15 Trendy 60s Eye Makeup That Will Give You the Perfect 1960s Look

The 1960s was a decade of fashion icons who were known for their hair, their fashion, and their makeup, including eyes, lipstick, and blush. Twiggy, Aretha Franklin, and Elizabeth Taylor rocked the front pages after Marilyn Monroe's blonde hair and red lipstick closed out the 50s and set the standard high going into the next decade. The 60s was a time of go-go dancers, the Civil Rights Movement, and hippies. The age of peace was across the country and women preferred makeup that highlighted their natural glow but that also gave them big doe-like eyes. Although musicals from and about the time period highlight the importance of hair (Hair and Hairspray being two of them), it was also all about the makeup trends of the time.

It is easy to change a few makeup tricks you already do to create the perfect 1960s look. You probably already have everything you need! You can be a catch by copying the makeup trends of the chicks of the 60s. Check out these 15 tips for the best 1960s eye makeup.

The 1960s are known for the eye makeup trends that came out of those years, one being the winged eyeliner. Much like cat eye style glasses, the cat eye wing eyeliner was the “it” makeup trend of the 60s. For this eye makeup, you will need liquid black eyeliner for the perfect line. It is easier to trace the shape you want and then fill in the rest. The thicker the line, the closer you are to being a regular 60s chick.

Winged eyeliner can also differ in the curve. A cat eye style is typically winged upwards. However, make the 60s makeup trend your own by changing the direction and the angle of the wing or keeping it straight.

This trend was one popularized by Marilyn Monroe. To get this look, first apply eyeliner with a wing on the top. On the bottom do a similar wing (without connecting the two wings). You should start the wing only halfway across the bottom lid whereas the top liner extends across the entire lid. The bottom wing should then also run a little short of the top wing. It should look like the bottom wing is just a water’s reflection of the top wing.

This is another popular modern trend that was born in the 60s, mostly thanks to Edie Sedgwick. Smoky eyes can be done one of two ways: an overall smoke or an ombre-effect smoke. To get the overall smoke, use a brush or a shadow blender to smudge a dark shadow across your entire eyelid. You can go for a subtle smoke, which would cover only the eyelid, or a heavy smoke that extends to the eyebrow.

To get the ombre-effect smoke, dab a dark shadow on the outer corner of your lid and then blend, working your way into the inner corner, blending less and less as you go. To get the full smoke effect, also blend a thinner line of dark shadow on your bottom lid.

Almost as much as 60s girls liked heavy mascara and a heavy line of eyeliner on the top lid, they also like a dark, heavy line on the bottom lid. You can either have a defined line, like Elizabeth Taylor, or you can smudge the line slightly for a more smoky look. Regardless, the liner on the bottom should be less thick than the liner on the top to ace this look.

Twiggy was famous for this trend. Not only did she use heavy mascara and dark lines of eyeliner both on the bottom and top lids but she also used a makeup technique that mimicked the look of heavy mascara on the bottom eyelashes, but because those lashes aren’t as long, she created these lines using eyeliner. Genius!

After the 50s when Marilyn’s semi-closed sensuous eyes were being replaced by Twiggy’s doe-like eyes, everyone wanted to follow. However, not everyone was born with their gifted genetics. To get the same look without the same eye size, use a white eyeliner. Put a thin line on the waterline of the upper lid before your black eyeliner. Repeat on the bottom waterline. Then apply your black eyeliner as normal, making sure to not cover up the white line.

Highlights give your eyes the wide-awake look that 60s women were notorious for. Even when you’re tired and you have bags under your eyes, this will amp up your tired look thanks to the 60s trend. Use a primer or foundation to create the same skin tone around the eye. After you complete your other eye makeup (shadow, eyeliner, mascara), use a brush, a shadow blender or even your finger to dab a little white sparkle highlighter into the inner corner of your eyes. Blend it a little onto your upper and lower lid and you’ll look wide-eyed and bushy-tailed without much effort!

If you ever looked at Twiggy or Elizabeth Taylor, then you surely always saw them with defined, arched eyebrows. To get this look, first shape your eyebrows. Depending on your preferences, you may wax, tweeze or thread them. Then, use an eyebrow brush to smooth out your hairs. Use an eyebrow pencil to darken and shade in your brows. Your finished product should look like that of a 60s icon.

This trend has carried over into modern makeup. Every makeup kit should have a highlighter for the eyebrows. Put highlighter underneath the eyebrows, highlighting the arch and the definition of the brow. Make sure you already finished plucking and defining the brow with a pencil before using the highlighter. A brow highlighter should be about the same color as your skin tone but with a hint of shine. Highlighters aren’t meant to be laid on thick, so a thin layer is all you need!

During the 60s, eyes were the main focus of all makeup, which meant eyelashes were heavily done. Whereas now heavily mascaraed eyelashes and a clumpy eyelash job is a sign of a poor makeup artist, it was revered back in the 60s. To get this look, use a slightly dried out mascara (I find out that leaving my mascara in my car in cold weather helps it clump a little) and put a few layers on.

Another Twiggy original, and a makeup trend every 60s girl began copying, was the lined eye crease. Instead of extending a smoky eye look to the crease of your eye, just pencil in the crease of your eyelid. Depending on your preferences, you may want to blend the line or keep it defined (or even blend it on the ends and keep the middle defined). Besides this line, you should have eyeliner and mascara to complete this makeup trend. Shadow is optional for this look.

The 60s was the decade of hippies and the hippie peace movement. When you think of hippies, you might think of natural beauty. This is what 60s women wanted to optimize—the use of makeup to highlight their natural beauty. To get this look, stick to neutral and natural eye shadows. For light skin, a light pink will accentuate your skin tone. For darker tones, a bronze or dark tan will bring shine to your eyes. Pair this look with a peace sign, long wavy hair, a natural-colored lipstick and you’ll look like you belong at a Grateful Dead concert.

On the opposite end, the 60s were also full of go-go dancing parties. Consider the natural makeup look created by the neutral eye shadows to be the daytime look and this one, full of bright colors, to be the nighttime look. To seem like the life of the party and the epitome of “fun” with just your makeup, use color shadows such as orange, blue, and green.

Avoid using a thick layer of the color shadows, though. Instead, use one brush stroke of the eye shadow and then use a makeup blender to spread the color out across your whole eyelid. You may choose to only do the eyelid, so every time you blink there’s a part of the party, or use the shadow to extend to your eyebrow, creating an everlasting vintage look of glam.

If the Twiggy-esque under-eye lines makeup trend isn’t your thing, try this other popular 60s trend. Using the same technique for color shadow, put a thin line (about the width of a normal eye shadow blender or brush) of colored shadow directly under the lower eyeliner. Start at that width at the outer part of the eye and thin the line out as you go to the inner eye. Blend slightly for smudged lines. Keep your upper lid similar in color to create a vintage out-of-this-world makeup look!

The only thing more 60s and vintage than colored shadows is to have colored shadows in a rainbow arch of different colors or shades. After you do your eyeliner, use a brush or shadow blender to make an arc shape of one color/shade. Color in the shape and clean your brush/blender. Take another color/shade and create a bigger arc, encompassing the inner shape. It is suggested to do only two tones, but if you want to be boss of 60s makeup, then go for three colors or shades. Check out the guide above to pair your lipstick with your arched shadows. 

As you can see, it is fairly easy to copy the vintage makeup trends of the 60s, as many modern eye makeup styles come from the icons of that decade. Become a 60s babe by using these makeup tricks for both day and nighttime looks.