Smoky Eye

A very dramatic makeup look that many women are familiar with, yet don't how to properly achieve is the smoky eye! Though I am not an expert myself, I'm going to give it a try while following directions from the Lauren Conrad Beauty Book. The book introduces the smoky eye by informing readers that the key to getting this right is blending the eyeshadow really well, and to not be afraid of messing up because it is supposed to be a little messy (Conrad 160). Since the book doesn't recommend any certain eyeshadow palettes I'm going to do my best using the Naked 3 palette and the Shape Matters palette to recreate the look in the book.










I'm going to attempt a more subtle smoky eye because it is my first time. The first two steps in the book state to, "Apply a fawn color all over the entire lid with a lay-down brush... apply copper in the crease and then, with a clean blending brush, blend by using the brush like a windshield wiper" (Conrad 161). To recreate this look I used the shades burnout and trick to imitate the fawn and copper color they used in the book.

After blending the copper tone into the crease, I'm going to summarize and follow steps 3-5. Using a thin flat eyeshadow brush you want to sweep a rich chocolate brown color along your lower lash line, it's optional to add a nude color near the tear duct and along the brow bone. From the 1st to 2nd picture you can tell that the crease is a lot darker and there's more depth to the eye. Coat the lower water line with a dark eyeliner or shadow and finish up with a few coats of mascara (Conrad 161-162). When I finished the look, I made sure to blend all the eyeshadows real well to make it extra smoky.

This 5-step smoky eye look only took me a matter of 10-15 minutes to fully accomplish. After reading the directions and applying the directions to blend it was a simple look to achieve. Comparing eyes I didn't exactly have an even amount of shadow between the two, after I blended it out you could barley tell. Don't be discouraged to use darker colors; but until you get the hang of it, I would definitely recommend using neutral and lighter colors as I did. This look is great for a party, a dinner out with friends, and an easy one to achieve if you're looking to just spice it up.






Question: If you've created a smoky before: how long did it take you to create? do you prefer working with a lighter palette or darker palette? If you haven't: do smoky eyes look difficult?






Citation: Conrad, Lauren, and Elise Loehnen. Lauren Conrad Beauty. New York: HarperCollins, 2012. Print.