Do Smoky Eyes on Dark, Tan, or Indian Skin
This article helps women with darker skin/ complexion do 'smoky eyes' makeup look. I think that the colors that work for creating smoky eyes on lighter skin sometimes don't work that well for darker colored skin.
Steps
- Wash your face. No makeup looks good on clogged skin or skin that still has previous day's makeup on. Start afresh!
- After you have cleansed thoroughly, use a toner on a cotton ball and pat it on your face. Regular use of toner will help firm your skin and also reduce sight of clogs and large pores.
- Apply a very thin layer of foundation and get ready for the next step.
- Conceal your dark circles and skin imperfections. Use a good concealer that is right for your skin in terms of shade and texture.
- Take a bit of product between your finger and thumb and rub these two together to warm it up a bit - this ways the concealer spreads better on the skin.
- Use a patting motion instead of a dragging one. Don't forget to be gentle while applying and removing any products around the eyes. The skin there is very sensitive, also too much stretching will result in droopy skin around the eyes. You don't want that!
- Choose a peachy nude eyeshadow as the base.
- Apply this color all over the eyelid with a soft, fluffy eye shadow brush. The eyeshadow used here are from Sephora's 'Color Daze Blockbuster' makeup kit.
- Choose a dark purplish eyeshadow for the middle to outer corner of the eye.
- Try to draw out a light 'V' shape on the outer corner of the eye. This is the first step in defining the shape of the 'smoke' in the smokey eye look. Take your time to define this 'V' as it differs for everyone and from eye to eye. Stop and look straight in the mirror to check if you like what you see.
- If you make a mistake in drawing this 'V', use a cotton bud with makeup remover on it to clean any mess :) Very sneaky ;P
- Choose a black eyeshadow to define the eye socket.
- Use black eye shadow to draw and define the socket line.
- By the way, if you have hooded eyes, you can make them look larger by a neat little trick - just draw an arc not on the natural socket fold but slightly above to give the illusion of a higher socket line. Also pat a little bit of the black eye shadow on the outer 'V' to add emphasis and drama.
- Add more color. If you think you need more color of any of these three eye shadows, now is the time to add on. Once again use gently patting movements.
- Use a clean brush to soften all and any harsh edges, lines.
- Use gentle swiping and circular brush movements for this. This step is essential as you want to create a haze, a smoke around the eyes - and smoke DOES NOT have defined lines of beginning and end :) Also, too many harsh, visible lines will look choppy and unprofessional, you don't want that.
- Line the inner half of the eyes with a creamy mauve colored eyeliner.
- Line the outer half of the eyes with a creamy black colored eyeliner.
- Use a clean brush to merge the point where these two eyeliners meet in the middle of the eyelid.
- Draw a super thin line close to the lashes with a black eyeliner. I always do this step to add just a little bit more intensity to the gaze of the eyes. If you want it to be subtle or if you are not really a black eyeliner girl, then you should skip this step. You can wear a smoky eye during the daytime as well if you skip this step and go easy on the mascara.
- Apply your favorite black mascara for full effect!
- Never ignore the brows! Take one minute to fill in the brows with a brow pencil.
- Use very light hands to draw feathery strokes that resemble natural brow hair.
- Draw small strokes and don't try to fill in the brow like you're filling colors in a coloring book! No dragging single lines along the entire brow - they can give a very creepy clown-like appearance.
- Use brow gel to fix the brows in place - this especially helps if you have super long brow hair that goes astray all the time.
- If you still end up making harsh lines, just use a brow brush to soften them.
- Complete the look by adding lip color. Use a lip color that has a purplish hue to it, so that it looks like it belongs on the same face as the smoky eyes.
- If you are confused about what lip color to wear with colored smoky eyes, then you can also opt for the safest option - a nude lip color! If nude lip is not your style, then apply a cool pinkish lip color.
Things You'll Need
- MAC's Studio Finish SPF 35 Concealer (shade here is NC 45)
- L'Oreal Paris Super Line Eyeliner (shade : black)
- Maybelline Mascara XXL Pro or any other mascara of your choice (shade : black)
- Chambor Eye Pencil (shade : Noir)
- Alverde Eyebrow Gel
- Sephora's 'Color Daze Blockbuster' makeup kit for the eye shadows, eye liners and lip color
- Eye shadow brush
