One of the most talked-about beauty looks of Paris Fashion Week SS27 is almost invisible until the model blinks. At Dior’s spring 2027 show in the Tuileries Garden, Peter Philips, creative and image director of Christian Dior makeup, glued a hair-thin strip of silver just above the lash line. “From the front, it seems as if there’s nothing there, but as soon as they blink you can see the silver, almost like a flashlight,” he told Harper’s Bazaar backstage. Now that Paris is wrapping up and the runway trend reports are landing, Cover Issue’s beauty desk is calling it flashlight eyeliner. This is the flashlight eyeliner how-to for Monday 5 October IST: what Dior did, which products were credited, and how to adapt it at home, along with the post-workout “active blush” that made the whole face work.
What Dior’s silver “flashlight” eyeliner actually is
Philips created two versions of a silver eye, and models walked in one or the other. Vogue’s Arden Fanning Andrews, who reported from backstage, explains the first: hair-thin metallic filaments trimmed from a strip of Mylar false lashes. “It’s Mylar drag-queen jumbo lashes,” Philips told Vogue, picking one up with tweezers. “One pair of lashes will do the whole show because I only need two per girl.” Harper’s Bazaar’s Tiffany Dodson Davis describes the result as “delicate strips of silver expertly glued” along the eyelids, a metallic line “as thin as hair almost,” in Philips’s words, set right above the lash root.
The second version was a chunky silver glitter wing. “It’s a wing just on the outside; it’s more about the side of the eye,” Philips told Vogue. He fixed loose silver glitter to the outer corner with NYX Glitter Primer. “It’s just fun,” he said.
Both versions came from the clothes. According to Vogue, Philips took his cue from Jonathan Anderson’s mix of pastels with “great silver metallic trousers” and “fantastic silver shoes,” plus “something bizarre — it’s the little unexpected twist.” The brief, he told Bazaar, was “not too much, very surfer-inspired and lived in. Very much about texture and natural beauty.”
Our cover is a Dior beauty portrait by Marco Periz, published by Harper’s Bazaar with its Dior SS27 beauty story. It shows the effect: bare, glowing skin, softly brushed brows and a fine metallic glint along the upper lash line, visible only as the eye catches the light.
No mascara, no curl: why the rest of the face stays bare
The silver works because nothing competes with it. Vogue reports no mascara and “not even a hint of curl,” to avoid a “wall of lashes.” Bazaar describes natural ghost lashes and brows pencilled in only where needed. Hair, by Guido Palau, was loose waves, natural coils and low chignons with what Philips called a faux-surfer texture. “It comes by being on the beach,” he told Vogue. “Your hair is done without any effort.”
Philips described the audience he had in mind to Bazaar: girls “who surf, or rave, or party, and who love makeup and beauty, but maybe don’t want to go through a full routine. It’s effortless, not pretentious, and just having fun with your appearance.”
The “active blush”: a post-workout flush, placed low
The second idea to copy is the blush. Bazaar reports Philips used Dior Backstage Rosy Glow Stick in 012 Rosewood and 103 Toffee, placed lower on the face rather than on the apples of the cheeks, for “a flush one would appear to have post-workout.” He explained the reasoning to Vogue: “If you don’t have a little color on the face, they become almost like they just went out and had a bit of a hangover.”
Lips and shine finished it. Both outlets credit Dior Addict Lip Maximizer in 001 Pink and a few swipes of the sheer Dior Backstage Glassy Glow Stick in 017 Glossy Jelly. Bazaar adds Dior Backstage Air Flash Mist to set everything. Vogue says the watery, glossy finish looked as if the models had just stepped out of the ocean.
Flashlight eyeliner how-to: the at-home version
These steps are Cover Issue’s home adaptation of the backstage technique. The Dior products named are the ones the outlets credited; any similar formula will work.
Step 1, skin first: keep the base sheer and glowing. Use a light skin tint or concealer only where needed, so the silver stays the focus.
Step 2, bare lashes: skip mascara and curling, as Philips did. If your lashes are very pale, use a clear brow gel on them rather than black mascara.
Step 3, choose your silver. For the hair-thin line, trim a single strand of metallic or tinsel lash with small scissors and set it into a thin line of clear lash glue right at the upper lash root. Tweezers make this much easier. For an easier option, use the finest silver liquid liner you can find, or press silver pigment along the roots with a damp, very fine brush.
Step 4, check the blink test: look straight into the mirror, then blink. Like Philips’s “flashlight,” the silver should be barely visible with eyes open and only flash when you blink or look down.
Step 5, or go glitter: for the second Dior version, dab glitter primer only on the outer third of the lid and the outer corner, then press loose silver glitter into a short wing. Keep it on the side of the eye, not the whole lid.
Step 6, active blush: dab a creamy rosy-brown blush lower on the cheek, below the apples and towards the jaw, and blend outward so it looks like flush after a run rather than placed colour.
Step 7, glassy finish: add a sheer pink or plumping gloss to the lips and a touch of balm-gloss on the high points if you like. Set with a fine facial mist.
Can you really wear it? The models say yes
The models answered that question themselves. Asked by Vogue whether she would wear the Mylar liner, Kaat Van Herbruggen said, “Honestly, yeah, for a party,” while admitting she might not “have the skill” to do it herself. Carol Monteiro told Vogue the glitter eye is “something you can wear for a night out,” and something she might try at home. That matches Cover Issue’s advice: the glitter wing is the easier evening option, and the single silver line is for when you have time to practise.
Quick checklist
Silver at the lash root only, so it flashes on the blink.
No mascara and no curl, which keeps the look modern.
Blush low on the cheek, for a post-workout flush.
Sheer pink, glassy lips.
Lived-in, beachy hair.
Optional finishing touch: Vogue reports manicurist Ama Quashie used deliberately unmatched polish, burgundy Dior Vernis 047 Nuit on the fingers and ruby 853 Rouge Trafalgar on the toes, after stylist Benjamin Bruno suggested not matching them.
Dior’s show notes, printed in the shape of the walnuts that arrived with the invitation, included a line Vogue quotes that sums up this beauty look: “What looks symmetrical in nature is often not quite.” Flashlight eyeliner isn’t meant to look perfect. It catches the light when you move, so it suits party season and photos alike. For more of this season’s shine, see Cover Issue’s sparkle-revival frosted-lip how-to from yesterday’s beauty desk.