You can find eyelid primer wherever beauty products are sold. If you don’t have eyelid primer, you can use regular face primer instead. For a fun way to create a long-lasting smokey eye, try using colored eyeliner as your eyeshadow base. Smudge the eyeliner where you want it, then blend it out with your finger or an eyeshadow brush. Then, layer on a little eyeshadow to set the pencil. However, avoid using waterproof eyeliner for this, because it will dry quickly and won’t smudge well. [3] X Expert Source Stephanie NavarroProfessional Makeup Artist Expert Interview. 10 June 2020.
A dome-shaped eyeshadow brush is perfect for applying color all over your lids. You might also want to stop just before the inner corners of your eyes, since that’s where your highlighter will go. For example, if you’re using a brown palette that contains dark espresso, warm honey, and a shimmery gold shade, you’d use the honey all over your eyelid. To pick out the right color for you, consider which colors will complement your eye color and skin tone. For instance, green eyes look particularly good with a gray and plum smokey eye, while blue eyes pop with gold or copper. Brown eyes look great with shades of navy and gray.
A small, flat brush is great for getting eyeshadow into the inner corners of your eyes, but you can use the same brush you used for the medium shade, if you want. Just be sure to use a cloth to wipe off any of the old color before you switch to a new shade. If you’re using the brown palette from above, this would be the warm honey shade. Figuring out exactly where to place your eyeshadow is the tricky part of a smokey eye, since everyone’s eye shape is different. Just practice and have fun!
A small, flat brush is good for applying color to the crease, although you might prefer a fluffier brush that’s tapered at the ends. Don’t apply the shadow to the too far in. Depending on the shape of your eyes, the inner third or half of your eyelid shouldn’t have any dark shadow at all. This will help your eyes look open and bright. In the brown palette, this would be the dark espresso color.
Blend all the way up to your brow bone, and all the way from the outer corner to the inner corner of your eyelid. If you need to, you can apply more color while you’re doing this. If you don’t have a separate blending brush, use a cloth to wipe off all of color from your eyeshadow brush before you start blending, so you don’t transfer the colors.
For a smudgy look, draw a thick line across the top of your lash line, and then use your fingertip or a small eyeshadow brush to smudge and blur the line. To add more drama to your smoky eye, tightline your eyes. This is when you use your eyeliner to draw a line on the inner-rim of your eyes, located directly under your upper lashes and above your lower lashes. This can be difficult for some, as it involves using eyeliner very close to your eyeball. To line along your lower lash line, either apply your eyeliner or use an angled brush to sweep a little of your dark shadow along your lashes. You may want to only put the dark shadow on the outer half of your lower lashline, so it mirrors the dark color on your upper lids.
Try curling your lashes to make your eyes appear bigger and more open. You can even heat your curler with a blowdryer first to get a more dramatic, long-lasting curl. [10] X Expert Source Stephanie NavarroProfessional Makeup Artist Expert Interview. 10 June 2020. Replace your mascara every 2-3 months. When it starts to dry out, it can flake off while you’re wearing it, which can irritate your eyes. [11] X Expert Source Stephanie NavarroProfessional Makeup Artist Expert Interview. 10 June 2020.
Once you’re finished, you’re ready to rock your smokey eye!
If you don’t have eyeshadow primer, use regular face primer or a brightening concealer instead. [15] X Research source
If you’d like, you can also sweep the highlighter underneath your eyes a bit on the inside corner. This will make your eyes look wider and more open. This color can be a pearlescent shimmery shade, a pastel hue, or a color that’s close to your natural skin tone.
Your eyeshadow should be the darkest near the roots of your lashes, especially the outer corner, and then blend upwards toward your crease. Apply a little of the darkest color on the lower lash line, but only near the outer edge. Use a small, angled or flat brush to sweep the eyeshadow about halfway across your lower lashes. You might use black, dark brown, forest green, plum, or navy blue as your darkest shade.
You can blend this color upwards beyond your crease and into your highlighter if you want. The goal is for your eyeshadow to get gradually lighter from your lashes to your brows. You can also use a little of this middle shade to blend the dark shadow on your lower lash line. If you want, you can even add it on the inner half of your lower lashes, all the way to the inside corner. If you do this, you don’t need to wear eyeliner on your bottom lashes. This color might be gold, light gray, taupe, or peach, for instance.
Make sure that your lash line is the darkest part of your eyelid, and if necessary apply a bit more of your darkest shadow directly to your lash line as you blend upwards. Blend out, toward the edges of your eye, so that your shadow softly fades into your natural skin tone. The same should be done for the color that has been placed underneath your eyes.
Tightline the inside rims of your eyes to add extra darkness. To do this, draw a line on the part of your eyelid that is nearest your eyeball, directly under your upper eyelashes. If you add eyeliner on your bottom lashes, only bring it as far in as the dark color goes on your lower lashes. Be sure to taper the end of the line though, and blend it into the shadow so that it doesn’t look too harsh against the color.
