Claudia Winkleman is famous for her eyeliner, and not always for the right reasons. Ever since a 2013 red carpet mishap made her the poster girl for racoon makeup, the presenter has likened herself to everyone from Alice Cooper and Meatloaf, and proclaimed it her goal in life to look like she’s ‘slept in her makeup and woken up in a skip’.
However, while she’s continued to describe her eyeliner aesthetic as ‘strange, drunken pirate’, the reality has become far more elevated, not least on The Celebrity Traitors. If you look beyond her fringe for a moment, you’ll notice that Claudia is actually wearing some of TV’s most beautiful smokey eye makeup when she’s striding around the Round Table.
To help us decode it all, the show’s makeup artist, Lucy Gibson, has helpfully shared a run-down of the trusty Traitors favourites she uses for Claudia – and suddenly the cloak is pulled from over our eyes. Because top of the list is an eyeliner that we happen to know is a true faithful, never to turn to the dark side.
What to read next
That penetrating Claudia gaze is made utterly unwavering thanks to Jones Road The Gel Liner. It’s a product created by makeup artist Bobbi Brown who invented the world's first gel liner formula for her original namesake brand and then reinvented it over again last year for Jones Road.
That little pot is a product that’s already a huge GH favourite, so we can fully understand why Claudia’s eye makeup is looking so smoking hot.
Jones Road Gel Liner comes in four shades: classic Claudia jet-black, rich chocolate brown, navy blue and violet. While “violet” may sound a little off-brand for Bobbi, aka the queen of natural makeup, it’s actually a very wearable, rich, deep aubergine, which looks particularly striking against blue or green eyes. (One for Claudia, next?)
Lucy has also revealed that she pairs it with Vieve's Eye Wand, which explains the softer, more diffused edge to Claudia's eye makeup, and the hint of shimmer we can often see on her lids.
It's a gorgeous, fresh update for her eyes, but we do note that there's zero movement on her famous 'Tippex' lips. MAC Fleshpot is proving as impossible to budge as her eyeliner!
GH review: Jones Road The Gel Liner
GH beauty director Lynne tries it out
The original Bobbi Brown gel liner is a product I hold very dear to my heart, considering it was the eyeliner I entrusted to stay smear-free for my wedding. I’m in good company on this one, too, as Bobbi Brown is the makeup brand the Princess of Wales reportedly used for her own nuptials, and as the entire watching world can confirm, Kate’s perfectly pigmented liner was more than up to the moment.
Strangely, it’s a product I haven’t worn for a bit (nothing personal; probably misplaced in a drawer somewhere), but with a single swipe of the Jones Road version, I was falling in love with gel liner all over again. Honestly, why had I left it so long? It’s so quick, easy and ridiculously flattering. If you’re an older woman looking for an easy makeup update, this is a must-buy.
The gel texture keeps the edges soft, but without sacrificing hold and allowing it to wander out of bounds. Normally, eyeliner gets restless sitting on my lash line and wriggles its way into my lid crease, but this one behaved beautifully, setting fast and staying put all day.
There’s also plenty of time to buff the gel out, if you want to turn it into a smokier, but still budge-proof look around the eyes, like Claudia.
How to apply Jones Road Gel Liner
It’s not a hard product to use, but to make it truly foolproof, Bobbi recommends using the matching Precision Eyeliner Brush. 'This brush is truly made for a precise line that when close to your lash line, it looks as if it belongs and your lashes appear thicker and richer.'
If you want to wing it out, Bobbi advises: 'Start in the inner corner of your eye, line close to your lashes and gradually make the line thicker as you extend it to the end of your eye and then outward and slightly up. Pro tip is to start with a light hand – you can always go back and add additional thickness to your line.'
