PSA: Lauren Conrad’s Mascara Tear Isn’t What You Think

Justin Bobby once said “truth and time tell all" — and he's vindicated once again. With Lauren Conrad returning to MTV for The Hills' 10th-anniversary special, The Hills: That Was Then, This Is Now, more of the "reality" behind the show is finally coming to light. A fun fact that is sure to pique every true fan's interest? That black mascara tear wasn’t mascara at all. There have been many memorable moments, characters, and one-liners that have come out of the never-ending drama that is The Hills — like the aforementioned Justin Bobby, who so great he needed two names — but the most GIF-able was definitely that tear. For those that remember [Ed. note: me], the moment arrived when LC got into a major cry session with her BFF, Audrina Patridge, over some roommate-jealously issues that stemmed from Lo Bosworth moving in and causing a divide in the house. We know, how did we ever keep with all this? The tear became a GIF, it went viral, and the rest is history — or not. “I don’t think it was the mascara — I think it was the eyeliner that was running,” Conrad told MTV News. “I still wear that mascara and it doesn’t run like that." Wait, what? So, was it liner, mascara, or was there foul play afoot? (We're kidding...kind of.) Back in 2013, Conrad told Cosmopolitan that she believed the producers amped up the drama by slowing down the tear when editing. They denied it — again, kind of. “The mascara thing just happened and it became a thing,” Adam DiVello, series creator and executive producer, told us. “We don’t have those [to-camera] confessionals...so we have no other device to tell stories other than something like a black mascara line running down her face.” The team further defended their editing skills: “I think it might have been slowed down in the trailer, but not in the show,” Sean Travis, The Hills executive producer, adds. Either way, this tear will live of in GIF form for years to come — at least in our beauty chat. And until more of teargate unfolds, here are plenty of waterproof liner alternatives to prevent a reoccurrence — although if it was the liner, we're sure glad it ran.