Alright, bear with me…this has been a gripe of mine for what seems like forever now.
Black eyeliner has been a standard part of my everyday make-up routine practically since I started wearing make-up. I’m not overly picky about the brand since I’m not looking for my eyeliner to work miracles nor be infused with vitamins and antioxidants (that part of me will just have to age naturally) so for me the less expensive versions (Jane, NYC, Cover Girl) work just as well as their pricier counterparts (Lancome, Tarte). I spend enough on other items in my make-up bag that spending less on this item balances out, at least in my mind. Maybe if I lived in a place that experienced an abnormally high level of humidity, rain, or snow I might opt for a waterproof version but since I live in the land of no seasons I am perfectly content with regular black liner.
I do have two requirements when it comes to this form of warpaint (1) that it be the automatic twist-up kind and not the standard kohl pencil/crayon that requires sharpening and (2) almost more importantly that it be BLACK (not to be confused with Smokeline, Charcoal, or even Soft Black).
Since I know that I use black liner on a daily basis I try to buy two or three at a time…that’s more wishful thinking than reality as even imagining that I could find multiple black liners at one of my local drugstores would be more of a daydream or consist of my being outside of Los Angeles County when attempting this, as I remember anytime I’ve ever had to buy eyeliner in any other city, it’s not as big an issue.
More times than I can count I have encountered empty slots of where my coveted black liner should reside, leading me to believe that I’ve got some competition for my beauty staple. However, I’ve come to the conclusion that it isn’t the run-of-the-mill party girls in this town, not even the fabulous gay community, nope living so close to Hollywood (according to Mapquest exactly 3 minutes or 1.2 miles.) my competition comes in the form of the axe-wielding, double stroke rolling, mic twirling Band Guy that overpopulates this city. No offense meant as I am friends with more than my fair share of these guys and guys wearing eyeliner (or “guyliner” as it’s often referred to) is not a novelty. I even found a how-to for Applying Guyliner. In fact to go even further, check out this article that VH1 did on Dudes Wearing Eyeliner back in October
2006.
David Bowie rocked it, so did Alice Cooper, Keith Richards, Dave Navarro, Robert Smith, the list goes on and on…so why shouldn’t these band guys sport it too? As a girl with many guy friends in bands I completely support you if you want to wear eyeliner or any other make-up, whatever, work it, own it! Just stay away from my eyeliner stick to the kohl kind that you have to sharpen, I could care less about that kind of eyeliner.
It makes me wish that the “WentzPentz” (Pete Wentz Eye Pencil Line) had come to fruition instead of being a BellaSugar April Fool’s Joke. I recall hearing that there was a UK male make-up line called Taxi Man which featured “guyliner” and “manscara” but I don’t think it caught on. I think it’s high time that someone created a guy’s eyeliner line what with how commonplace it’s become. Because if nothing else maybe that fake “Hot Topic exclusive WentzPentz” could’ve at least attracted the future black eyeliner wearing boys of America and kept them away from the already poorly stocked shelves of my local Walgreens, Rite-Aides, and CVS.
Alright, that’s enough ranting. I apologize for having taken up your time with my superfluous complaint, you may now resume strategically planning an end to world hunger or resolving the economic deficit, whichever it is you usually do on Tuesdays.
photo originally published here.