Eye Makeup?

viintage_ · Newbie Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 5 Smiles: 0 9

I randomly came across this picture
on the internet and I absolutley love her eyemakeup.
Everytime i try for that smokey kinda look I can't
quite get it.. does anyone have any step-by-step
easy-to-understand directions on how to do it?

__Chrissy · Posted: Tue Feb 27, 2007 1:53 pm Post subject:

I have the same problem...I can never make it look right.

The makeup in that picture is so pretty =] Really wish that I could do that myself.

ladyh_ · Posted: Tue Feb 27, 2007 6:52 pm Post subject:

I don't know how easy to understand this would be, but here's how I do something like that.

[BTW the order that I do things might not be the "correct" order but it's the way I do it =P].

Start with a clean, moisturized face.

First do your eyebrows. I'm guessing you've already found your own way to perfect them. For this, keep them simple and defined, but not too bold. You want them defined and "clean" enough that it'll "frame" the smokey eye, but not so bold that it takes the attention away from what you want the focal poin to be.

Curl your lashes. If you're really bad at applying mascara, do it now so if you mess up later you don't mess up all of your hard work. I usually apply mascara last since I find ith arder to work with eyes when I already have mascara on .. plus I don't mess up mascara that often anyway.

Next, use some sort of eyeshadow base, like Urban Decay Primer Potion, or whatever else you normally use that works. Again, I'm assuming you've already figured this part out on your own anyway.

After that, use liquid or gel eyeliner, and tightline your eyes. So, do the lower inner rim, and even the upper inner rim. It's not the greatest thing to do to your eyes but for this look it's something you'd want to do, or else it looks kind of stupid with a random line of flesh between the whites of the eyes and the rest of the eyeshadow. I like using MAC Fluidline Eyeliner in Blacktrack for this, with a small angle tipped brow/liner brush. I prefer to do this first because in case I screw up [since I screw up the easiest at eyeliner] I can fix it without ruining everything else. Plus if I accidentally poke myself and my eyes water, I don't ruin everything else I've done so far. Dot the eyeliner between your upper eyelashes, to make it look like you have more lashes and so you don't see that tiny bit of skin colour between each lash up close. On the outer corners of the eye, line a little bit on the actual lid and do a very tiny cat eye [so a tiny little flick]. Try to make it symmetrical on both sides of your face [so the same little curl on both eyes]. It helps to use an actual brush, like a small angle tipped brush. You can get a decent cheap one from Quo at Shoppers Drug Mart. Just start the line on the outer third of your upper lid, and slowly make it thicker and have a mini flick at the end where it tapers off. Quickly, before it dries, use a q-tip and smudge it a little to "soften" it, especially at the inner end where you originally started the line. At the inner end, just blend it towards the inner part of the eye so the line doesn't start as abruptly. You'll be going over this with eyeshadow anyway so the line doesn't have to be that dramatic/prominent, just to kind of give yourself an idea of the "shape" you'll end up having. If it dries quickly and you acn't soften it, it's not a big deal since you'll be softening it with shadow anyway.

Next, use a white/silvery eyeshadow. Get a small but dense eyeshadow brush, and apply it to the inner corners of your eyes. This will make your eyes look wider apart. Carefully have it on the inner corners of your eye, and then blend it outwards, so that you have a sort of white/silvery glow going from the inner corner to around the first inner third of the eyelid and below the eye. [Does that make sense?]. So it's like < that. At least in my experience, white/silvery shimmery eyeshadow tends to be really messy and gets everywhere, so it helps to use a denser brush thats not that fluffy to get a more precise application. If you don't have white/silvery eyeshadow, just use white eyeliner that's more like a kohl, and just line the inner corner to the inner third of the lid and the inner third below the eye, and blend it with your finger.

Then, use some black eyeshadow that has no shimmer [like MAC Carbon]. Using a smaller and denser eyeshadow brush, just start at the outer corner of your eye where that little flick is, and go from the outside corner towards where the white ends. Don't blend it into the white right away since there is still probably a lot of black on the brush, and you'll end up getting too much black into where the white is and messing up the "gradient". Basically just follow the line you drew with the eyeliner, but go a little past where it stops. Either clean the brush or use another brush, and just blend the two colours together so you get a soft gradient [you can use a soft grey in the middle of the two, or you can use it later in one of the next steps]. Now, at the outer third of the eye where you have black eyeshadow, using movements that go in the same direction [curving up and outward], brush the black upwards and past the little cateye you drew. Start at the outer corner, and do a little up-and-out movement to smudge the black eyeshadow out and past the little flick you did. Blend the rest of the black eyeshadow so that it reaches the new "flick" you made with the blended eyeshadow, and just blend blend blend. You could use a slightly bigger less dense brush just to blend it upwards into a cateye/flick that matches the one you made with eyeliner, but is extended outward more and is softer.

For the bottom of the eye, use a small eyeshadow brush, and concentrate the black on the outside corner of the ey e, and blend it towards the white, using less product as you go towards the inner eye. Clean the brush off, and then blend the black eyeshadow towards the inner eye so it blends with the white, and move downward at the same time. Basically, smoke it out, haha.

Use a dark smokey gray colour, and use it to go over the "middle" area where the white and black blend together. Just use a little, just so the gradient looks a little more natural. Also, on the under eye, blend it with the black a little and smudge downwards.

Use a light shadow as a browbone/highlighter-type dealy. Just follow the browbone and use a very light hand. Using a clean brush, blend the highlighter with a bit of the black to again soften the edges you created so it's more smokey and blended together.

Do your face make-up as usual, and because the eyes are the focal point, keep everything else lowkey. Use a very soft cheekcolour if any, NO shimmer. For lips, use a nude natural colour that has no shimmer.

I really hope this made sense .. it's how I do things like that .. but I am awful at explaining things.

viintage_ · Newbie Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 5 Smiles: 0 9

Thanks so much, at first I was really confused but as it went on I started to understand. I bookmarked this thread and i'm gonna try it in the morning, hopefully I dont skrew up! hahah

viintage_ · Newbie Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 5 Smiles: 0 9

I tried but it didn't turn out quite like that Sad

. It just ended up more of a mixture of eyeshadows.

ladyh_ · Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 6:49 pm Post subject:

^ You have to BLEND like crazy .. maybe I'll do it tmrw morning and take pictures step by step, haha.