Smokey eye has been a trend of makeup for quite a while now, but it is still in fashion. The magic of smokey eyes is the power to transform you immediately from whatever into stylish yet mysterious and vice versa. A lot of people find it uncomfortable to do because they do not know how to apply such makeup correctly. Once you have put it on, you are going to love it more and more.

Blending is the key to a fabulous smokey eye so you can quickly enhance your blending skills by adding colors once you are proficient with this trick. Learn how to create the look step by step.

1. Choose your eyeshadow colors

The black and grey colors are obviously the traditional eye makeup colors for a classic smokey eye. However, you can choose whatever color you wish to use or if you want less intense colors such as coffee, violet, dark pink, dark green, copper, purple or dark blue. Keep in mind that when choosing the eyeshadow shades, it is essential to consider your hair color, eye color, skin tone and not the color of the clothes that you wear.

Furthermore, you will be needing to choose two color-coordinated eyeshadows such as the darker feature color and a lighter supporting color.

For blue eyes

The colors purple, or dark blue eyeshadow will look great in addition to the black or grey. What does this dark blue eyeshadow do?  It will accentuate the blue color of your eyes since it will be darker than your eye color. You can try the L.A. Colors 18 Color Eyeshadow Palette if you want a pigmented palette.

For hazel or green eyes

Choices from dark green, deep khaki, brown, plum or purple color will suit well.

For brown eyes

Brown, coffee, and copper will give you a fantastic smokey eye effect. You can try the Morphe Pro 35 Color Eyeshadow Makeup Palette on this one.

After choosing your feature eye shadow color, you will select your supporting eyeshadow color. Choose a light color eyeshadow that would match to your feature eyeshadow color if you prefer to use single eyeshadow than a color-coordinated duo or triple eyeshadow. For a soft and sophisticated look, the possible colors to choose from are light peach, lilac, taupe, champagne, sand or a nude color. You can use a whitish color eyeshadow to bring more dramatic high contrast look.

Use powdery eyeshadows and not the creamy texture eyeshadows for a much easier way to smudge and blend.

2. Choose your eyeliner pencil

I suggest that you should pick an eyeliner pencil that is soft and is in the same color or a complementary shade of your feature eyeshadow. Click the photo below for an example.

Use a powderliner pencil for they are easier to blend and sometimes are available with a sponge tip for smooth blending.  If you click the photo below, you will know what I mean. Also, never use liquid eyeliners for they are only better for sharper lines and not for a soft and sultry finish.

3. Apply your foundation base

You would typically apply your full foundation before applying your eye makeup, right? Well, this is is not the case when doing a smokey eye makeup. You should do your eye makeup first so you won’t ruin your foundation if you get some of your eyeshadow for the rest of your face. Also, this helps avoid a panda eye look under your eye. For smoother eyeshadow application that would last longer, apply a light layer of your foundation to your eyelids and to set the foundation, add a light layer of face powder. This will give you a beautiful canvas of your eyeshadow and will also protect the eyeshadow from creasing. Furthermore, this will provide you a more accurate, even, eyeshadow application. I’m using the MAC Pro Longerwear Foundation NW20 as my foundation.

4. Apply your eyeliner

Using your eyeliner pencil, line the top and bottom rims of your eyes. A black or charcoal eyeliner pencil is typically used, but you can also opt for a dark eyeliner pencil that would match your chosen feature eyeshadow color. Ensure that you go into the eyelash line itself which is located near your eyelashes’ root. Do not forget to fill in the uncovered spaces between the eyelashes. Start from the inner corner of your eyes with a fine line. Make the line Lightly smudge the light if you get hard lines from using a heavy eyeliner pencil so it will look much softer and less harsh. With the use of a powder liner eyeliner pencil, this is going to be a lot easier especially if it has a built-in sponge tip that is used for smudging.

Dark colors would make small eyes look a bit smaller. You can open your eyes by starting to apply the eyeliner from the middle of the bottom eyelash line instead of the inside corner, go to the outer corner of the eye. Feel free to use the eyeliner from edge to edge if your eyes are not very small.

5. Apply your eyeshadows

Apply your supporting eyeshadow color to your eyelids up to your eyebrows’ base with the use of your large eyeshadow brush.

Next, apply your dark feature eyeshadow onto the eyeliner with the use of your small eyeshadow brush and blend it upward to your eyelid’s crease. Keep as much of the color intensity along the eyelash line when blending your feature eyeshadow especially in your outer eyes’ corner.

Remember to smudge and blend, so that both the eyeliner and eyeshadows go together seamlessly. Also, having a good set of makeup eye brush would help more like the brushes used on the photo below. You can click the photo for more reviews about such.

6. Apply your mascara

It is essential to curl your eyelashes before applying mascara for this opens your eyes up. To avoid clumping, use 2 or 3 coats of black mascara in thin coats. Also, you can get a good mascara for an affordable price. It is such a win-win situation, right? You can click the photo below for reference.

7. Complete your smokey eye makeup look

Finish your foundation but be extra careful not to mess up your amazing smokey eyes.

Neutral lips would give a real impact on your smoke eyes. A flesh-toned lip pencil would be useful as well as the caramel or pink lipstick shade or lip gloss which would give your lips a definite finish.

For your eyebrows, you can use your regular eyebrow pencil. Also, you can use a shade darker than the usual which will complement your smokey eyes.

Don’t forget to apply a subtle finish of tawny or rose to the apples of your cheeks and blend it away to the edges into your hairline. This would finish the face by not fighting with your smoldering smokey eyes.

Conclusion

Practice these steps at home and experiment with colors that suit you. You can even hold a makeup party with your friends to experiment which colors fit best on each of your gal pals and yourself.  In the world of makeup and looking fabulous, you can always do an experiment and a trial-and-error to master the art. After all, you should enjoy your sexy, glowing smokey eye makeup look.

I hope this helps you. Let me know in the comment section below if you have tried doing it. How was the experience? Did you like it? I hope so. 🙂