Secrets of a Smokey eye
A sultry smokey eye is something that has never gone out of fashion; its sexy, mysterious and completely timeless. The thought of creating a smokey eye may seem daunting but there are some simple tips to getting it right every time - and we're sharing them with you today.
USE A PRIMER
The holy grail step of any eye look - primer. A primer will create an even surface on the lid, stop your eye shadows from creasing, fading or sliding and will also help your shadow colours to pop! We love Benefits 'Stay Don't Stray' Eye shadow primer best and we just work it over the lid with our ring finger.
1. MUA Twilight Delight / 2. Urban Decay Naked Smoky / 3. Essence Smokey eyes set / 4. MUA Smokey shadows / 5. BH Cosmetics SuperNova / 6. MUA Elysuim shadows / 7. Makeup Revolution The Dead Are Alive / 8. Chi Chi Mattes /
KEEP IT MATTE
For a modern, edgier smokey eye opt for matte shadows and simply spotlight the eye with a metallic shadow once your done blending. Shimmer shadows -particularly on more 'advanced' skin, have a tendency to stick to creases and fine lines, making those lines more visible. We have listed some of our fave palettes above!
ADD SOME COLOUR
Remember, a smokey eye doesn't always have to be black or grey. You can see here that we've used an aubergine colour with black only on the very outer edges, you could also try forest green or navy blue hues for a more modern smokey eye.
*TIP - Purples work best for blue or green eyes, Greens work best for brown and hazel eyes and blues work best for brown eyes*
We apply the base colour to the outer corner and along the crease if the eye with our Bella&Bear Bornean Bay Cat brush, along the lower lashline with our Bella&Bear Marbled Cat Brush, smoking (or softening it) with our Bella&Bear Sand cat brush and finally adding a final darker hit with our Bella&Bear Leopard Cat pencil brush.
SMUDGE IT OUT
Smokey eyes shouldn't have harsh lines so be sure to lightly smudge the shadow along the crease and along the lower lashline. Use your Bella&Bear Sand Cat brush to easily achieve this
LINE YOUR EYES
To really define the shape of the eye its essential to line! You can use your fave liner along the top lash line and then use a pencil or gel liner to fill in the top and bottom waterlines. We love using our Bella&Bear Caracal Liner brush and the Essence cushion liner along the lash line to create a wing, as well as the Too Faced Perfect Eyes pencil liner along the waterlines. You can easily reach you upper waterline by looking down onto a mirror when applying it.
HIGHLIGHT
To balance out the smokey darkness of your eye you must highlight! Use a shimmer highlight on the brow bone and on the inner corner of the eye for gorgeous radiance and beautiful twinkle.
CURL LASHES AND ADD MASCARA
Dont forget this final (and vital) step to pull the look together! Curl your lashes with your Bella&Bear Eye and Mighty lash curler and then apply a few coats of your fave mascara - we love Benefits They're Real mascara. If you really want to bring the drama then do like us and add some falsies - applying them as close to the lash line as possible with your Bella&Bear Angled Tweezers.
What are your top smokey eye tips? Share them with us on our social media! And, don't forget you can find all of the Bella&Bear tools listed here in our online store right now - as well as the rest of our collection!