Forget About Cat Eye – Say Hello To The Fox Eye Makeup Trend

In case you haven’t heard, the long-favored cat-eye is no longer the number one eye trend. Instead, you’ll notice girls are trying out something a little different. The fox eye makeup trend has boomed ever since Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid popularized it, and it’s about to take over your makeup routine as well. 

If this is the first time you’re hearing about fox eye makeup, allow me to give you all the details. First up – what exactly is it? The fox eye makeup look is inspired by the eyes of the animal it’s named after – slanted, almond-shaped, and sort of mysterious. The #foxeye on TikTok even hit 44 million views, with tutorials and tips on how to individualize it. 

Fox eye makeup is an optical illusion, which elongates your eyes. You can use various makeup to achieve this look, some use Q tips, other brown or black eyeshadow and create a sharp up towards the temples. Using the same eyeshadow, to complete the illusion, you should add some towards the inner corners of your eye. 

The great thing about this look is the versatility. You can use different colored eyeliner or eyeshadow; do some smudging to create a smoky effect. Some people argue that the look involves shaving off the tail of your eyebrow as well, but most expert makeup artists wouldn’t recommend that to everyone. Such permanent transformation to your eyebrows can change your facial expression entirely. After all, you don’t want to look like Georgia from Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging (what a laugh that film was!). 

So now comes the big question. How to do fox eye makeup? Well, that's exactly what I’m here to explain, along with some help from YouTube. I’ll give you a step-by-step guide, some must-have makeup recommendations, and I’ll throw in a few fox eye makeup tutorials. You will be an expert in no time! I bet you want to get started already, so let’s jump right in!

What Exactly is Fox Eye Makeup?

Source: https://celebwell.com/news-bella-hadid-bikini-mirror/

Fox eye makeup creates the illusion of sloped eyes and can change their overall shape. The main intent of the fox eye trend is to imitate the shape of narrow and slanted eyes, a facial feature commonly seen in Asians. For that, the trend has had its controversy, and you can read more on it in the last section of our article and form your own opinion. 

The fox eye makeup look is all about manipulating the area around your eyes to create a sultry look. Some makeup experts argue that the effect of fox eye makeup is similar to facelifts, with just the presence of makeup involved. 

Like I already mentioned, the fox eye trend can be subject to a few variations. For example, let’s take wing length. Some people like to have a long sharp wing going up towards the ends of the eyebrow tail. Others like to keep it short. Some people like to use blurred eyeshadow, while others prefer bold dark eyeliner. 

Whatever you choose, the trickiest thing to nail down is the inner and outer lines. Getting a sharp straight line can be difficult and doing that twice can be even more challenging. But it’s nothing we haven’t done before, am I right ladies? Practice makes perfect, so don’t be afraid to experiment with different styles.

When talking about cat eye vs fox eye makeup, bear in mind fox eye makeup has a slight change in direction. Think of a regular winged eye, but angle your wing upward slightly. Start the flick at the outer corner of the upper lash line, then return down along the lower lash line. 

Eyebrows are part of the look, but please don’t go ahead and shave them unless you want to. Many makeup artists and amateurs know that with a touch of makeup in the right places, your eyebrows can change shape without putting them through dramatic changes. 

You can use concealer to cut off the ends of the eyebrows if you want to get the textbook fox eye look. We’ll get more into detail on how to do raised eyebrows without shaving them off in the section below. 

How to Do Fox Eye Makeup?

Follow the steps below to achieve the perfect Bella Hadid fox eye look! Let’s get started!

Step 1 

The eyebrows. I bet you’re dying to know how you can get your eyebrows done without destroying your natural line. It’s easier than you might think. The main point is that your brows should go upward quite a bit. You can accentuate that by adjusting how you fill your brows. Using concealer, cut off the ends of your brows so that your eyebrow tail is higher than the inner part of your eyebrow. 

You can manipulate your eyebrow shape by brushing your brows upward and tracing a line using some eyebrow pencil or cream. Another nifty trick we got from the Alexandra Anele video tutorial below is using a bit of soap and fixing spray and dabbing it onto your eyebrow spoolie.  Brush your eyebrows upward to change the direction of the hairs. They’ll stay fixed like this for a while due to the soap and fixating spray mix. 

If you want to copy the Bella Hadid look, avoid filling your eyebrows. She keeps them natural. On the other hand, if you’re used to filling our brows, you can go right ahead. After all, makeup should make you feel good!

Step 2

Next up – the eyes. Grab your favorite shade of eyeshadow and using a blending brush, sweep up from the lash line toward your eyebrow tail. You can also use your contour instead of eyeshadow. Keep the colors light, but a little darker than your natural skin tone. 

