Perfecting the Smoky Eye Look

Let’s face it – every girl wants to turn heads, but that’s an arduous task if you don’t have the right makeup. To bring out the bad girl in you, you can now perfect the smoky eye look with this simple guide.

For a smoky eye that will stay put for the whole day, start with a good primer, like the Smashbox Hydrating Primer. Using the primer brush and your fingertips, gently blend it over the eyelids. Don’t forget to also apply it under your eyes to avoid looking like a panda.

You’ll need to find a good color palette that enhances the natural color of your eyes. Brown, grey, navy and green are good pairings with black. I like Mac’s Smoky’ Eye Palette and Benefit’s Smokin’ Eyes, but Too Faced and Dior have nice sets as well. You’ll also need to equip yourself with a good eye shadow brush like Bobby Brown’s to create sweeping angles that accentuate your eyes.

First, using the shadow brush, apply the base shadow like a matte brown. Starting at the lash line, diffuse the color up slightly above the eye crease to pan out the color evenly.

Next, layer on a deeper color like charcoal or navy. Starting at the outer corner of the eyelid, blend the shadow halfway in, then outwards to extend the eye to create the basis of the smoky effect.

Using your fingertips, apply a touch of pink or beige highlight shadow along the brow bone to bring out the depth.

Line the eye with a thin liquid eyeliner pen starting from the outer corner of the eye and moving inwards. Also line the lower lashes from the outer corner three-quarters of the way in to create that heavy-metal rock look. If you apply a dark eye shadow under your eye, make sure to dab some setting powder so it doesn’t smudge.

To provide counterbalance to the smoky colors, use a shimmery beige or a light pink over the inner corner of your eye to create depth. Then dab and blend upward from the outer corner of the eye to your brow bone. To complete the look, use a smudge-proof mascara and a hard angle brush to create an angled brow.

You’ll need to try your hand a couple of times before it comes natural. As they say, practice makes perfect!