THE SMOKY EYE HAS RETURNED WITH ADDITIONAL CONCERNS

Image: Getty

At Gucci, black shadow wasn’t politely blended into a little evening eye.

It surrounded the eyes, stretched outward and occasionally collided with vivid color.

The result was glamorous, graphic and a little rebellious.

It’s severe.

It’s strange.

It’s beautiful.

It’s also the kind of makeup that would make somebody ask whether you’re feeling all right.

Yes, actually.

I spent 45 minutes doing this.

And I think that’s what makes the look interesting.

It’s not trying to make the eyes look bigger, brighter or more awake.

It’s trying to make you look.

There’s a difference.

The smoky eye has always had a certain attitude. Think late-night photographs, backstage dressing rooms, the kind of woman who somehow looks better when her makeup has been on for six hours.

But Gucci took that familiar idea and pushed it somewhere more theatrical.

Less I’m going out tonight.

More I have already been out, and I have several stories.

And I would like to hear all of them.

Image: Getty

PRADA WOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS HOW TIRED WE ARE

Meanwhile, Prada has been exploring a different relationship with dark eye makeup.

At its Fall/Winter 2026 show earlier this year, makeup artist Lucia Pieroni created deliberately hollowed, tired-looking eyes, with dark makeup that emphasized rather than concealed the appearance of exhaustion.

Because I have been arriving at work looking tired for years.

Apparently, I was ahead of my time.

Now, to be clear, Prada’s exhausted-looking makeup belongs to its February Fall/Winter 2026 presentation, not the Spring/Summer 2027 show that just took place in Milan.

But I think the comparison is worth making.

At Gucci, the darkness feels glamorous and confrontational.

At Prada, it looks almost unsettlingly familiar.

One woman has somewhere to be.

The other looks like she’s already been there, answered the emails and somehow still has a meeting at four.

Both are interesting.

And neither is particularly concerned with making everybody look well-rested.

For years, so much of the beauty conversation has revolved around looking refreshed.

Brightening the under-eyes.

Concealing the evidence of a long night.

Making sure nobody can tell you stayed awake until 2 a.m. watching something you absolutely could have finished tomorrow.

Then fashion comes along and decides the evidence is the look.

Wonderful.

I have been purchasing concealer for nothing.

Of course, there’s a difference between a deliberately constructed runway face and somebody simply being exhausted.

I’m not suggesting we all stop sleeping.

I am suggesting that beauty becomes more interesting when it isn’t exclusively concerned with making us look perfect.

Sometimes the imperfection is the idea.

And sometimes the idea is that you’ve had a very long day.

Relatable.

THE COLORS ARE NOT ASKING PERMISSION

Back to Gucci.

Because we need to discuss the blue.

And the yellow.

And the fact that somebody looked at a perfectly good smoky eye and decided it needed another color.

Thank you.

The show’s beauty direction moved between heavily smoked black eyes and graphic applications of vivid yellow and electric blue.

And what I appreciate is that the color doesn’t feel like an accessory.

It’s the entire conversation.

The clothes can be fabulous.

The hair can be fabulous.

But the face has something to say, too.

There’s something refreshing about seeing makeup that doesn’t appear designed to disappear into the rest of an outfit.

It wants attention.

It wants you to notice the shape.

The placement.

The strange combination of colors that probably wouldn’t occur to you while standing in front of your bathroom mirror.

And that’s the fun of runway beauty.

It doesn’t always need to be immediately wearable.

Sometimes it’s there to introduce an idea.

You can take the yellow shadow and turn it into a tiny accent beneath the eye.

You can borrow the electric blue and wear it as a single graphic line.

You can take the black smoky eye and make it softer for an evening out.

Or you can wear the entire thing.

I’m not your mother.

Personally, I would love to see somebody arrive at dinner with the full Gucci face.

Especially if they’re wearing a very ordinary outfit.

A white T-shirt.

Jeans.

The most aggressive eye makeup you’ve ever seen.

Perfect.

No notes.

THE ATTICO HAS ENTERED THE CHAT. WITH CRYSTALS.

And just when I thought Milan had finished discussing the eyes, The Attico arrived.

For its Spring/Summer 2027 presentation, the house paired its collection with sparkling, crystal-embellished makeup created with NARS.

Of course.

Because sometimes a smoky eye isn’t enough.