If you want to accentuate the line you have just created, using some highlighter or white powder, blend the highlighter from the outer corner of your eyes, upward toward your temples. 

Step 3

Grab yourself a dark shade of eyeshadow. Using the other end of your eyebrow brush that looks like a paintbrush, choose any shade of brown eyeshadow. Coffee and cocoa shades work best for this look. 

Create a straight line, as you would normally for a cat eye, and form a wing. Connect that wing following the natural curve of your eye. Make sure you’re creating an ultra-thin line! Blend a little bit (or a lot) according to your taste. 

Step 4 

Using the same brush dabbed in cocoa eyeshadow, focus your attention on the inner corners of your eyes. Add some of that dark color to your inner eye corner. Don’t extend it too much, because it can create an odd effect and make your eyes look closer than they are. You can add some highlighter to the corners of your eyes to really make them pop. 

Step 5

Lush lashes! Make sure you have shaped your lashes upward with a lash curler. Apply some mascara focusing on the outer corner. You can opt for false eyelashes if you want, but you don’t have to. In case your eyelashes tend to weigh down, some fake lashes can work wonders to make your eyelashes look perky. 

Optional Step

See! It’s a lot simpler than it looks! You can also decide to replace the brown eyeshadow with some eyeliner. Repeat step 4 to accentuate the look even more and make your eyes pop. 

Fox Eye Makeup Tutorials

If you like to go extra and learn all about the different styles of fox eye makeup, I have selected 5 amazing YouTubers that go out of their way to achieve the look! Follow their transformation in the list below:

1. How To: Fox Eye Makeup Tutorial – Hacks, Tips & Tricks for Beginners! by Brianna Fox

If you’re after a rounded look instead of a slanted look, Brianna Fox explains some tips and tricks. She gives a useful tip for beginners: draw an imaginary line going from the end of your nose, up to the corner of your eye. Your brow, eyeshadow, and eyeliner wing should go in that same direction. She is an absolute professional and explains the whos whats and whys behind most of her makeup decisions. 

2. Foxy Eye Lift Tutorial a la Bella Hadid By Alexandra Anele

Alexandra Anele is amazing at giving a detailed makeup tutorial. She knows her stuff, and manages to copy Bella Hadid’s look to a T. If you’re one to use a ton of makeup brushes and find value in precise and detailed makeup, Alexandra is the perfect gal for you. 

3. How To: Natural Fox Eye Makeup Tutorial – perfect for date night! By Claudia Fuenmayor

Do you want a simple, quick, and easy fox eye makeup tutorial? Claudia Fuenmayor explains the three main things you need to look out for to turn a regular eyeliner look into a fox eye look. Follow her short guide for a last-minute fox eye look. 

4. How To: Foxy Eyeliner For (Semi) Hooded Eyes By ByJeanne

Hooded and semi-hooded eyes are a breed of their own. They don’t always benefit from popular online tutorials, so it would be a shame to have them left out of this one, too. That’s why I included this fox eye for hooded eyes tutorial by ByJeanne. This one is achieved by using eyeliner, but you can browse her videos if you want a similar tutorial using eyeshadow instead. 

5. How To: Fox Eye Makeup Tutorial for beginners! Best tips & tricks | Roxette Arisa

Roxette Arisa goes super into detail on how to achieve the fox eye makeup look, so if you’re a beginner, you’ll benefit from watching her detailed tutorial. Trust me, by the end of this video, you’ll have recreated that supermodel look everyone’s after!

Products You Might Need to Get that Perfect Fox Eye Makeup

There are tons of products out there that can help you achieve the incredible fox eye makeup trend. If you’re following our written step-by-step guide, the makeup below will be a great addition to your kit.

1. Eyeshadow – a makeup palette in autumnal, earthy tones is an important addition to your kit. You honestly can’t recreate the look without some warm browns, a nice pigmented white to highlight, and a free neutral. That’s why I recommend the NYX Professional Makeup Eyeshadow Palette in a Warm Neutral eyeshadow palette. Pair that with a fine angled eyeliner brush or simply use your angled eyebrow brush.

Sale

35,303 Reviews

• Eyeshadow Palette: This professional level makeup palette features 16 highly pigmented shadows that glide onto lids and make eyes pop with color; Use...
• Ultimate Eye Shadow: Each high quality eyeshadow palette features a highly pigmented mix of finishes from matte and satin to shimmery and metallic;...
• All Eyes On Eye Makeup: Complete your look with our full range of eye makeup products ranging from eyeshadow palettes to false eyelashes, eyeliners,...

