I Tried the Angel-Eyes Makeup Trend, and I'm Never Going Back

There aren't very many makeup trends I won't try, but there are some I feel simply belong on my face. That was my exact train of thought the first time I came across "angel eyes." As the name suggests, the trend places a spotlight on the eyes, which are usually draped in some sort of white eyeshadow or liner. Celebrities like Doja Cat have been spotted wearing the trend, and it even made its way to Fashion Week (see: L'Agence's spring/summer '24 show).

This look typically has some sort of metallic or pearlescent finish, and while that is a shade I wouldn't wear every single day, who doesn't want to cosplay as an ethereal otherworldly being? Plus, with Halloween coming up, practicing a few of those makeup ideas you've been toying with may help you finally decide on a costume. Regardless of how the look is interpreted, each iteration has always blown me away, so I knew I needed to try it for myself. With the help of makeup artist Jennifer Fleming, we're breaking down the easiest ways to get the angel-eyes trend ahead.

"The key element of this trend is to find a light frosted eyeshadow or eye stick," Fleming tells POPSUGAR. "You can use it as a liner, eyeshadow, or base." For my version of the look, she used the Maybelline Color Tattoo Eye Stix ($10) in the shade I Am Shining. After concealing my brows, she started to create a slightly winged effect, using the pencil to trace the shape on my outer eye. Then, she used the same pencil and filled in the negative space that was left open.

"To really make the look pop, you'll want to use a metallic eyeshadow on top," Fleming says. She used the white shade in the Maybelline Shadow Blocks ($9, originally $13) 26th and Madison Ave palette, but I also love the Danessa Myricks Colorfix ($20) in the shades Platinum and Milky Way. To make the colors blend a bit better with my skin tone, Fleming used a flesh-toned powder in my crease and around the corners of my eye, a hack she says will also make this frosted eye trend work perfectly on deeper skin tones. "Wherever you're going to have negative space (i.e., the areas that don't have any white eyeshadow), put a warm peach or orange shade," she says. "With deeper skin tones in particular, this look is all about balancing cool and warm tones so that it doesn't veer into ashy territory."

Danessa Myricks Colorfix

From

$29

$29 at Sephora

After doing my complexion, Fleming came back to my eyes to finish the lower lash line. "If you don't want to wear a fully frosted eyeshadow look in the day, using a white liner is an easy way to make the look more wearable," she says. "You can even take your favorite white eyeshadow, apply it on your lids, and blend it using your finger. This is going to give you a very subtle wash of color that will make people wonder what it is you have on your eyes." After a few coats of mascara and the addition of a baby-pink lip color, my angel-eyes look was complete.

This trend is a really fun way to embrace the holiday season, and I can only imagine the way the eyeshadow would shine under low light on a fun night out. If you've wanted to take your makeup looks up a notch, take this as a sign to throw caution to the wind and just have fun with your own angel eyes.