I’d quite like to go on a cruise with a 60s Barbra Streisand. We’d have Robert Redford in a tuxedo on one side and Jackie O in Chanel pearls on the other. Barbra would be sat next to her then husband, actor Elliot Gould (the Gellar’s dad in Friends, that’s him) but she’d be ignoring him so we could set the world to rights, getting sloshed on dirty martinis, tossing around our chandelier earrings. 

A cruise – back when they were the last word in ostentation and class, you understand – is exactly where I place Barbra when I look upon her fantastical 60s maquillage. She embraced the unencumbered make-up drama of the era (eyes were nothing if they weren’t huge and dripping in mascara and kohl), but she had the face to carry it off. The most expressive face; a strong bone structure, full lips and judicious, glittering eyes - Barbra had the sort of artistic intensity necessary to pull off huge cocoons of soot-coloured powder enveloping the eyes. 

It’s this sort of intensity that keeps the look from veering unquestionably into sex kitten territory. Streisand is anything but a sex kitten and admirably so. She’s a force in the arts and she’s got some serious smarts; there’s a depth to her face, a sort of cerebral appeal to her face; she looks pensive, conscientious and like she’d win every argument about the Vietnam War. 

"Barbra had the sort of artistic intensity necessary to pull off huge cocoons of soot-coloured powder enveloping the eyes."

Rather encouragingly, it’s not completely hideous to try to attempt on your own eyelids. I’m not kidding. It’s simply a case of being really good at drawing a convex line, from the inner corner of your eye, right across the socket to the outer corner, almost like an Op piece of Perspex art, or a 60s lamp shade. Then, fill it in like a picture in a colouring book and for added intensity – line the upper and lower lash lines with a thick, unctuous black gel liner. 

Naturally, what comes next - at least in my case - is a minor wrestle with a pair of wafting, thick false lashes. Janine Bird, national make-up coach for Smashbox taught me a really good lashes trick recently; glue one and then the other all at the same time, once you’ve finished gluing the second one, the first one will be just tacky enough to stick down without sliding all over the place. 

Anyway, I digress, this look is not about lash application but about the fabulousness and depth of Barbra Streisand in the decade that elevated her to glory. She wouldn’t have cared about all this of course, it’s just make-up to her. Plus, we’re on a cruise; we’d be thwacked out on martini.

1. Nars Eyebrow Pencil in Ipanema, £16.50
2. Nars Duo Eyeshadow in Pandora, £25
3. Smashbox Jet Set Waterproof Eye Liner in Deep Black, £16
4. Shu Uemura False Eyelashes in Natural Volume, £16.50

Photography: Hugo Yanguela