$18.00 −$8.05 $9.95

Buy on Amazon

Last update on 2024-05-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

2. Liquid Eyeliner – for those of you that decided to go for a sharp eyeliner fox eye look, I recommend you use the Rimmel Glam Eyes Liquid Liner. I’ve recommended it before, mainly for its ultra-thin brush tip. It’s also incredibly easy to apply and you can control the amount of liquid liner you’re using, unlike with most pencil eyeliners.

Sale

• Long lasting
• Easy to use
• Creates a bold contour around the lash line

$7.27 −$0.36 $6.91

Buy on Amazon

Last update on 2024-05-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

3. False Eyelashes – a lot of people will argue that you can’t complete the fox eyeliner look without some false lashes. Personally, I suggest you go for the JOSALINAS 3D Glamour Crisscross Wispy False Eyelashes 5. They’re a set of 5, so you’re getting some bang for your buck, and they also look pretty natural.

• SOFT AND FULL- Including 5pairs full strip fluffy fake lashes, they are as soft as human hair, easy to apply and remove
• NATURE LOOKING - Hand-made Black false lashes blends well with your nature eyelashes and beautify your eyes
• CRUELTY FREE - JOSALINAS false lashes are made of synthetic fiber, none-animal testing

$12.98

Buy on Amazon

Last update on 2024-05-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

4. Eyebrow Definer Pencil – the eyebrow definer pencil – another must-have for your collection. An ultra-thin one is great if you want to achieve a natural brow, so I recommend the Maybelline Eyebrow Definer Pencil for an unobtrusive look.

5. Concealer – can be essential if you don’t want to trim or shave the ends of your eyebrows. I have selected a particularly powerful one – NYX PROFESSIONAL MAKEUP Can't Stop Won't Stop Contour Concealer. Use only a tiny dot or two to cover up any hairs that distract from your desired eyebrow shape.

82,741 Reviews

• Cover and Conceal: Conceal, brighten under the eyes, and highlight with NYX Professional Makeup Can't Stop Won't Stop Concealer; Available in...
• 24 Hours Of Matte Wear: This creamy contouring concealer delivers full waterproof matte coverage for 24 hours; Cover anything in confidence with this...
• Face From Foundation To Finish: Complete your makeup look with our full line of face products to aid in color correction and coverage from concealer,...

$9.47

Buy on Amazon

Last update on 2024-05-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Is the Fox Eye Makeup Trend a Cultural Appropriation?

Believe it or not, even this makeup trend has had its controversy. The slanted eye look has been weaponized against the Asian community for a number of years, so you can understand their revolt when suddenly, slanted eyes are all the rage. It is not uncommon for the beauty industry to steal unique features from different cultures, but it is ironic that the very feature used against Asian women has now been deemed ‘trendy’.

Not to mention a lot of women tend to pull up on their temples during their makeup tutorials and videos, and this has proved racially insensitive to Asians, as the very same gesture has been used to mock them. 

This viral trend has also been accused of cultural appropriation, largely due to some celebrities like Miley Cyrus, who posed in a group photo with people pulling at their eyes right next to an Asian man. Gigi Hadid has posed, squinting her eyes to look like a Buddha cookie. The list goes on. Many YouTubers have been pulling their eyes to showcase the lifting effect of this makeup trend. 

Whether that’s done on purpose or not, we can understand why the Asian community isn’t thrilled that white people suddenly made their features trendy, attractive and desirable, after spending many years mocking them for their “sleepy” eyes. 

I’d like to finish this topic by saying that perhaps it’s best not to pose pulling our temples back in a similar fashion to a racist gesture, and try to be a little more sensitive towards the Asian community. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying certain makeup trends, but we should all keep an eye on how we come across, especially when posting online in front of a large following. 

Hungry for more?

We’ve got lots of different articles on makeup, and with Halloween being right around the corner, you might enjoy our tips and tricks on clown Halloween makeup, inspired by Harley Quinn, The Joker and more! 

Speaking of Halloween, have you decided on your costume yet? Here are a few suggestions:

For the video game obsessed – we selected some of the best Fortnite Halloween costumes! Perfect for themed parties, halloween, cosplay and Comic Con!

For the joker of the group – take a look at some funny Halloween costumes and become the life of the party!

For the I-can't-be-bothered-this-year type – some quick and easy, zero preparation inflatable Halloween costumes will do the trick!

For the sexy vs. scary types – Some sexy Halloween costumes for women, which by the way go well with your fox eye makeup. Go on, give them a look!