Skills: The Smoky Eye

I have seen smoky done right, and smoky eye done oh so very, very wrong. The trick is to learn WHEN to use the smoky eye. Going to your child's graduation? Probably not smoky eye material. Date night with your husband? Yes please.

First off, the COLOR that you use to make your smoky eye will have a big effect on the final outcome. While black and gray are traditional, they are pretty serious and can look a *leetle* on the slutty side if done with a heavy hand. If you're new to the powers of the smoky eye, start with a different color. Brown and taupe are nice, and my personal fave is easily plum and purple.

Heeeeere's the steps! With pics from moi. From my husband's blackberry; my camera didn't like the swim in Dr. Pepper that it took. Boo0urns.

1) Apply a little primer to your eyelid. I have suuuuper crease-y eyes and if I don't give the makeup something to stick to, I get crease lines and they are not cool. If you don't use a primer, dab a little liquid foundation over the eyelid and call it good.

2) Use a lighter shade of your smoky eyeshadow and sweep it over the entire eyelid, to the crease line. This will give your smoky eye a little more depth so it doesn't look so severe. You want soft smoky eyes, not porno smoke eyes, got it? I did a light purple, which you can see below.


(This is how I mix my eyeshadow... I get the brush wet and and load it up in the eyeshadow cap. When wetting eyeshadow, create a paste-like texture and it'll stay on forever.

3) Now, here's a personal preference thing. I love me some liquid eyeliner and will occasionally use it for a smoky eye, but an eyeliner brush dipped in eyeshadow will make for a smudgier look. Either one works. To use eyeshadow, pick the darker shade of eyeshadow and WET your eyeliner brush (it's the one with a small, angled end.) Dab the brush into the eyeshadow, pressing down on either side of the brush to get a finer tip.

(See that thin line of darker color right above the lash line? That's it! If you decide to use a liquid liner, use a wet brush to smudge up the line so it isn't so precise. )

4) Begin from the inner eyelid and sweep the brush out to the outer corner of your eyes. I like a little cattiness in my smoky eye, so I give it the TINIEST flick of my wrist at the end. If you mess up, don't freak out. Just wet a q-tip and run it along the top of the eyeshadow for a cleaner line.

5) Dip the brush again into the dark shadow without wetting it first. This will give you a super smudgey look on the bottom. I brush (WITH A VERY LIGHT HAND) a little of the eyeshadow underneath my bottom lashes on the outside corner only. Any more and you'll get too Night of the Living Dead.

6) Take a regular soft kohl pencil in a close-ish color and line your water line. That's the inner rim oof the bottom of your eye. If this makes you squeamish, skip it, but it'll give some incredible definition without giving crazy eyes.

7) Use a regular eyeshadow brush (the puffy one) to sweep a little of the darker shade of eyeshadow into the crease of your eye, keeping it lighter the closer you get to the inner corner of your eyelids, so the outer eyelid is darker and more dramatic.

(K, so you're looking for a graduation of color. The inside of the eyelid is lighter and it gets darker as it moves out for the smoky effect without being too severe. )

8) Finally, curl your eyelashes with my patented method (Three times: Once at the base, then in the middle, then at the tips) and apply two coats of brown or black mascara. You've got it, foxy lady!

(for daytime, go with brown mascara. For night time, a couple of coats of black will make your eyelashes look crazy long. I'm not even wearing falsies here!)

SO there she is... check out that smokiness without sluttiness! It's an art form, really.

Here's the finished product. Pssst little hint here; when doing a dramatic eye it helps to keep everything else neutral, and wearing your hair up brings attention to your awesome eyes.

Be kind, I totally did this at ten at night in my bathroom because I thought having a few photo examples would help you conquer it. My husband was yelling at me to go to bed. Yeah, you're welcome for that. PS you can totes see my bra. IT WAS LATE.

I know it seems like a lot of steps, but once you've nailed it you'll feel more comfortable with the process and create a pretty much ideal smoky eye to make the other moms jealous.

Play with color combos to get different looks. Gold and taupe is super hot, especially for blue eyes, and a navy/ turquoise combo is crazy awesome for brown eyes. You can do it! I have faith in you!