the upper eyelid with soft, shimmery makeup and thick eyelash mascara for a bold look. Dark lip colors were worn to complement the entire eye look. Winged eyeliner style was introduced in this era as some women liked to subtly flick the end of their eyeliners a bit to enhance their eye shape.
1950s
1950s is the time when cat-eye trend started. By 1950s, eyeliners had been made available in colors other than black like brown, blue, green, gray and purple. Eyeliner styles included drawing the eyeliner over upper and lower eyelids as if tracing the shape of eye. Almond-like eyeliner styles exuded femininity and looked alluring. Even though a number of colors had been introduced, black still remained the most used one.
1960s
1960s eyeliner took the 50s trend and amplified it tenfold. Dramatic lashes went on-peak paired with the classic winged eyeliner. You might think falsies didn’t exist at that time. Shockingly, falsies had been invented and were highly in demand. Some women improvised with the eyeliner by creating a spidery lash look on the bottom lash line. It was the time when eyeliners with different consistencies were made available including cake, pencil and liquid eyeliners.
1970s
Eyeliners took a natural turn after the dramatic looks of 50s and 60s. Softer and grooved brown tones replaced the traditional black eyeliner styles. However, dramatic long, thick lashes still remained on the list of trending makeup essentials.
1980s
People in the 1980s saw smudged eyeliners but with a lot more pigmentation and depth compared to all the previous smudged eyeliner looks. Also, neon eyeliners had been introduced by then and people often drew neon liners over the classic black ones along with soft pastel eyeshadows to make their eyes pop.
1990s
90s eyeliners were all about thin, skinny lines just over the waterline. Moreover, there was also this muck look involving heavy black eyeliner around the eyes.
2000s
The eyeliner styles in the 2000s involved combinations of the previous ones i.e. bold eyeliners with soft eyeshadows, pastel shades paired with smudgy eyeliners, thin, winged liners and especially the cat eyes. The smoky eyeliner style took the lead in the 2000s.
2010s
Women went crazy over graphic eyeliner looks in this era. Pointed cat eye became the signature eyeliner style of the decade and women played with gel eyeliners to create different styles of cat eyeliner looks.
Nowadays
It seems that eyeliners have evolved a lot since they were discovered because nowadays, we see indefinite looks created with just a thin piece of cosmetic. Numerous types of eyeliners from plain black and shimmery to pastel eyeliners have been introduced now. Moreover, there are fascinating colors of eyeliners available in various formulas. Today, you don’t even feel the need to use eyeshadows because of the wide variety of eyeliners that you can get and the number of unimaginable looks that can be created with them.
Author: Aqsa Butt (@aqsaaa_buttt)
