Recreating Rihanna's Look: Experimenting with cat eyes

I really liked Rihanna's simple but dramatic look from the 2007 MTV VMA awards. (By the way, happy belated birthday to Rihanna!)



So this should be pretty easy to re-create, right? Well for others, probably yes, but for me? Not really. I think my main problem is that how something looks in person doesn't really translate in photographs, especially with a simple point and shoot camera like mine. Also, everyone's features are shaped differently so I had to figure out what works for me.

Here is my first attempt which I think is kinda nice but doesn't look dramatic enough with the "cat eyes", although I felt like I had a whole lotta eyeliner in person.



So I decided to extend the "tail" a little more going from this:


To this:


By the way, I typically use the MAC 266 brush (angled eyeliner brush) when applying gel/creme-based eyeliner. But I recently just purchased the MAC 210 brush (fine point eyeliner brush) and I'm happy to report that it works really well in drawing precise lines. I'm still playing with the whole cat eye thing, but it seems the general guideline is that the "tail" should follow the line of your lower lash line.

Here's the final look. I also changed my camera settings so I wasn't so pink. I still think I could have built it up the cat eye more but by then, I was so tired of mucking around with my make-up that I called it quits.


What I used:

FACE
MAC Mineral Skinfinish Natural in Medium Plus
Pur Mineral Mineral Glow
MAC X-rocks blush

EYES
MAC All That Glitters e/s (Lid)
MAC Texture e/s (Crease)
MAC Espresso e/s (Outer V)
Bobbi Brown Black Ink gel eyeliner
MAC Engraved powerpoint pencil
Modlash 53 eyelashes (Note to self: Didn't really like the look of these lashes)
MAC Cork e/s (brows)

LIPS
MAC Subculture lip pencil
MAC Gel lipstick
MAC Love Nectar lipglass

A little note about false eyelashes

On a side note, this was attempt #4 with false eyelashes. It is my goal to get comfortable with these because my lashes are so non-existent! It went a little better by the time I applied the second lash. I switched to Duo glue which seems to be the recommended one vs the one that comes with the Ardell and Modlash kits. Note this comes in clear and dark options. I heard that if you're new with lash glue, stick with the clear version because if you use the dark glue and mess it up or get the glue where you don't want it, it will dry dark and be noticeable. I also think I need to trim the lashes more... maybe to the point that they are just half lashes, especially since I'm just looking for a natural, but fuller look. It also helps to hold the lashes using your tweezers when applying.