I’m not sure what happened in the ’80s, considering I was born in ’88, but the excess makeup and over-the-top hair challenged everything from the previous decades, and I was into it. Influenced by new wave music, Patrick Nagel’s illustrations, and probably some Jem and the Holograms flair, the trends were nothing short of outrageous with bold colors to complement even bolder ensembles (from the mall, obvi). Instead of blending your eye shadow into your crease, women layered colors directly on top of each other and directed their brushes upwards to impart a winged effect. I did this using a base color of Stila's sky-blue Cha Cha shade ($18), and the loose pigments in Darling and Royal from Sugarpill ($13 each). Start with the lightest color, and work your way to the darkest – I applied Cha Cha from my lid up to the crease, then went from the middle to outer portion of my eye in the turquoise Darling hue. I also swept Royal, a true cobalt shadow, in an upward motion from the outer area of my eye, and continued along my lower lash line. Again, sweeping upwards, I applied NYX's Cream Blush in Red Cheeks ($8), and I applied a crazy amount of highlighter over the top for contrast. I finished with Chanel's Melodieuse ($35), an ultra-bright hot pink.
This wouldn’t have been a true ’80s look without crimped hair, which is why I picked up Conair's Mini Pro Deep Wave Styler ($14), and went to town. I feel like this step is pretty self-explanatory – just work section by section, and tease your hair as you see fit. I threw on my Jem earrings just to let Synergy know what was up, and I definitely got weirder looks on the subway this day over any of the others.
