The Eyes Have It: Why Bold, Playful Makeup Is Taking Over the Runways

For the better part of a decade, the “clean girl” aesthetic has ruled the beauty world — dewy skin, barely-there brows, a slick of gloss and not much else. That quiet restraint is officially being shown the door. On the runways previewing Spring/Summer 2027 collections, eyes have become the main event again, and they are anything but subtle.

From neon-smudged lids at Gucci to glittering winged liner at Dior, makeup artists working backstage this season sent a clear message: if you’re only going to do one thing with your face, make it your eyes. The shift marks one of the more dramatic pivots in beauty trends in recent memory, trading minimalism for maximalism in a single season.

At Gucci, makeup artist Sam Visser set the tone with a smoked-out eye rendered in jolts of cobalt, yellow, turquoise and pink — a look industry insiders are already calling the season’s north star. It’s a far cry from the soft bronze smoky eyes that have dominated red carpets and TikTok tutorials alike for years. Instead, it leans into color theory as a statement, treating the eye socket like a canvas rather than something to be camouflaged.

Jonathan Anderson’s debut season at Dior took a different, more restrained route to the same bold conclusion. Makeup artist Peter Philips kept the base minimal and fresh, but punctuated it with glittering winged eyes — proof that drama doesn’t always require color; sometimes texture and shine do the heavy lifting instead.

Back on home turf, London Fashion Week offered its own spin. At Richard Quinn, makeup artist Kim Brown paired matte skin with heavy, lash-clumping mascara for what she described as a “spooky, twinkie doll” effect — equal parts eerie and doe-eyed. Meanwhile, crystals and glitter reappeared at The Attico and Simone Rocha, signaling that embellishment, once relegated to party makeup, is migrating into everyday territory. And for anyone who still associates bold eyes exclusively with the cat-eye, Dolce & Gabbana proved that a classic, dramatic wing hasn’t lost its glamour — it’s simply been recontextualized within a louder, more experimental season.

What’s striking about this trend cycle is how democratized it’s becoming before it’s even hit stores. TikTok creators have been dissecting the look in real time, breaking down not just how to apply bold color or glitter, but how to tailor it to individual eye shapes — almond, round, hooded, monolid, upturned, downturned, wide-set, close-set, protruding and deep-set. It’s a level of personalization that beauty trends rarely get before they trickle down from the runway.

Industry experts say that’s actually the right way to approach the trend. Karl Díaz-Hellín Hodson, international education and events manager at Laura Mercier, suggests a simple self-assessment: look in a mirror with a relaxed face, eyes open, brows unraised. No visible crease suggests a monolid; a crease that disappears beneath the skin points to hooded eyes. From there, symmetry and tapering reveal the rest — whether eyes read as almond, round, upturned or downturned, and whether they sit prominent or deep-set relative to the brow bone.

Why does shape matter so much this season? Because, as makeup artist Claudia Neacsu explains, placement of shadow, liner and mascara can be used to create optical illusions — essentially reshaping the eye without surgery or filler. Round eyes can be elongated by concentrating product at the outer corners and leaving the center bare; conversely, that same round shape can be exaggerated into a “doll eye” by running mascara all the way to the inner corner. It’s a reminder that bold doesn’t mean one-size-fits-all — the most striking looks this season are being customized, not copy-pasted.

There are a few universal rules cutting across the chaos, though. Neacsu’s signature technique starts with cream contour swept from the outer eye corners into the temples, connecting with facial contouring, followed by a touch of light on the lid and a heavy dose of mascara. Díaz-Hellín Hodson, meanwhile, preaches patience and precision: build color in light layers, and — perhaps the most practical tip of the bunch — apply with your eyes open whenever possible, to avoid lopsided liner or mascara transfer the moment you blink.

Shimmer, too, is having a renaissance, but not necessarily as an all-over wash. A single pop of shimmer in the inner corner or tucked beneath the lash line is being positioned as more flattering — and more wearable for daily life — than a fully frosted lid.

Taken together, the SS27 shows suggest beauty is entering a more expressive, maximalist chapter after years of muted “your skin but better” minimalism. Whether it’s Gucci’s neon smoke, Dior’s glitter-tipped wing, or Richard Quinn’s gothic doll eyes, the throughline is the same: makeup is being treated less like concealment and more like costume — a tool for transformation rather than enhancement. For anyone intimidated by the idea of neon lids or crystal-studded lashes, the good news is that the trend’s biggest advocates insist it isn’t about going bigger for its own sake. It’s about understanding your own eye shape well enough to know exactly where the boldness should go.