10 Celebrities Who Are Unrecognizable Without Eyeliner

Celebs like Gigi Hadid, Adele, and Rihanna have harnessed the transformative power of eyeliner, and fans have come to expect that distinct look from them. So when these stars go without eyeliner, they look shockingly different, proving the impact that one stroke of makeup can have on a face. Eyeliner has the ability to make the eyes look larger and more defined. Eyeliner can make a look more sultry and seductive; it can also give it a more sophisticated edge, thanks to its dramatic effect. Eyeliner can also be applied strategically to alter the perceived shape of eyes, making them look rounder, fuller, and more wide awake. These are just some of the many reasons why it is such a popular step for makeup lovers everywhere, and a clear reason why gorgeous stars — such as Ashley Graham, Naomi Campbell, and Taylor Swift, among many others — all incorporate it so regularly.  

It's amazing to see what eyeliner can do for a face. While it's just a little part of a makeup routine, eyeliner has the ability to completely transform a look. The evidence of this is abundantly clear when looking at a variety of celebrities, all of whom famously love makeup and love to play around with it. These stars are happy to go fresh faced or rocking a barely there makeup look, which has its own appeal. However, when they add a flick of eyeliner, it's a whole new world.

While Adele has undergone an incredible transformation, there's one thing she hasn't changed. Adele has been rocking a dramatic winged eye for years now. It's such a signature part of her makeup routine that on the rare occasions she posts photos without it, she looks like a whole new person. She's just as beautiful, but she doesn't have that enhanced definition that comes with a bold, black eyeliner. 

Naturally, because Adele makes eyeliner look so good, fans have been dying to re-create her look for themselves. When speaking with Vogue for "73 Questions," Adele said that her favorite eyeliner was Pat McGrath's Perma Precision Liquid Eyeliner, a makeup product famous for its ultra-rich color and velvety finish. It's inky and easy to apply, which is basically everything a gal wants in a liquid liner. This explains why it's such a critical part of Adele's regular look. In fact, Adele's eyeliner is such an iconic feature that her makeup artist, Michael Ashton, told The Cut in 2016 exactly how he does it. "I always start by outlining the shape of the liner, working from the inner to outer corner of the eye with a black gel liner," Ashton began, explaining that once he has the shape, he finishes by winging out the liner into Adele's signature cat eye. Often, Adele elongates her eyes even further by doing an inner wing as well, at the inner corner of her eyes. Clearly, Adele is the queen of eyeliner.

Rihanna loves to switch up her look. In fact, there have been several times that Rihanna was unrecognizable after pulling off a dramatic transformation. A big part of her ability to try out new looks is her skill with makeup, particularly eyeliner. It makes sense; the woman is a makeup mogul, with her massively influential makeup brand Fenty Beauty. In fact, Vogue credits Rihanna's makeup line with changing the industry, particularly around inclusivity. So it makes sense that Rihanna knows a thing or two about makeup, particularly the power of enhancing her eyes through liner.

In one of her Tutorial Tuesdays With Rihanna videos, the star explained how she does her signature liner flick. She uses the Fenty Beauty Flyliner Longwear Liquid Eyeliner in black and starts by applying small, fine strokes to the inner corner of the eyes. As she moves across her eyes, Rihanna lets the application get progressively wider. She then wrapped the simple application with a deft flick to give the liner its wings. While Rihanna loves a black liner for its precise definition, the Fenty Beauty mogul is a fan of liner in all sorts of electrifying colors. Whether it's cherry red, cobalt blue, or another bold color, Rihanna utilizes this rainbow of hues to get her makeup to match her outfits. The effect is playful and stunning.

Ashley Graham has slayed countless times going makeup free; the model can do without any kind of cosmetic enhancement and still look gorgeous. However, just as much as she loves a fresh face, Graham is also a makeup gal through and through, opting for dramatic eyeliner when she wants to make an impact, which is often. It makes sense: In 2018, Graham was named a Revlon Brand Ambassador for the makeup company's Live Boldly campaign, so a big part of Graham's career has revolved around makeup. 

