Get the Look: Nicole Richie’s Dramatic Sooty Eyes

Black and gold were the colors of the evening at the 2012 NCLR ALMA Awards, as evidenced by Nicole Richie. She turned heads on the red carpet in a peekaboo Mathieu Mirano gown that she paired with a sleek chignon, gold-dusted skin and über-dramatic sooty shadow that lent her hazel eyes a 24-karat sparkle. “Here’s a woman with a strong sense of style who's turned a normally edgy, rock 'n' roll look into pure class,” says makeup artist Sébastien Tardif. Here’s how to create some drama of your own.

Step 1: Create a silky, even complexion by camouflaging imperfections with a foundation or concealer that has a bit of sheen to it (like a concealer/highlighter hybrid). Make sure to apply prior to using black eye shadow to prevent edges from looking ashy or green. Try: Veil Cosmetics Illuminating Complexion Fix for Face & Eyes.

Step 2: Dust a sheer golden powder, like Jane Iredale Quad Bronzer in Moonglow, onto your cheeks and across your forehead. Stay away from brown-based bronzing powders since their dusty finish is too dark for this effect.

Step 3: Softly fill in any sparse areas of brows with a powder or powder-finish pencil, like Lancôme Le Crayon Poudre. (Keep it subtle and natural-looking, so as not to compete with the eye shadow.)

Step 4: Lightly highlight the brow bone with a slightly pearly, champagne-colored shadow, like The Body Shop Eye Color in Vanilla Cream.

Step 5: To get an intensity of color, use a black water-resistant chubby eyeliner pencil, like Givenchy Magic Kajal Eye Pencil. Draw on color all around your eyes up to your inner eye sockets. To soften and blend the color, grab a small, rounded compact-tipped brush and simply motion back and forth all around until there are no hard edges.

Step 6: Gently top the eyeliner with a black velvety eye shadow, like YSL Ombre Solo Smoothing Effect Eyeshadow in Midnight Black, to achieve an opaque finish. Using the black water-resistant chubby eyeliner pencil, then rim the inner part of your eyes. Use a cotton swab dipped in eye makeup remover to clean up the edges and remove any unwanted shadow smudges.

Step 7: Apply two coats of waterproof, blackest-black mascara. Then comb lashes to remove any clumps. Try: Maybelline Illegal Length Fiber Extensions Mascara in Very Black.

Step 8: Smooth on a subtle, pale hue of a warm pinky-beige lipstick. Avoid any cool colors since you want the overall effect to be golden. Skip lip liner since the lips should almost seamlessly blend into the skin. Try: L’Oréal Colour Riche Lipcolour in Tawny.

What do you think of Nicole Richie's intensely sultry stare?

Photo: Getty Images