Why is it that people and their pets wind up looking alike? Do humans subconsciously seek out companions that resemble them? The dog on the street usually matches its owner. Think about it. Less is known about cats—probably because they’re not paraded around as much. Not so for Penelope, the one-year-old Devon Rex who calls Vogue Italia cover girl Meghan Collison mom. Penelope is all over Meg’s Instagram feed, generally in some envy-inducing state of snuggle with the model that makes you go awwww I want a cat... That oddball perma-wet-look shaggy white fur that looks like a hand went through it in the wrong direction, the fact that it can run around outside just like a dog!, and those big blue eyes. Up close, they match Meg’s exactly. Their smiles are also uncannily similar, no?
Variations of the infamous cat eye were all over the spring 2013 runways—at a recent Covergirl press event, Pat McGrath shared photos from short of a dozen shows (in a category she called “Gallery of Wings”). The cat eye itself is nothing new, but it’s how you do it, and how you wear it, that makes all the difference. First, skip the red lip, unless you are going for a very literal Mad Men throwback. In fact, keep the whole face pretty bare, hitting the tops of cheeks, brow bones, and inner corners of the eye with some creamy highlighter (Emily used McGrath’s beloved Madina “ Shiny Stick” on Meg) and dabbing Lipstick Queen's Oxymoron Lip & Cheek Color on, well, lips and cheeks. Dust a pearly pink shadow (we like Bobbi Brown’s new Caviar & Oyster holiday palette) over lids, sweep Benefit’s genius Brow Gel over those arches, and get cracking on the liner. You actually need two things: a black pencil, and a black liquid, because, as McGrath says, “Nobody can draw a perfect line all at once” (though, as we suspected, she stops short of saying “not even me.”)
It’s not rocket science, and there’s also no one way to do it—only some loose guidelines. Start close to the upper lashline with the sharpened pencil (we’re not particular—c’mon, a black pencil is a black pencil), start small and build, get the shape right, clean it up with a moistened cotton swab, and then trace over your steps with liquid. Alessandra loves Lancôme Artliner—of the felt-tip pen variety—while Emily’s all hung up on a rare Japanese vinyl-like wonder called Rubotan (usually available, though currently sold out at, Michael Angelo’s Wonderland Beauty Parlor. Call to put your name on a waiting list.) Makeup artists love a gel-pot-and-brush combo, but we’re too scared.
Also scary: figuring out how thick the line should be, where it should start, where is should end, and pretty much everything else about liquid eyeliner. But you know what we say? Just practice. Pour yourself a glass of wine, put on some Miguel, and have a date with the mirror. What’s the worst that can happen? You have to take it off before you leave the house? Oh, the horror. Nobody knows your face better than you, not even a makeup artist, so just see what looks good. Emily painted a classic shape on Meg with the Rubotan, but, feeling particularly feline, what with Penelope circling their feet, extended the ink slightly past her tear duct into a fine, wispy point. Total number of Bioderma-soaked cotton swabs used? 4. They’re truly the very best tool in cleaning up and perfecting a line. And the very best accessory? A pair of Maison Michel cat ears, or a real cat. Or, in our case, both.
Meghan Collison, wearing her own Rebecca Turbow x Verameat dress with a Maison Michel headband from Fivestory, and Penelope, photographed by Emily Weiss in New York on November 15th, 2012.
