Colored Eyeliner Is Fall’s Most Unexpected Makeup Trend

While fall is all about muted tones—smudged kohl liner, smokey eyes, and nude lips—there’s still one unexpected trend catching our eye this season: Colored liner. Even if your fall wardrobe lives entirely in earth tones, celebrities like Janelle Monáe, Rihanna, and SZA, are giving more life to the transitional season through brighter eye lines.

Monáe, for example, attended the Givenchy show in Paris with a dimensional look. But, not even her eye-covering pixie cut could hide her electric blue eyeliner. Her makeup artist Sheika Daley dragged a cobalt eye pencil (see: Givenchy Beauty’s Khôl Couture Waterproof Pencil) onto her lower lash line and even down her lashes. Meanwhile, her top lashes remained black for a two-toned juxtaposition.

Rihanna, too, was partial to primary colors. Except, instead of blue, she opted for a thin strip of red liner on her water line. Unlike Monáe, Rih’s liner encircled her entire eye on both the bottom and top water line, which just barely touched her cat eye lashes for a blood shot look.

As for SZA, a simple colored liner just wasn’t enough. On the front row of Jean Paul Gaultier, she channeled a look we saw on Solange in 2009: Uni-liner. While Solange famously wore pastels, like yellow, orange, and blue, SZA bridged the gap with pink on her eyes and chin.

This eyeliner style—which one may expect exclusively during spring/summer—has found itself in the crux of autumnal beauty. From green leaves turning brown to bright-colored eyeliner, fall is indeed one of the most colorful seasons (just made even more so.)