When William Squire starts talking about blue mascara, the response he gets is, "That’s so ’80s."

But there is one group of women for whom blue mascara never went out of style: Hollywood’s A-listers and models, who know that navy blue is the secret to making eyes appear more luminous and larger.

"Have you ever seen a navy-blue pillow against a white couch? The navy blue makes the white look brighter and whiter," said Squire, a 20-year Hollywood makeup artist and stylist whose tool kit has always contained blue mascara in various brands, which he’s used on such clients as Tipper Gore, Linda Evangelista, Demi Moore, Susan Sarandon and Faye Duna­way.

The part-time Hono­lulu resident said that whenever he hosts one of his Your Signature Style workshops, which offer fashion, makeup and style tips, there’s always a run on blue mascara at nearby beauty boutiques that creates a moment of scarcity. So Squire decided to create his own blue mascara, Billy’s Blues, for those occasions.

"I have always used a navy mascara on my clients, and found it’s hard to get a good one with the right consistency," Squire said. "A lot of them tend to be thick and clumpy, but my clientele is very sophisticated and doesn’t want that. So I created my own to thicken and lengthen but without that heavy look or feel."

The mascara sells for $20 at www.billys­blues.com.