Cooler temps mean wearing heavier eye makeup is so much easier, so now I can wear one of my favorite “night out” looks, a smokey eye. When I was younger, I would pile on tons of different shadows (grays, black, metallic), but I’ve since found a 2 shadow routine that will take all of 5 minutes. Add in the rest of the face, and you can have a full look in 15 minutes that is sultry, but still allows for your skin to shine through. What you need: Products: Eyeshadow primer or base, Matte black eyeshadow, matte caramel color eyeshadow, black pencil liner, your favorite mascara, concealer Tools: small flat shadow brush, small blending brush, small smudge brush (I use Real Techniques + Eco Tools), eyelash curler 1. Cleanse and prep skin with primer. Don’t apply base yet (do this after eyes are done in case you have shadow fall-out). Add eyeshadow primer or base to entire lid, smoothing with ring finger. 2. With a small flat shadow brush, apply a caramel color shadow over entire lid and slightly above the crease. If you plan to wing it out, do it now. This acts as your transition color + keeps the look from being too heavy. 3. Using the blending brush, start applying the matte black shadow to the lid only. Once you have the opacity that you want, tap off any excess shadow and blend, blend blend. If you think you’ve applied too much black shadow, just apply a little of the caramel shadow to the blender brush to soften it. Keeping the darker color concentrated on your lid gives you much more control with the look, so if you decide to do a “natural” smokey, it’s really, really easy this way. 4. Tightline your lower rim with the black eyeliner pencil. If you want it to be more intense or kinda “messy” (like mine is), dip the small smudge brush into the black eyeshadow, and line your lower lashline. Smudge it out as little or as much as you want. 5. Curl lashes and apply a boatload of mascara. You can add lashes if you want but I skipped it. I hardly ever wear them because I feel like they’re too much for my face unless I’m getting my picture taken professionally but by all means wear what you want. 6.Use makeup remove to clean up any fall-out, and then blend a tiny bit of concealer under the brows to clean up the shape. This also acts as a highlight to your brow-bone that’s more natural than a vanilla o r shimmery shadow. Once your eyes are done, apply the rest of your makeup, set it, and then head out the door. I like to do my smokey eye with a light pink or nude lip-color, but depending on your look’s intensity, you can do a coral or berry color as well. What’s your smokey eye makeup trick? Snapshots|DJCoolly Using Your Blog as an Asset for Your Fashion, Beauty + Lifestyle Brand