Emma Chamberlain‘s enormous career was built on hard work and talent, yes, but as an original influencer, much of it is based on her ability to spark and spread trends — no matter how extreme they may appear at the time. In fact, she’s frequently credited with making those fabulously wild outfits, haircuts, and accessories feel more approachable than they might otherwise. She recently used her magic touch on a highly debated makeup choice. Emma Chamberlain’s red eye makeup is already popular among the glam-goth crowd for its haunting, undead-looking effects on the eyes, but she could be the one to fully mainstream the look for the first time.
Chamberlain, in true Zoomer fashion, shared a shot of the (very cool) eye makeup on Instagram, buried deep in a photodump cryptically captioned with coy sunglasses’d emojis. The social media star can be seen with a ring of bright red smudged out through her lower lash line, somewhere between her poolside setup of Diet Coke and Vacation SPF oil and an Acne Studios-branded lollipop. Interestingly, it’s the only pop of colour in her look, with her makeup, lips, and upper lash line remaining classic and minimal.
The expertly applied makeup was part of Chamberlain’s look at Acne Studios’ Miami store opening, though it’s unclear which artist created it. The key to nailing red eye makeup is expert-level colour concentration through the lash line, offset by crisp black liner in her upper and lower waterlines. Red is bold enough on its own that a simple stripe of colour is enough to highlight its edge. Of course, it’s all heightened by Chamberlain’s very current haircut, known as a “cub cut” in many circles.
The cub cut, which falls somewhere between a tousled, layered wolf cut and a traditional, shoulder-clearing bob, is low-maintenance but attention-grabbing. Chamberlain is a member of the celebrity clique that is popularising more extreme hairstyles in general. She shaved her longer brunette hair around this time last year and has since experimented with several bolder haircuts — and colours. Who could blame her with so many trends still to discover.
