This Supermodel Has a 3-Step Trick for the Perfect Cat-Eye—And It Actually Works
“Make Up by Me” is not a typical tagline for an in-demand supermodel such as Natasha Poly, who, with countless magazine covers under her belt, has the best names in the beauty business on speed dial. So why does the Russian stunner insist on doing her own makeup for red carpet events? “I just love it—it’s my form of therapy,” she says, adding that her product tips and tricks were culled from over a decade spent backstage with pro artists. A quick search of #NPolyMakeup will prove her top-notch schooling: a perfectly traced bold red lip; an eye shaded in neon-yellow pigment; a futuristic swipe of white liner on the innermost points of the eyes. Today, though, the model and mother offers up her secret step-by-step guide to the perfect extreme cat-eye.
But first, there’s a canvas to prep. With her blonde lengths deeply parted to the side, Poly is careful to apply a matte primer everywhere on her face except for her cheekbones, where she likes to maintain as much shine as possible, she says. Then, with a combination of a foundation stick, topped off with two concealers—one liquid, one dry—and a brushing of light powder, she is ready for her brows, which are always brushed up, elongated at the ends, and capped off with gel. Shaping and contouring before a red carpet is nonnegotiable for Poly, she says, because “it makes the neck longer and the jawline stronger so when the flashes come in, [the face] is the perfect shape.”
Now, for some drama, she starts in on her cat-eye, which is shaped by applying a light brown pigment in the corners of the lids. Then, with a “super, super thin” black liner, Poly paints between her lashes from left to right with razor-like precision, her trusted Q-tips never too far away for corrective touch-ups. “Ta-da,” she says with a laugh and a toss up of the drugstore box. “It’s empty already!” Finally, she sets to drawing the shape in earnest, demonstrating her foolproof three-point technique—it must be seen to be believed!—and creating eyes that are bolder with every stroke.
And to warm up her devil-may-care gaze for summer? Poly applies bronzer and highlighter to her cheeks, forehead, neck, collarbone, and shoulders. And with that, and a swipe of rosy lip liner—“It’s easier and it stays,” she says of the formula, which lasts longer than a lipstick or gloss—this jet-setting femme fatale is ready for her close-up.
Filmed at The Standard High Line
Natasha in: Morgan Lane Bambi jumpsuit, $478, morgan-lane.com
