How to Create Perfect Smokey Eyes

Many of my clients ask for ways in which they can create a dramatic evening look to follow-on from their daytime natural bridal makeover. A smokey eye look can be fantastic for this, and here are my 7 steps for creating the perfect smokey eye.

1. To ensure that your smokey eye look will last all night, I always recommend starting by applying an eyelid primer (I normally use Trish McEvoy "Eye Base Essentials")  over the upper eyelid, and crease using a brush such as the "Large Shader Brush" from MAC (or your finger will work almost as well).
2. Take a tapered blending brush and dip it lightly into your translucent powder. Close your eye and position the brush on the crease of the eyelid, just above the inner edge of the iris so that the brush is touching both the crease itself and also the top of the eye socket. Then gently start to run the brush along the crease away from your nose to the corner of your eye, and then back again to where you started. Repeat this movement with the brush 4 or 5 times.
3. Now dip the same brush into a bronzer or medium colour eyeshadow, and repeat step 2 again. It will give you the most amazing crease line and perfect guide for darker colour application!
4. Still using the same brush, dip it into any dark eyeshadow you have. This time, use the same motion (from above the inner edge of the iris to the outer corner of your eye), but be very careful not to push too hard with the brush as it will prevent the eyeshadow from blending properly (I recommend to my clients that when they do this last step they hold the brush by the end as this will automatically stop you from pressing too hard). Remember, the more strokes of the brush you make, the darker the make-up will look (I usually go back and forth 5-6 times, but this is all down to personal taste).
5. Once you have done the top of the eye, using the same brush and eyeshadow, place the brush on the base of your eye socket about one third of the way in from the outside of your eye. Then using a similar smooth action as above, move the brush to the outer corner of your eye and back again 5-6 times.
6. Finally, take a black cream pencil and use it to fill in the gap between the crease line where you applied make-up in steps 2-5 and your lash line (don't draw over the crease itself with the pencil as it will undo your beautiful work from the earlier steps). As you colour in with the eye pencil, smudge it a little bit with your finger to create a natural look.
7. To finish off the look, apply mascara as normal... leaving you with the perfect smokey eye look!

Article by Lina Cameron, Make-Up Artist London

Image Courtesy of Lina Cameron

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