I very rarely attempt to wear any of the jazzier runway makeup looks; often they are interesting and edgy – or very theatrical – on the catwalk, but ridiculous in real life. I suppose you could say that the same goes for the clothes a lot of the time! But Chanel’s “Quilted Eyes” for the AW16 show really tickled my fancy – the iconic quilting from their gorgeous handbags and accessories, brought across to makeup. It’s not very often you can work with patterns on the face – usually it’s just certain colours that become the makeup trends for the season – but this pattern is, I think, surprisingly wearable.

Mine turned out a lot smaller than the Chanel quilting, but I like that it’s a sort of “soft snakeskin” effect – a texture rather than a design. (Also I couldn’t get my diamond shapes to go any bigger, it was just too fiddly without help, but let’s ignore that part.)

I used pieces of fishnet stocking as a stencil (I tried to find something that would be reasonably easy to get hold of) and settled on a mid-brown shadow to create the quilting design, rather than the dark gunmetal used at the show. So I have very definitely done a “version” and not a recreation of the show look; I can’t imagine that they were sat there cutting up bits of fishnet stocking backstage! If you have any suggestions as to how to create an easier-to-use stencil (it’s incredibly tricky trying to stretch the fishnet over your eye and stipple-brush the shadow on) then please leave a comment below.

Take a look at the video to see how I “quilted my lids”. It’s actually quite quick once you have the knack of holding the fishnet with one hand and brushing the shadow on with the other…

You will need:
fishnet stocking (if you can think of something better then please let me know in the comments!)
Stiff eye brush like the Bold Metals 200: http://amzn.to/1QYOiQq
Matte eyeshadow, shade of your choice but I love darkish brown. In the show they used gunmetal from the Tisse Essentiel Palette: http://bit.ly/1QYOsqU

Disclaimer: this post is not sponsored. Links may be affiliate links. Products are press samples unless otherwise stated in video or description. Fishnets were from my nextdoor neighbour – cheers Michelle!

Official Chanel Image Used in Video:
Backstage Défilé Prêt-à-Porter Automne-Hiver 2016-17
Maquillage CHANEL
© CHANEL 2016

2016-17 Fall-Winter Ready-to-Wear Show
Makeup CHANEL
© CHANEL 2016
Photos Photos Benoît Peverelli