Tutorial: Jade Kisnorbo’s guide to nailing soft goth make-up
Edgy yet demure, soft goth make-up is tipped to be the beauty trend of the season. Watch Jade Kisnorbo create a sultry, smouldering, smokey eye and learn how to rock the look.
It’s a perfect middle ground between grunge and vampy glamour – but unlike its make-up predecessors of the ’90s, the latest incarnation of the smouldering eye is all about using muted shades to create a soft, goth-inspired look.
Provided you have a steady hand, the cool-toned, goth cat eye is easy to recreate at home.
How to recreate the soft goth eye
Step 1: Prep and apply eyeshadow
For maximum colour pay-off, you’ll want to prep the eye area with your preferred eye primer or concealer.
Since the soft goth trend involves working with subtle, muted shades, a trick I recommend is to use a white cream shadow or jumbo eye pencil over the entire upper lid before applying any eyeshadow.
This beauty hack helps softer colours to stand out on the eyes.
Once your eye area is adequately prepped, apply a grey eyeshadow over the entire upper lid, using a fluffy brush to blend upwards and outwards.
Don’t stress if you don’t have a grey shadow; instead, apply a black kohl pencil along the lash line and smudge until it resembles a grey shadow.
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Step 2: Add a feline flick
The trickiest part of this make-up look is creating a sharp, feline flick on the eyes.
This technique might look challenging to recreate but, with practise, you’ll be a cat eye expert in no time!
For the rookies out there, first try stencilling the eyeliner look with a kohl pencil, using it as a guide to trace with a liquid eyeliner to complete the feline flick.
Another tip is to create four tiny dots to mark where you want the liquid liner to go.
If you struggle with the flick itself, take a slightly tacky piece of sticky tape or a crisp, stiff business card and align it to the flick angle you want, then simply trace the line with your liquid liner until you get the desired result.
How to rock the soft goth look
Now that you’ve created the soft goth eye, it’s all about completing the look with products that complement the eyes without taking the focus away from them.
Since soft goth gravitates to cool tones, choose a lip colour, blush and bronzer that lean to cooler hues.
For a ’90s touch, refrain from using a highlighter, as this look works best on matte skin.
Lastly, add two coats of mascara, then style your brows into place with clear brow gel to finish.
More make-up looks to recreate at home:
- The brown lip is back. How to master this ’90s-inspired look
- Jade Kisnorbo tutorial: Cloud skin and a white graphic eye
- Jade Kisnorbo tutorial: How to recreate the La Dolce Vita look
- How to achieve stunning stained glass blush make-up