In fact, even when Graham is going for a no makeup look, she still manages to squeeze in eyeliner. In March 2023, she told E! her trick as a busy mom. "The So Fierce! Vinyl Eyeliner in all black, black, black! It's my absolute favorite and I like to put it on the inside of my eyes," Graham explained. While this might be the case for Graham on busy days, the model lives for an exaggerated makeup moment. Graham's social media is full of images of her insatiable love of makeup, and eyeliner is always a part of the look. Whether it's a teal green eyeliner wing or a jet black wing warmed up with pink eye shadow on her lid, Graham has fun with her eyeliner, proving that makeup is serious business with a touch of whimsy.

Demi Lovato is a chameleon of sorts, changing up her look as she wishes and keeping everyone guessing. At Paris Fashion Week, Lovato debuted a drastic face transformation and looked unrecognizable. One of the key differences was her new, strategic use of eyeliner to achieve a sultrier look. She opted out of the classic cat eye and went instead for a heavily lined bottom lash line with less emphasis on the top lash line. The final result was a high impact, moody finish and a very unique look because traditional eyeliner is heavier on the top lashes rather than the bottom ones. 

Lovato has always been a fan of eyeliner and leaned into its dramatic power for red carpet moments. Her makeup artist, Jill Powell, told The Hollywood Reporter in 2017 how she gives Lovato her classic smoky eye. The secret is a bold liner. "I lined Demi's waterline with Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Waterproof Eyeliner in black, and lined the top of her lash line with Giorgio Armani Eye & Brow Maestro in black and wedge wood," Powell explained. While Lovato is happy to run errands makeup free, her red carpet looks are almost guaranteed to showcase a striking display of dramatic eyeliner, proving that her glam is incomplete without this sweeping touch.

Ariana Grande loves a feline flick. In a makeup tutorial for Vogue from September 2023, Grande walked viewers through her makeup routine, and it wasn't complete without her winged eyeliner. That makeup effect is one that fans have come to expect from Grande. She loves a bold makeup moment, and this almost always includes eyeliner. Even in Grande's "Wicked" era, her base glam look centers around a winged liner. 

In a TikTok video that Grande shared in 2022, the star walked fans through her eyeliner technique. "I've been asked to demonstrate my eyeliner technique," Grande began. "I don't know if it's a good technique. I didn't promise that." Grande joked that what's worked for her might not be what works for everyone. But clearly, it is a good technique because her eyeliner is such a signature part of her vibe. Grande started by using a fine-tipped liquid liner pen and drawing a line from below her brow bone to the outer corner of her lashes. She cleaned up the line by dragging her nail on the outer edge of the wing. Tackling the other eye, Grande joked, "Wow, different vibe on this side." She cleaned up that side with her nail as well and added, "It went well once." So even the pros struggle to perfect the finicky winged liner. Nonetheless, it's Grande's staple makeup routine, and one of the things she's famous for.

Gigi Hadid can rock any makeup look. And while she has access to all of the makeup brands in the world, she loves to keep things simple. In fact, Hadid shared her favorite drugstore makeup that she swears by. So while she might not blow the doors off with her makeup products, she still goes for the wow factor, and this includes a perfectly applied wing.

During a makeup tutorial, Hadid walked fans through her eyeliner technique and how to perfect the ever-tricky liquid winged liner. Hadid begins the process by using a black eyeliner pencil, drawing along her lash line and creating a soft wing shape with the pencil. Afterward, she sharpens the shape with a Q-tip to clean up the edges. Finally, she goes over the pencil liner with a liquid liner and, if necessary, cleans up the wing again with another Q-tip dipped in makeup remover. While this is a classic approach to liner, Hadid plays around with nontraditional liner techniques, too. In July 2021, stylist Mimi Cuttrell posted photos of Hadid to Instagram showcasing a floating eyeliner in emerald green. As the name suggests, Hadid had a green line in the middle of her eyelid as a fun way of bucking the conventional placement of liner. It just goes to show that liner — along with pretty much every other makeup concept — can be malleable in the spirit of fun. 

Naomi Campbell counts herself among the many celebrities who love Rihanna's Fenty Beauty makeup. Clearly, the supermodel knows a thing or two about makeup and has good taste. She always has, and makeup has been a huge part of the model's life, even more so when she was a budding model. "When I was younger, I had so much makeup on because I thought I needed all this makeup and that's how a model should be," Campbell told Vogue in June 2020. "It was all in my mind. I was thinking I had to cover every inch of skin. Anyways, things have changed."

