Dude, looks like a lady

MANILA, Philippines - Is that a green smoky eye? How did you do that? It’s so nice!” I get this a lot, but sub out the green eyes for a violet lip, graphic liquid liner, gradient shadow. Maybe working in beauty has exposed me to all the clever ways a girl can mess around with makeup. Maybe I’ve amassed so many strange colors that the frustrated painter inside me can’t help but create, with my skin as the canvas. Whatever it is, I’m pretty much done with all the excuses I’ve heard for boring beauty.

It’s too high fashion. It looked good on the runway but won’t translate well into real life. You can’t do a bold lip. You don’t know how to play with color. Every time you try a smoky eye, it smudges, so you just don’t bother. Please. If you’ve already got the basics down, switching it up is as simple as doing the same old thing in a different color. If a guy can wear this stuff — and we did these looks on an actual boy to prove it — why the hell can’t you?

Hot mess

A little smudge can be sexy. “Eye kohls are not waterproof; they’re meant to smudge,” says Owen Sarmiento. Line your upper and lower lashlines and let your liner do what it wants to do: bleed a little. “Blinking and the warmth of the eye area, will naturally create a raw look that’s both modern and chic.”

White is the new black

White eyes were huge on the S/S 2014 runway, whether in liner form or as a soft wash all over lids. To give the look dimension, “use a taupe shadow to contour the eye. This look is really a play on light and dark, and the colors will bring each other out,” says Owen. Wear a bold lipstick to create contrast.

Full spectrum

They didn’t put all those other shades of shadow in your palette for you to use just the one. (The neutral one, I’ll bet.) “Precise placement of colored shadows is the key, yet letting the colors kiss at a certain place creates depth and consistency,” explains Owen. Blend, blend, blend.

Dark matter

Everyone loves a little drama, and nothing’s more dramatic than going borderline Goth with a dark lip. Balance out the intensity of the look — and keep it from straddling undead territory — with bare eyes and luminous skin.

Photos by MARK NICDAO, Makeup by OWEN SARMIENTO of MAC, Modeled by MIGUEL URBINA TAN, Wigs courtesy of Lynelle House of Hair Fashion