the "guyliner" phenomenon

January 19, 2008 at 1:00PM by Jill Percia |

As I sat in front of my TV the other night watching the Dallas auditions for American Idol, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. No, I wasn't struck by the man wearing the furry white outfit and cape, or the creepy brother/sister Opera duo. I was most shocked by this guy, Kyle, the school counselor from Illinois who wore more makeup than I had on in my junior high school yearbook picture (and trust me, it was a ton).

Now I know that guys wearing eyeliner is nothing new. After all, Pete Wentz, Benji Madden, and Johnny Depp are all fans of "guyliner" and in my opinion, it doesn't look bad on them. In fact, eyeliner can can be kind of hot on the right guy. But our friend Kyle got guyliner all wrong. It seems as if he'd either fell asleep in a tanning bed or used an entire bronzing compact before his audition. It looked like he was wearing mascara, too. And lastly, Kyle's hair was spiked and gelled to the very last millimeter. There was way too much going on. Guys who want to wear eyeliner should stick to liner, and that's it.

After watching guyliner gone wrong, I came to the conclusion that the rule of guyliner applies to the rule of girliner as well. If you want to play up your eyes with black liner, go for it! But please keep the rest of your face bare or simple, if you're a girl or a guy. Go for one coat of mascara, concealer where you need it, and tinted lip balm. And don't forget to keep your hair as soft and natural as possible, or the effect will be as scary as Kyle's. Or as scary as my junior high yearbook photo!

Love,
Jill, asst. beauty & fitness editor

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