Sometimes you need actual decorations.

I appreciate this enormously.

There’s something wonderfully unnecessary about putting crystals on your face.

You don’t need them.

They serve no practical purpose.

They’re not going to make your commute easier.

But they’re beautiful.

And isn’t that enough sometimes?

The interesting thing is how differently these Milan beauty looks approach drama.

Gucci uses shadow and color.

Prada’s earlier runway explored darkness and fatigue.

The Attico reaches for sparkle.

Three very different ways of making a face feel like part of the fashion.

And none of them requires pretending the makeup isn’t there.

That’s the part I’m enjoying.

The makeup is the point.

CAN WE PLEASE STOP MAKING EVERY FACE LOOK THE SAME?

Now, I love a beautiful complexion.

I love a perfectly blended eye.

I love the girls who can put on a little concealer, brush their brows and somehow look like they have never experienced a stressful Tuesday.

Good for them.

Truly.

But sometimes I miss seeing makeup that feels like a personal decision.

Not something everybody learned from the same tutorial.

Not another version of the same face.

Something a little strange.

A little specific.

Something that makes you wonder what the makeup artist was thinking.

In a good way.

And that’s what I appreciate about the Gucci lineup.

The faces don’t all communicate the same mood.

Some are severe.

Some are colorful.

Some feel polished.

Others look like they’ve walked directly out of a very interesting night.

They have personalities.

Which is exactly what Demna’s Gucci collection was exploring through its cast of distinct characters and ways of dressing

The makeup isn’t simply finishing the outfit.

It’s helping tell you who the person wearing it might be.

And I think that’s where beauty becomes really interesting.

When it stops being a set of instructions and starts becoming part of somebody’s character.

SO WHAT ARE WE ACTUALLY WEARING?

Because I know what you’re thinking.

This is all very fabulous.

But I have to go to work tomorrow.

Fair.

I don’t necessarily think the takeaway from Milan is that everybody needs to arrive at the office wearing yellow shadow and red contact lenses.

Although I would absolutely like to see the reactions.

The more interesting takeaway is that you can experiment without committing to an entirely new face.

Try a little color somewhere unexpected.

Wear a smoky eye that isn’t perfectly symmetrical.

Put on the dark lipstick you’ve been saving for an occasion that apparently never arrives.

Add a little sparkle.

Or don’t.

The point isn’t to recreate the runway exactly.

It’s to remember that makeup can be something you play with.

Not every beauty look needs to make you appear younger.

Or more awake.

Or more polished.

Or like somebody else’s idea of what a beautiful face should look like.

Sometimes you can just do something because you think it looks interesting.

Revolutionary.

And listen, I’m not pretending we’re all suddenly going to abandon our favorite products and start painting our faces like it’s an experimental art project.

I understand the appeal of a routine.

I have routines.

I enjoy knowing what works.

But there’s something exciting about seeing a makeup artist take a familiar idea and make it feel unfamiliar again.

A smoky eye.

A bright color.

A little sparkle.

Nothing particularly revolutionary on its own.

And yet, in the right hands, suddenly you’re looking at something you haven’t quite seen before.

That’s what I want more of.

ANYWAY, I HAVE QUESTIONS.

I started looking at Gucci’s beauty looks because I thought they were funny.

The yellow shadow.

The severe little bobs.

The eyes that look like they’ve just received an extremely irritating email.

And they are funny.

But they’re also a reminder that beauty doesn’t always have to be about looking conventionally pretty.

Sometimes it’s about creating a mood.

Or a character.

Or a face that makes somebody stop scrolling.

Gucci gave us color and attitude.

Prada offered a darker, more lived-in idea of beauty earlier this year.

The Attico brought the sparkle.

And suddenly, I find myself wanting to see what everybody does next.

Not because I need another makeup trend to follow.

Because I like seeing people make interesting things.

Especially when those things are a little weird.

Anyway.

If somebody shows up to the office tomorrow with yellow shadow beneath their eyes, I will be asking questions.

Respectfully.

And if the answer is Gucci?

I understand completely.

TTYL.

Editorial fact-check: Gucci and The Attico references are from Milan’s September 2026 Spring/Summer 2027 shows. The Prada comparison refers specifically to the house’s February 2026 Fall/Winter show; its date is distinguished in the article to avoid presenting an earlier beauty look as a new September debut.