Alexa Chung/Indie Chick Eyeliner FOTD

Alexa Chung

Alexa Chung is a British model, television presenter and "IT girl". She's the current host of 'Frock Me', a fashion and music television series. A clip from 'Frock Me' featuring Lily Allen can be seen here:

Silly me, I thought it'd be fun to try to recreate one of Alexa's signature looks. It's become a popular look amongst the young, hip fashion set in London. It's a little rock & roll while still being chic. The silly me part comes in because I'm comparing my face with a model's. Not to mention the 10+ year age difference between us. 

But I did it anyway. This look is very simple but still packs a punch. Her skin looks very natural and fresh, brows are dark and groomed but not overly polished and she's not wearing much else besides eyeliner. The eyeliner is the star of the show though. It's 60s cat eye, punk rock and chicly edgy all at once. What she's done is line both the top and bottom of her eyes with black liquid liner. And that's all she's wearing on her eyes. No eyeshadow, contouring, maybe a touch of highlight on the browbone but that's it.

So here's my recreation.

I'm wearing a bit of foundation and concealer, but only to get rid of my skin's oily sheen and to cover up the redness in my cheeks and t-zone. I used a bit of concealer on my undereye area and on any areas not covered by the foundation. My skin isn't as perfect as Alexa's but then, she's in her 20s and has access to all kinds of skin treatments and products that I don't.

Using an angle brush (MAC) I drew on the eyeliner in a thin line along my lashline to just at the corner of my eye, moving from the inside out. I find it helpful at this point to turn my brush around draw from the outside in. I gently and gradually extended the tail out and slightly up. I went over the outer edge of the liner to thicken it. My eyes are rounder than Alexa's, who has a natural cat eye shape to her eyes. Her eyeliner is thicker all along her lashline, whereas mine starts thin and gets thick. Eyeliner, like any other make-up should suit the eye of the person who's wearing it. 

Underneath my eye I used a very small brush (one I salvaged from my watercolour painting days) to softly brush the eyeliner for a somewhat softer, but still dramatic line. In the photo of Alexa, it appears that her liner stops at about the halfway point beneath her eye but I pulled mine further across. This is more flattering on me since my under eye area is soft and there's quite a bit of my lower waterline showing. If I were to wear this look out I would likely use black pencil liner on my waterline.

Ooops, mascara smears on my eyelid.

I used black mascara on my upper lashes only. I have pretty full lower lashes and adding mascara to them would take away from the strong line of the eyeliner. My bare lashes alone aren't ideal for this look, but there's nothing I can do about them. 

I used no blush or highlight and on my lips is a sheer, shiny lipstick (MAC Plink!).

Here's what I used:

Thin artist's brush and MAC 263 - wet from washing.

MAC Fluidline in Blacktrak

Maybelline Great Lash in Blackest Black

MAC Plink! (Lustre)

MAC Plink! (Lustre) swatched

I'm not sure what I think of this look on me. I love the idea of it but it's a bit harsh on me, particularly with the liquid liner under my eye. I might rock it on a night out with some added black liner on my waterline and some shimmer on my cheeks. 

This look could be done with eyeshadow for a softer look and with other colours such as brown, grey, purple, green or blue for a different effect. Black is always the choice to achieve chic and dramatic though. 

What do you think? Do you love this look?

C.