Anyone who knows Adele knows that she is a goddess of all things...but especially winged eyeliner.
And anyone who has attempted to copy this look knows how hard it can be.
But recently Adele's makeup artist HIMSELF, Michael Ashton, blessed the internet with a tutorial on how to achieve her iconic look. So obviously... I had to try it out.
And because I am not yet a millionaire pop singer, I did not have $250 to spare. So I traveled to heaven, aka Target, and found cheaper versions of the makeup he uses.
Then, it was time to begin my transformation into Adele.
First, he puts concealer on her eyelid and below her eye. I also did this but I ended up just looking really tired.
I didn't really know what I was doing, and I only had my neutral eyeshadow palette and some cheap concealer that I've had since 2014, I think. So I rubbed some underneath my eyes and used my brush to add the most concealer-ish color on the palette on my lids. I don't know what this was supposed to do, but hopefully it did it. I think I just ended up looking like I needed more sleep. OH WELL, ON TO THE NEXT STEP.
Then, he began the process of lining the eyes.
Disclaimer: I am bad at this. He is not. It is really, really, really hard to get a straight, normal-looking line of eyeliner. My hands shake! I get nervous! I started sweating during this. I kept trying to even it out and just kept making it look more bumpy. If his line was a highway, mine was a curvy country road. Alas, I eventually gave up. But I think it's OK if it's a little bumpy. It adds character.
Then, he applies the falsies. Falsies is short for false eyelashes in case you were wondering.
I got the glue everywhere. Luckily, it dries clear. Not luckily, I don't know if it will ever fully come off. I have worn fake eyelashes one other time in my life, so I'm not a veteran at putting these babies on by any means. This time was only kind of a disaster. I got the glue everywhere, but like I said, it dries clear, so who the hell cares, right?? Once I let it dry and looked at the placement, it was fine. And since there's so much black eyeliner it almost doesn't even matter if you get the placement a bit off.
After applying the lashes, he goes over the fake lashes AND the real lashes with mascara to blend them together. And then he adds MORE eyeliner.
I tried to do the same and royally fucked it up. Don't judge me. It's hard to make this shit look good when you are not an artist. I am not an artist. I can barely draw stick figures. I assume this just takes practice, but since this was one of the few times I've applied liquid liner in this motion, I'd say I need more practice.
After that, he makes sure the brows look arched and fabulous as fuck before presenting the final look.
And he adds more eyeshadow! Thank god. The eyeshadow helped cover my weird eyeliner lines and honestly made it look 95% better. So I may not look like Adele and my wings may not perfectly match, but it's not half bad. The eyeshadow saved the day.
Although I had some hiccups along the way...
Like the fact that I got eyelash glue all over my fingers and hands and overalls, and the fact that I can't draw a damn straight line with eyeliner if my life depended on it.
The final result wasn't too bad. I'm 50% Adele now.
Here's the before and after:
And remember, if you want to be 50% Adele too, go here.
