Makeup Tutorial: Smokey Eye

The Smokey Eye. Everyone has their own way of doing it. It's a classic that I always fall back on if I'm at a loss for what makeup to wear, especially if I'm wearing a bright colour and don't want to clash with it. It's a look that you can tailor to your mood, for example I love blending pinks, purples or greens into the crease instead of the grey I use here, to add a different element to it. But for now, here's my take on the classic Smokey Eye.

My initial tip when doing a Smokey Eye, or any dark eye makeup for that matter, is to do the eye makeup first and leave the foundation until afterwards. This stops any fallout from the makeup falling all over your freshly made up face and you having to redo it, ultimately wasting the product you've already applied. 

Firstly, I primed my eyelids all the way up to the brow bone. I can't speak highly enough of Urban Decay Primer Potion; I've been using it for a while now and love it. Primer's important with a Smokey Eye because otherwise the dark makeup has a habit of trying to creep around your face; primer keeps it in place, makes it last all night without creasing and makes the pigment in whatever eyeshadow you're using really stand out.

I patted on Blackout by Urban decay onto my eyelid up to the crease. It doesn't matter if it's not the neatest, as you'll soon find out that there's a lot of blending involved. This leads me to the next step: use a blending brush of your choice (I used a fluffy one) to blur the edges of the black eyeshadow you've applied.

 Now pick a grey eyeshadow. I chose S&M by Urban Decay, which is pretty shimmery, however you can pick a matt eyeshadow if you'd prefer. Use your fluffy blending brush to work a tiny bit of the product into your crease. It's important to only use a little at first so you can build on it, rather than using too much and feel like you have to go back and start again. To help the tones blend into each other, add a bit of the black onto the blending brush and blend that over the top of the grey into the crease.

As with most of my looks, I add a white onto the brow bone and inner corner of the eye (Zephyr - Urban Decay). Make sure you blend this into the black and grey properly. A step I haven't made very clear here is to then add the black eyeshadow under the eye and blend it out a little to add that smokey effect, I only used my ring finger to do this as I'm clumsy and have a habit of poking myself in the eye if I use a brush underneath my eye. I then lined my waterline (top and bottom) with Urban Decay's (who else?) 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Zero.

Line the top lid with black eyeliner, winging it at the outer corner (Colorsport - 24 Hour Eyeliner) and apply a black mascara (Makeover Essentials - 24/7 Makeup Portfolio) to your top and bottom lashes.

I filled in my eyebrows using Urban Decay's Brow Box in Brown Sugar using the darker of the two colours.

Then, simply stick on some false 'lashes. I tend to use thick ones for Smokey Eyes so that they stand out against the dark makeup. Eylure's Double Lashes are perfect. A tip with the bigger false eyelashes: bend them into shape before trying to apply them. They can be quite stiff and difficult to get to bend to the curvature of the eye at first, so you need to work them into shape more than thinner false lashes.

So this is my take on the classic Smokey Eye. My main pointer for this is to take your time and blend; don't rush it. The more you blend the better it looks.