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The smoky eye is one of the most iconic eye make-up looks out there. It’s smoldering, mysterious, dramatic, and sexy: the ultimate for evening or for dressing to impress on an important date. Perfecting this look on yourself takes a steady hand and a little bit of practice, but the results can be more than worth the effort. This tutorial will help you create the smoky eye that’s right for you.
Select your eye makeup
Having the right cosmetics will get you started off on the right foot. To get the stacked effect that makes up the classic smoky eye, you need at least three different eye shadows. One should be a very dark matte shade, the next a medium shade for contouring, and finally a very light translucent shade for highlighting. Black, silver or gray, and white are great color choices for almost anyone, but for a twist
you can use brown, blue, green, or purple shades.
Prep your eyelid
This step isn’t strictly necessary, but it’s a good idea if you plan to be wearing your makeup for a while.
Use a cream or powder primer to make sure that your makeup stays in place all evening long. Coat your
entire lid with primer, all the way to the browbone. If you are using a cream primer, wait for a minute or
two to let it soak completely into your skin. When the skin above your eyelid is dry to the touch, you can
proceed.
Apply eye shadow
There are several different ways to apply eye shadow for a smoky eye, but one of the simplest is to
think of the shadow as a ladder. The darkest shade is the bottom rung. Using a small brush, swipe the
eye shadow over your eyelid. Next, use a pointed or angled brush to work the medium shade into the
crease of your eye. Finally, top everything off with the lightest shade of shadow, using a wide brush to
sweep it from the crease of your eye all the way up to your eyebrow.
Don’t just leave it at that, though. Use a big, lightweight brush to blend the edges of the layers together.
Use short arching strokes, sweeping the color up and towards the outside corner of your eye. You
should still be able to see the different colors that make up the smoky eye, but the edges between them
should be blurred.
Three optional finishing touches
Depending on how fancy you want to get, there are a few different ways you can top off your look. First,
work a “V” of highlighting powder into the inside corner of your eye. This will make your eyes look wider
and give more definition to the dark shades up above. Second, add liquid or gel eyeliner. Experiment
with a few different ways of doing your liner, as not every style will look good on everyone. For example,
if you have deep-set eyes, you can probably get away with lining both your upper and lower lashlines.
If you have rounder eyes, try adding a little wing to the outside corner of your eye. Last but not least,
don’t forget the mascara. A couple of swipes on each of your lashes lend a dramatic touch.
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