I want to be the person who’s always trying new makeup trends. It’s so easy to convince myself that I’ll wear the neon pink eyeshadow, metallic lipgloss, or extreme contour that I’ve hoarded in my apartment. But the truth is, no matter how appealing a trend, I rarely break free from my daily look of natural skin, winged eyeliner, and a nude lip.

So imagine my delight when I noticed a trend on Instagram that was totally within my wheelhouse. Every time I opened the app, white liquid eyeliner, usually applied in a bold wing, was popping up on celebrities and influencers. It even made its way onto the Pose season two promos.

Graphic, ’60s inspired eyeliner has been having a moment for a while now, but it’s usually done in a bright neon or creamy pastel. White is a refreshing contrast. In art, white is the absence of color, so it’s almost like an anti-eyeliner. It still makes a big statement, but because it’s a neutral, it feels a little more approachable, and you don’t have to worry about matching other makeup or your outfit. It’s crisp and graphic like a classic white shirt, but doesn’t have the vintage connotations that black does. Plus, it will really pop with a (safe) summer tan.

As someone who has a cat eye down pat and is terrified of wearing color on my eyes (plus has no idea how to blend eyeshadow), this is the perfect trend for me. It’s a fun way to switch up my makeup and make me feel like part of the it-crowd without stepping too far outside of my comfort zone. So I challenged myself to try the trend for a week.

Since I’m so comfortable in a cat eye, I figured white eyeliner would be an easy switch. I was wrong. While a swipe of black eyeliner instantly adds definition to my eyes and wakes up my whole face, I found white did the opposite. It made me look a little sleepy and washed out, almost like a haunted doll which is….not the look I’m going for. The first time I tried it out, it stayed on my face for a total of 15 minutes before I wiped it off. Granted, I was having a terrible skin day and just not feeling myself overall, so I think I wanted to avoid any makeup that would call attention to myself. I gave it a shot the next night and went much harder on my foundation, which definitely helped me feel less like a drowned rat. I wore it out to a party and got several compliments, but still didn’t feel 100 percent comfortable in it.

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