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Ever since his band Green Day burst on the scene in 1994 with Dookie, Billie Joe Armstrong has been the patron saint of a certain American teen mall-punk sensibility. For many, and for him specifically, a big part of that look? Eyeliner. Wearing eyeliner (or “guyliner”) was a signifier that you didn’t care about “rules” or “labels” or “boxes,” and that you could be counted on to cause serious trouble at your local Hot Topic.
We’ve come a long way from the nineties, but this mentality still stands. Well, some of it does. These days, the term “guyliner” is outdated - it implies a gendered idea of makeup that is old fashioned. We now have a male Cover Girl spokesmodel, whole makeup sections dedicated to men and we at GQ have even celebrated the miracle of concealer. It’s 2018: can’t a guy just...wear eyeliner?
That’s what Kat Von D, the tattoo artist-turned-makeup entrepreneur, and Armstrong think, at least. And that’s why they’ve collaborated to launch what might be the first-ever male-fronted eyeliner pencil: Basket Case (which you might remember as a perfect single off Dookie). But she and Armstrong purposefully stay away from using the term “guyliner” when discussing the product.
“These are just tools of self-expression, in whatever form you choose to use them. They absolutely don’t apply just to females, they never have,” she told me over the phone. “It’s about owning your own style. The gender thing has never really been a focus for me.”
Still, the fact that this is a makeup product comes with a certain set of expectations to subvert, which is why the idea was so interesting to Von D. She’d been friends with Armstrong for years before he texted her with the idea for the product, and the suggestion that a portion of its sales go to the ACLU.
Armstrong’s involved because it’s his idea, but also to emphasize that this isn’t a product or a look that can be easily boxed in. Punk is about rebellion; so is gender-free eyeliner. “That's something that I want to message with my brand and I’m not scared to. It’s something we should embrace. I’ve been an outsider my whole life. So for guys to be able to come out and express themselves in a physical form, in their appearance and how they dress and not give a fuck, that’s something we should be nurturing. We should be promoting that,” says Von D.
The ideal look for punk eyeliner, as noted on the packaging, is “anti-precision.” This is what the ladies call a “smokey eye,” but what it really means is that it’s meant to look smudged, smeared and imperfect, no matter who’s wearing it. If you’re giving it a try, don’t go for a clean line: The application of eyeliner is difficult for even the most seasoned professional (the poking, the shaking, the weirdness) so don’t stress about it. Makeup artist Kelseyanna Fitzpatrick of the Kat Von D Artistry Collective suggests drawing the liner along your bottom lid right at the lashes, and then squeezing your eyes together. This will naturally smudge the liner for you—not quite full pop-punk, but well on your way. If you really want to go the full Billie Joe, then add more to the top lashes and smudge with your fingers. And give us a yell when you come around.
Buy Kat Von D Basket Case Anti-Precision Eyeliner ($19) at katvondbeauty.com and sephora.com