How to get perfect smokey eyes

How to get perfect smokey eyes 1

No matter what your skin tone or make-up preferences, a classic smokey eye suits every complexion and face shape! Here, some simple steps on how to get it right:

1. Choose the correct colour
Smokey eyes don’t have to be black – shades of chocolate brown, charcoal and berry make interesting alternatives. Plus, they’re less harsh, so they work particularly well on very pale skins. If you find it easier, buy an eyeshadow palette containing different shades of your chosen colour (this saves you from having to find individual products that work well together).

2. Apply some foundation or primer
Cover your lids with a little bit of foundation or primer before applying your colour – this creates a nice base for the colour to stick to and prevents creases from forming when the product wears.

3. Apply your colour
Start off by covering your entire eyelid with a neutral eyeshadow shade (as close as possible to your natural skin colour). This colour can be extended all the way to the bottom of your eyebrow.

Next, find a shade slightly darker with a shimmery base, and apply it from your lash line to just above the crease of your eye. Find the second darkest colour in your palette and start by blending the colour from your lash line upwards, but only up until the crease. Blend as well as you can to avoid any smudging or harsh colour changes.

Dip your eyeliner brush into the deepest shade of eye shadow and line your top eyelid. Be careful not to leave a defined edge or border – gently press the brush against the line you’ve draws to smudge it into the lighter colour you previously applied.

Step back and look in the mirror. If you’re happy with what you see, move on to mascara, but if you feel it’s not dramatic enough, you may need to end off with some eyeliner. Use a black or dark brown liner to line your top eyelid as close to your lashes as possible. You can also line the inner rim of your bottom lash line, but remember that this makes the eyes look smaller.

4. Finish off
Complete your masterpiece by applying a few lashings of your favourite mascara. Voilà, smokey eyes the easy way!

How to get perfect smokey eyes 2

Some our favourite products to get the look

This season we’re having fun with plums and lilac. We’re loving the Lancôme’s Hypnôse Doll Eyes Palette, R715. You can create a range of looks with fresh and natural shades using this versatile palette, professionally inspired applicators and step-by-step cheat sheet inside. Apply the eye shadow dry for blendable, buildable colour, or use wet for deeper colour intensity.

Our eyeliner of choice at the moment is NYX Professional Makeup Epic Ink Liner in Black, R199,95. The tip isn’t a felt tip, it’s made of lots of tiny brush hairs, so it’s a lot easier to get a fine point, and you can get way closer to your eyelashes too. You can control the thickness of your lines by pressing down just a touch. It’s intensely pigmented and waterproof. Pretty epic indeed!

Finish off your masterpiece look with Elizabeth Arden’s Lasting Impression Mascara in Lasting BlackR365, from their Eyes Wide Open Collection. They’ve incorporated their famous Ceramide technology into the mascara, which envelops the lashes to lengthen and thicken their look right before your eyes. The unique brush has five conic spheres that grab, coat and extend for remarkably long, fanned out lashes with each swipe. The formula is smudge proof, clump-free, flake-free and a pleasure to use.

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