Siren Eyes: A Complete Guide For This Hot Makeup Style
November 3, 2022 by Marissa Matozzo
If you’ve scrolled BeautyTok this fall, (the fan-dubbed section of TikTok videos that centers around beauty trends and DIY instructions), you might have stumbled upon the ‘siren eye’ makeup trend. This sultry, smudgy and smokey effect— which many credit to be inspired by Alexa Demie’s Euphoria looks— is often complete with thicker, longer lines as opposed to a regular cat-eye (the lines don’t just jut out from the end of one’s eye, but also include one at the inner corner as well).
While this look is typically made with the help of sky-high lashes, it also features much darker eyeshadow and a more blended wing overall than your classic cat-eye might. We reached out to a professional makeup artist for a step-by-step guide to get the siren-eye look, as well as product recommendations for your makeup bag. Read on for tips, suggestions and insight from Mary Winkenwerder, professional makeup artist and expert, as well as TikTok videos to master your siren eye.
Siren Eyes: a 5-Step, How to GuideBefore applying any makeup to your skin, Winkenwerder explains that it’s vital to wash your face (and eyelids) with a gentle cleanser to remove any previous residue, dirt, oil, etc. “Always start with a clean face,” she says, adding, “If you want great makeup results, your skin needs to be healthy” and healthy-looking. “After it’s all said and done and makeup is all off, it’s time to nourish skin and lashes,” she advises. Before mastering your siren eye, she suggests “apply eye serum or cream in all the right places.”
Another pro tip that she gives is that “a quick application of lash serum at the lash line may also help to make lashes thicker in the future for fuller eye statements.” “Remember, lash and skin love is self-love and self-love is everything,” Winkenwerder stresses, saying to “always condition the eyes and face as much as you can or as needed.” The secret sauce for “looking fresh and flawless all season is to apply a lash serum, eye cream, eye serum, and face serums and moisturizers,” she continues.
To help create that elongated, slanted look, it’s best to apply your favorite black or brown eyeshadow to your lash line before adding liquid eyeliner. As seen in the TikTok video above, the makeup artist uses a fluffy brush to blend outward which will set the tone for the epic liner.
For a “glam smoulder,” Winkenwerder recommends using a “deeply pigmented powder eye shadow that is pressed,” such as IsaDora ‘Perfect Eyes, Black Galaxy’ (0.08oz) with a makeup brush in a blotting motion as close to the waterline as possible. This step is ultimately optional, as Winkenwerder says that the siren eye design “also looks great on bare eyes with a bit of mascara.”
Every great siren eye is a revamped cat-eye. You can glide your liquid eyeliner pen along your upper lash line either by hand or with the help of a stencil. When it comes to the bottom lash line, making the wing a lot lower than your usual cat-eye (in line with the lower lash line and outward) is key. For beginners, Winkenwerder suggests trying the Outgeek eye design stencil that can be purchased at Walmart. You can also use tape for a perfect angle, as well.
“Create your siren eye design to perfection with this stencil in no time,” she recommends, while also noting that the “sharp and flawless” wing you’re aiming for can be made with a “felt tip liner design to fill in the design stencil.” Winkenwerder says she loves using the NYX Professional Makeup ‘That’s The Point Eyeliner, Super Edgy’ pen as it works “beautifully for this eye trend design.”
If you’re more of a pencil eyeliner fan or just want to add a more smudgy oomph to your liquid lines, she also notes that the L’Oreal Paris ‘Voluminous Smoldering Eyeliner with Custom Sharpener, Black,’ (0.087 oz) also “works perfectly for this look.” To use this, she says you can save time by “stenciling in your siren eye design, then go,” and to “place the stencil on your eye according to where you want the siren eye to be, then fill in the stencil with your desired makeup product.”
A sultry siren eye is never complete without inner corner emphasis, which means you can take a pencil eyeliner to your waterline in this area, before using a brush to apply more product to the skin on your inner corners to draw it out. You can also use liquid liner in this area for a more defined look, and a bolder triangle shape.
After your inner corners are drawn on (both in the waterline area and exterior), you can then use dark eyeshadow to blend it more (with the help of a trusty angled brush). Whether you want to fully outline your bottom lash line is up to you, as Winkenwerder notes that the siren eye look can be obtained with only emphasis on the inner corner and tail at the end of your eye, or an entirely “kohl-rimmed look with cosmetic kohl pencil.”
With your already fierce eyeliner all set, you’re almost done! Now, it’s time to get those sky-high lashes to really look like a siren, and Winkenwerder recommends the following affordable mascaras to help emphasize your peepers: Wet n Wild’s ‘Mega Clear Brow & Lash Mascara,‘ that you can find at a drugstore near you, Colour Pop Cosmetics ‘bff mascara,’ and L’Oreal Paris standard ‘Voluminous Mascara’ (0.28 fl oz), which is sold at Target.
To really help highlight your siren eye shape, you can take your mascara wand and begin applying to your lashes diagonally to follow the tail you created before. As seen in the video above, this looks best when you pay close attention to the lashes at the outer corner, and by focusing on the roots of your lashes, especially for optimal volume. Now, you’re done! To take extra care of your lashes in general (before applying any mascara or makeup), Winkenwerder says that you can “replenish, moisturize, and add nutrition around the eye area with a “lash serum for conditioning and future lash growth.” For this, she recommends Lash Spell ‘Enhancing Eyelash Serum.’
Overall, as Winkenwerder helps explain the appeal of one of 2022’s most memorable makeup trends, the “siren eye look is a gorgeous interpretation of the simpler winged eye corner.” As you’ve learned from the steps above, this trend may be worn “with or without” a full color eye statement, Winkenwerder says, while “holding its own with enhancing design.” In general, she points out that there are “very few winged eye designs that look good on all eye shapes,” and this is certainly this is “one of them!”