Side-By-Side Pics Of Celebrities Who Totally Transform Without Eyeliner

Eyeliner is as crucial as lipstick and faux lashes in many celebrities' makeup bags, so much so that it's part of many signature looks (Taylor Swift, Taylor Momsen, and Adele, we're looking at you). In fact, liner can make such a difference to the way our fave celebs' peepers look that it's been a major talking point when they didn't wear it. In 2016, Gwen Stefani (who's had quite the face transformation) caused a stir when her makeup artist Gregory Arlt ditched her signature heavy, dark, vintage-inspired winged liner for the Billboard Music Awards.

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Reactions to her bare lash line and pearlescent eyeshadow flooded Arlt's Instagram, with one person writing, "She wouldn't look as tired and washed out if she had some eyeliner on top." Another lamented, "She needs eyeliner." The public was so opinionated about the "Cool" hitmaker's glam that Arlt was forced to clap back. "It's basically what we've always been doing, just no upper liner or false lashes (and yes, a pale lip as opposed to a color). You'd think I sent her out with tinted moisturizer and Chapstick from what people were saying!" he wrote on Facebook (via People). But Stefani is far from the only star who looks different without eyeliner. Many others totally transform without it too, so much so that they look almost unrecognizable. 

Julia Fox is well-known for her extravagant makeup and out-there fashion choices (which have been known to land her on a worst-dressed list), so when her eyes aren't heavily defined, it can be tough to recognize the "Uncut Gems" actor. At a 2022 fashion show, she wore seriously dramatic black eyeliner that smudged to her temples and aided her quirky, avant-garde public persona. Later that year, though, she wore far more subtle makeup in a TikTok video, including seemingly no eyeliner, which made her look like a totally different person.

Nicki Minaj's extravagant makeup often includes thick lines of liquid eyeliner on her upper lid, but we've also seen the rapper without it multiple times. In a 2024 TikTok video showing her with seemingly bare upper and lower lash lines, the natural shape of her eyes was more obvious and she looked drastically different. Fans even took to social media to share their thoughts on Minaj's less-is-more liner, with one X user writing, "nicki minaj without eyeliner is top tier."

Ariana Grande is another star who's experimented a lot with eyeliner over the years. She's often worn a bold, liquid line above her eyes and dark black pencil in her waterline, and revealed on Instagram in 2025 she uses r.e.m. beauty's (her own makeup line) At The Borderline Eyeliner marker in Midnight Black, which is also available as a Kohl Eyeliner Pencil. Her fully lined eyes gave the singer/actor a more mature aesthetic and helped her eyes pop. When she doesn't wear eyeliner though, her brown peepers appear wider and rounder. 

Few stars rock as much heavy eyeliner as Pretty Reckless singer and "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" actor Taylor Momsen, who you probably won't recognize today. The star's usual look features a generous application of black liner above and below her eyes, which she often smudges for a grungy effect. In 2025, though, she appeared without it on Instagram and looked drastically different. Momsen adopted a softer, glam vibe as she sat by her Christmas tree, embracing a natural makeup look with seemingly no (or at least much less) eyeliner and a soft brown eyeshadow.

Taylor Swift's classic liquid eyeliner slick is such a significant part of her look that she admitted she once drew a line above her eye with a Sharpie ("DO NOT DO IT," she told Elle). And while we wouldn't recommend her DIY look, we get it, because she looks totally different without the cosmetics. Thick, precise liner with upturned ends gives Swift's eyes a more elongated and sultry effect. In an Instagram snap Ed Sheeran shared of the hitmaker without her signature cosmetics, she had a more wide-eyed, youthful, and innocent look.

Adele is another star whose sharp, thick eyeliner has become her trademark. The "Set Fire To The Rain" singer is rarely spotted without a pointed wing on her upper lash line, so we imagine it's easy for her to go incognito by simply ditching her exaggerated flick. When she's not wearing that little bit of glam, like in an emotional 2022 Instagram video, the British singer looks just as stunning, but her eyes aren't quite as defined and don't appear as open, making her look totally different.

Selena Gomez's iconic beauty looks have included some bold eyeliner. In 2024, she sported a grungy, smoky aesthetic on Instagram by smudging what appeared to be a pencil liner above and below her eyes to draw attention to her peepers. When the "Calm Down" hitmaker doesn't wear eyeliner, though, she's been known to opt for a more clean girl makeup aesthetic, which can make her eyes appear more open and gives her makeup a softer, more subtle vibe.

Dark eyeliner plays a big part in popstar Charli XCX's bad girl aesthetic, and it can drastically change the look of her eyes. She went heavy on the liquid product at the 2014 American Music Awards, with a defined cat eye on both lash lines. When she appeared on Instagram without the cosmetic though, the difference was obvious. With liner, the singer had a more vintage-inspired, vampy vibe. Without it, her lids were more prominent, and the brown in her irises wasn't quite as vibrant.

Former "Pretty Little Liars" star Shay Mitchell has shown her penchant for experimenting with bold eyeliner multiple times, including at the Freeform 2017 Upfronts when she wore dramatic black liner on her top lid and an eye-catching teal underneath. She later did her makeup in a beauty video for Vogue, though, and her transformation without the product was obvious. Heavy liner closed off the actor's eyes and made them look more almond-shaped, whereas her eyes sans-liner appeared brighter and slightly rounder.