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Whenever I have a bad breakout that no amount of concealer will cover (or at least not to my satisfaction), I decide to instead play up my best feature, my big brown eyes with their long lashes.
A smoky eye is so easy and always makes me feel a bit better about myself. Utilizing the art of distraction here. ;)
A great thing about the smoky eye is that it's build-able. There's a few different levels of "smokiness," from natural/everyday, to the standard smoky eye, to a super smoky special occasion look. All depends on the shadow and liner application. It's also very forgiving... no severe, exacting lines such as we use for a cat-eye. I spent one too many evenings applying waterproof liquid liner for a high school musical, and I'm never going back! Haha!
Even though we don't have too much cause to get dolled up right now, it's the perfect opportunity to practice a new makeup technique! So grab your eye shadow, and let's get started...
How To
Using your index finger, apply light shimmer shadow across entire eyelid
With your middle finger, apply a medium shade from the middle of your eyelid to the outer corner.
Here's the exciting step, where we start to see the smoky dimension... Using your ring finger, apply a dark matte shadow to the outer corner of your eyelid. Hopefully, its easy to see that we're working with the "rule of thirds," creating a subtle gradient from light to dark across the eyelid.
Now you could stop here and just add mascara. This makes a perfectly natural, "no-makeup" look for busier days.
Standard Smoky Eye
To achieve the standard smoky eye look, you'll want to add liner. Tap some black eye shadow onto an angled eyeliner brush (or use a black pencil liner) and draw a line all the way across your top lid. Line the bottom lid from about the middle to the outer corner. If any specks of black shadow fall, you can use a Q-tip with a teensy bit of soap for touch-ups. This is where I really love using a brush, because it makes a soft, hazy line to begin with. If using a pencil, we'll have to do a bit of smudging. The edge of your pinkie finger or a Q-tip could work for this purpose.
Apply a generous coat of mascara to the top and bottom lashes.
Special Occasion Super Smoky Eye
I only use this look when I'm going to be on stage for a concert because it's rather high impact. The tight-lining method really makes the whites of your eyes pop. NB: Keep the lip color subtle if you do a super smoky eye. Heavy eye makeup plus bold lip color is not necessarily a flattering look. As Chanel said, "Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance."
Finish lining the inner corners of your eyes, and add liner to the waterline of the bottom lid. (Never, ever use liquid liner here! Not a good idea.)
And voilà! There you have the three variations of the classic smoky eye.
Before I sign off, here's a list of my favorite beauty products (all under $10!) , including the eye shadow palettes I use most.
Thank you for stopping by,
Eva
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