Anyone who’s dabbled in makeup will be able to tell you about the power of a well-applied slick of eyeliner, or the instant effect one wave of the mascara wand can have. Whether or not you’re a fan of eye makeup, there’s little doubt it can completely transform your look (for better or for worse, in the case of our blue eye shadow days).
And for some stars, their stage presence or public identity is intertwined with their signature beauty look, whether that be bold false eyelashes, strong eyebrows, smokey shadow or a perfect winged cat’s eye. While they look just as gorgeous without their signatures, these stars also look incredibly different, and some almost unrecognisable.
Thanks to their stunning fair hair, or unexpected natural colouring, or even just a more pared-back, relaxed vibe, these celebrities are able to switch up their look simply by swiping a makeup remover pad over their eyelids. Below, we round up 12 stars with and without their signature eye makeup.
Kendall Jenner
She may be one of the driving forces behind 2020’s appreciation for fox-eyeliner looks, but Jenner’s eyes are also divine sans definition, with her bare-faced aesthetic appearing more fresh than feline.
Zendaya
On the red carpet, the actress favours shimmery nudes and bold smoky palettes, as well as a seriously defined brow. Off-duty, however, she embraces her natural glow and keeps eye makeup to a minimum.
Lady Gaga
Gaga may certainly be partial to a statement look (and she wears them exceptionally well), but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t do au naturel just as strikingly.
Taylor Swift
The singer loves a cat-eye almost as much as she loves her Instagram-famous cats, but even without her signature winged look, her blue eyes still pop.
Sophie Turner
The naturally fair-haired Game of Thrones star colours her brows and loves lashings of mascara when on-duty, but her holiday face consists of fresh, clear skin and not a slick of eyeliner in sight.
Adele
She might wear winged eyeliner like war paint on her epic concert stages, but Adele has no hesitation embracing a bare face when she’s at home.
Ariana Grande
Allow this gorgeous makeup-free selfie to serve as pictorial proof that Grande does not in fact wake up with her signature winged liner, and that she’s every bit as stunning without it.
Gwyneth Paltrow
The natural blonde is very comfortable makeup-free, and her sunkissed off-duty beauty look is quite the departure from her sleek, defined red carpet makeup.
Madelaine Petsch
The Riverdale actress is a natural redhead, meaning she usually likes to wear bold false lashes and a darker brow pencil on the red carpet to give her gorgeous, naturally fair complexion a camera-ready boost.
Kesha
Pop star Kesha loves to experiment with makeup and hair looks, and is known for wearing everything from false feather lashes to rhinestone-encrusted eyeliner. But in her downtime, the singer is more than happy to let her fair colouring, and enviable freckles, shine through.
Katy Perry
If there’s one thing that defines Katy Perry’s ever-changing beauty look more than any other, it’s her love of thick, luscious false eyelashes. But even without these eye-catching add-ons, she’s just as striking.
Sarah Hyland
Eyes as beautifully wide as Hyland’s don’t need layers of liner and lashes to stand out; they’re always going to be the face’s (ironically) eye-catching feature.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
