WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
- cream style concealer or heavy foundation
- eyeliner pencil in black, dark gray, dark charcoal brown, or plum
- powder shadow in dark brown or gray, or plum
- powder shadow in nude, ivory or light beige
- black mascara
- eye shadow makeup brush
- cotton swab or applicator sponge
STEP 1
Cover the surface of your eyelid with creamy concealer or with a heavy weight foundation to form a smooth base over which to apply the eye makeup and help it to last longer.
HINT: Do your eye makeup first, before applying foundation to your face to make it easier to clean up any fallen shadow and to avoid dark raccoon eyes.
STEP 2
Lightly brush the light color shadow all over your eyelid, including the crease. Start a little inside the inner corner of your eye (to brighten and open up your eye), and brush outward and with an upward motion from your lid to your brow.
STEP 3
Apply the dark color shadow from your lid to the crease. Since the look is smudged and smokey, you may want to use a crème shadow and apply with your fingers or a synthetic makeup brush.
STEP 4
Sweep a little of the light shadow across your brow bone, blending lightly.
STEP 5
Now, line your entire eye with a dark pencil eyeliner. Trace a thin line along the top lash line from the inner corner to the outer corner. Next, trace your bottom lash line from the inner to outer corner. Use a cotton swab or applicator sponge to smudge the lines so they are not stark stripes and to remove any clumps. The farther the color is from your lashes, the more it should fade.
HINT: For a more glamorous look, line the inner rim of your eye as well.
STEP 6
Finish with two to three coats of smoothly applied black mascara.
HINT: To achieve that wide-eyed look, try curling your lashes first!
COLOR TIPS
If you have very light skin, hair and eyes, use the grays and browns for this look as black will be too harsh. Women with darker or olive toned skin and brown hair and eyes can use black for liner and even shadow.
VARIATIONS
For other variations on this look, use a dark natural green tone such as khaki or a dark gray with a hint of purple, burgundy, or plum. Try combining colors over a charcoal; for example, sweep a little bronze-brown over a charcoal brown to brighten up the look. Avoid shadows with blues or any pastels for the smokey look.
For a festive evening look, replace the light nude or ivory powder with a pale but shimmering metallic gold shadow. A silvery white can also be used, but keep it very sheer or it will look pasty. Use a glittery gunmetal gray for the dark shadow.
For really dramatic evening eyes, extend the shadow a little further than the outer brow edge in a small upsweep. Pair the upsweep with long and dark false eyelashes. This cats eyes look is extremely striking for a night on the town, but would be overkill for most daytime events.
