How to Tutorial: Smokey Eyes 101

I asked, you answered! I’m gonna try getting more tutorials up once I start getting the hang of it. I’ll start off with a tutorial on my favorite look (and very first love), smokey eyes.

I love this look for a number of reasons – first, it is so simple to do. Really, once you get the hang of it you can do this in 5 minutes, flat. Second, no matter what your eye color, the intensity of the black eyeliner will make your eye color ‘pop’.

I’ve been doing this look since I was 15, and 6 years later, I am still loving it – my love for eyeliner will never die. Give me some eyeliner and I’m be one happy panda.

Alright, so first and foremost, grab your stuff: eyeshadow of your choice (mine is a neutral champagne one), black eyeshadow, black eyeliner and mascara.

So simple, only 4 products! Let’s get started.

The very first step for your smokey eyes is your eyeshadow. This could be any color you like, really. To have really smokey eyes, your eyeshadow color should be very dark; either dark brown, dark gray or black. I personally like to keep my eyeshadow toward the medium/lighter shades because I feel when I use really dark colors, it closes up my eyes and it looks too squinty. However – use whatever eyeshadow color you please!

Anyway – first step, apply your eyeshadow (here’s how) all the way to your crease, and then take a smaller eyeshadow brush (or a Q-tip) and apply eyeshadow on your bottom lash line as well.

Next – and my favorite step – is laying on the black eyeliner. If you don’t want your smokey eyes to look too harsh, you can use a dark brown eyeliner, but I love eyeliner so I use the darkest I can find! Apply your eyeliner (more eyeliner tips here) to your top and bottom lash line. Don’t worry if they are not evenly done, that would be fixed next.

Next, take a fine eyeshadow brush (just like this tip I wrote about) and take your eyeshadow color that matches your eyeliner color. In this case, it would be a black eyeshadow I have. Dip the brush into the eyeshadow, and apply the eyeshadow on top of the eyeliner, smudging it slightly. This gives the ’smokey’ look, and doubles up as keeping your eyeliner in place and lasting longer.

Next, apply your mascara – the darker the better. I think everyone looks good in black mascara, so load up as much as you want! I only did one coat here, to not take the focus off my eyeliner and show the makeup look clearly. However, in normal cases I load up on the mascara, so if you want more dramatic eyelashes, apply 2-3 coats, or you could even apply some false eyelashes.

And that’s it. Really. Simple, no? It really takes very little time to do once you’ve practiced applying eyeshadow and eyeliner properly. The “smokey” is the fact that the eyeliner is smudgy and dark, but like I said earlier, if you really want to turn up the ’smoke’, apply a darker eyeshadow instead of this neutral color.

What do you think about smokey eyes? Do you wear this ‘look’ often? I hope this mini tutorial will help those who are still figuring it out!

Psst… A tad off topic, but give it to me, ladies – how did this tutorial go? Better than my last one? I finally figured out what the heck “macro” is so I think the images are way clearer, no? Again – props to the girls who do this regularly (and so well!) it’s a lot of work … taking pictures of your eye is surprisingly hard.

Main Image Source

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4. Chanel La Ligne Professional Duo Eyeliner Review