In my experimental make up days, pre babies and pre thirties, I tried all kinds of makeup trends. I would use different colored eye liners, bright eye shadow colors, red lips, and of course, the smoky eye. I would use a variety of colors like greens, purples, grays, browns, you name it. I really loved trying different things. Fast forward a decade and I’m lucky to put on eye liner without someone drawing on the bathroom walls. That being said, I still have fun experimenting and there’s always an occasional date night, am I right? I always get the most questions about how to do a smoky eye so I thought I’d give you a couple of tips to help you learn how to make this makeup trend work for you.

 

 

Know your environment

I’m all for owning your authenticity and being who you are, no matter what, BUT, if you aren’t trying to draw too much unusual attention to yourself, you may not want to wear dark blacks and grays to book club, you know what I’m saying?!?! I actually did what I’m calling the “Mom Smoky Eye” the other day as an example. I wanted something a little dramatic without it being too heavy for daytime. I used neutral colors and didn’t underline the bottom lid.

 

 

I apologize for the poor image quality, but I was trying to get close and so I used my iPhone vs my normal camera. I still feel like you can’t really see what it actually looked like, so make sure you follow my IG (@eandastyle) to see my stuff in real life. I followed the smoky eye guidelines but used a lighter hand and more neutral colors. Here are the basics guidelines for a smoky eye.

1. Highlight under your brown and inner corner of your eyes
2. A medium color on your lid and under your eye. Try to stay under the eye crease on the top lid and very close to the lash line on the bottom lid.
3. Line the crease with your darkest color and follow that crease to the outer edge of your eye making an almond shape. The top crease and the extension of the under eye line will connect.
4. Apply eye liner to the top and bottom
5. Smudge the liner with your dark shade on top and bottom

That may seem overwhelming so if you have questions, send me an email and I’ll do my best to help. Here’s a basic diagram to help (hopefully)

 

 

Use quality brushes

I have written about the importance of brushes before so instead of rehashing all of that, just follow this link. I know it seems like a luxury but if you think about the fact that you spend a lot of money on makeup, why not make sure you’re applying it correctly?

 

 

Really get in those inner eyes

The best way to do this is to pull your top lid up (or your bottom lid down) and make sure to line underneath (or above) the lash line. It may seem weird at first but after some practice, it won’t be so intimidating. This makes your liner look more finished. When you liner is separated from your lash line, your makeup doesn’t look finished. Or natural.

Blend

Make sure to blend blend blend!!! I have a brush that I only use for blending. It helps the colors blend together and again, look more natural.

Keep it simple

If you’re going to do a smoky eye, keep your blush and lips more natural. A blush cheek and a nude lip are going to help the focus be on your beautiful eyes!!!

 

 

In all honesty, I tried to take some instructional pictures but it just wasn’t happening so I need to master the art of self portraits and hopefully, do something with more pictures. I may even do a video tutorial!! In the meantime, please feel free to contact me and I can answer any questions!!!

As always, thanks for reading.