How to Steal Marilyn Monroe's Eyeliner Trick

Having recently unearthed the secrets of Marilyn Monroe's makeup artist (opens in new tab), the inimitable Allan "Whitey" Snyder, there's one trick of his we're thoroughly obsessed with—and apparently, we're not the only ones who've honed in on it. 

Monroe's latter day, most-famous-woman-in-the-world counterpart Kim Kardashian has, too, taken a liking to Monroe's signature eyeliner: a double cat eye accented with white eyeliner. We first saw her donning the look at her bridal shower last year, then again during her trip to Armenia on a recent episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

The technique isn't just a cool twist on the cat eye, but was also Monroe's trick to making her eyes appear larger and wider by extending the upper and lower lashlines. Here, we recreated the look by striking the perfect between Monroe's slept-in bedroom eyes and Kardashian's Instagram-perfect precision.

1. Draw on a classic cat eye

Using a tapered eyeliner pen, draw on a classic cat eye, starting in the middle with small and smooth strokes. Doing this will help determine how thick you want your line to be, says makeup artist Miguel Lledo. 

"To make the wing, follow the line of your bottom lashes going outward with the brush,  then bring the line back in, make a triangle shape, and fill the wing in," he explains.

2. Create a lower feline flick

Using dark brown shadow and a small tapered brush, create a smoky lower feline flick that's like an extension of your lower lashline. You want the tip of the wing to point downward, creating a triangle-like space in between both flicks.

3. Fill in the white triangle

With a white eye pencil, fill in the triangle on the outer corner of the eye—in between the top and lower liner wings—as it will make your eyes look bigger and wider. Be sure to smudge out the pigment as you don't wait it to look *too* matte.

The Finished Look

And just like that, you're channeling both Monroe and Kardashian in one fell (double) swoop.

Makeup by Miguel Lledo at Artlist NYC (opens in new tab). Photography by Kathryn Wirsing.

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