While Campbell might go for a lighter hand now, she still leans into the power of eyeliner for the perfect look. She's all about giving her eyes that dramatic touch, and this comes from a flick of liquid liner. Campbell has been a longtime friend of makeup visionary Pat McGrath, and so many of her favorite eyeliner products are from that beauty house. For instance, at the iconic Versace Fall/Winter 2023 show, Campbell walked the runway with an exaggerated cat eye, and this evocative look was created thanks to the layering of Pat McGrath Labs' PermaGel Ultra Glide Eye Pencil in Xtreme Black and the Pat McGrath Perma Precision Liquid Eyeliner in Xtreme Black. These dramatic looks require a few different eyeliners together, and Campbell wears them like a pro. 

Christina Haack, the Barbie of house flipping, is unrecognizable without eyeliner. She rarely has a down day; Haack's obvious preference is to step out in full glam, and a key part of this vibe is eyeliner, plus her incredible blond hair. 

In a makeup photo shoot shared to Instagram in July 2020, Haack shared that she's a fan of Pink Dust Cosmetics. The brand features its best-selling Black Silk Cream Liner in a pot that's best applied with an angled eyeliner brush to get that cat eye flick. In another makeup tutorial by the same brand, Haack showed that her favorite eyeliner look is a winged out liner with fake lashes to enhance that feline eye effect. Haack doesn't often wear a bold eyeliner on her bottom lash line. 

However, for Halloween in October 2025, Haack posted a carousel of photos to Instagram in which she paid homage to Pamela Anderson during her iconic 1995 Cannes Film Festival press call for her film "Barb Wire." Haack changed things up, lining her upper and lower lashes in a dark liner to mimic the bombshell's look. Fans loved the look and encouraged Haack to continue styling herself after Anderson. "This is my absolute favorite look on you!!!! You're breathtakingly stunning!" someone commented. "Love the eye makeup in this shoot!" another wrote. "This hair and makeup on you is [gorgeous]," a third added. People loved Haack's playful take, eyeliner included.

Angelina Jolie has been sporting variations of winged eyeliner since the '90s. In fact, the feline flick is such a critical part of Jolie's beauty regimen that some fans might hardly know what she looks like without it. The intensity of Jolie's eyeliner has varied over the years. Naturally, during her goth era, it was pretty distinguishable, and it's lightened up in more recent years. But there's no denying that Jolie loves eyeliner. Makeup artist Rachel Goodwin, who worked with Jolie on her February 2021 cover for British Vogue, spoke about the art of doing Jolie's eyeliner. First, Goodwin applied a combination of matte grey and brown eye shadows. "I finished with a fine line of black liquid liner above her lash line, and extended it just past the outer edges of her eyes for a slight feline quality," Goodwin explained, stating that the eyeliner was "refined and feminine" on Jolie. 

Jolie's subtle, dark flick of eyeliner is obviously her favorite, everyday makeup look. But on red carpets, Jolie will frequently go for something bolder, with liner on both her top and bottom lash lines. In these instances, she'll play around with color, filling in her lower lash line with a copper liner to warm up the look. Or, if she wants a major moment, Jolie will wear jet black all around her eyes for extra drama.

Taylor Swift never goes anywhere without that signature little cat eye wing. It's such a classic part of her everyday look that Swift's winged liner registers almost as her makeup-free face. Eagle-eyed fans figured out the exact liner that Swift uses during a brief moment in her documentary "Miss America." Swift pulled out the Tom Ford Beauty Eye Defining Pen, a makeup product that's famous for its precision and inky blackness. Swift rarely wears liner on her lower lash line and instead balances her eyeliner with a dramatic dose of red lipstick. 

There are very rare occasions when Swift does go for a full application of eyeliner on her top and lower lashes. For instance, at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards, Swift was virtually unrecognizable with her dramatic eyeliner. She softened up her classic cat eye flick and instead went for a diffused, soft goth eyeliner with a greenish-gray undertone. Fans on Reddit gathered together on r/TaylorSwift to rave about this particular look. "I neeed one of the makeup girlies to do a makeup tutorial cause daaaaamn. She looked SO good last night," someone wrote. "Her face looks so stunning and that makeup, I love how the eyeliner looks, and she's making me want to put on that eyeliner. What a woman," another fan commented. "Makeup game on point," a third added. Clearly, Swift's soft goth eye makeup routine should become her new normal.