When you lead a busy lifestyle, you don’t always have time to spend applying your makeup. Creating a beautiful eye makeup look doesn’t need to complicated. If you want a quick and easy smokey eye, using the right makeup products and simple application skills will allow you to create a striking look, suitable for both day and evening. Here, we show you a few steps for making the perfect smokey eye in just 5 minutes.
Daytime
What you’ll need
Ensure you’ve got the right tools and products on hand, before you start application. For a super easy smokey eye, go with cream shadows. These are really quick to apply, and make blending a breeze. For brushes, you’ll need a blending brush and a shadow brush (though, this depends on the type of eye products you use).
How to start
Begin by applying an eyeshadow primer to prep the eyes. We like Nars Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base and MAC Paint Pots – you can use your finger to apply and blend your shadow base as we are going to be applying product over the top.
Next, apply a shadow as your base color. For a daytime smokey eye, opt for a beige or taupe shade. We really like Laura Mercier Caviar Stick in moonlight – a light metallic champagne beige, or Bobbi Brown Longwear Cream Shadow in shore – a pale nude shade. Apply this with a flat shadow brush all over the lid. Next, apply a darker shade in the outer crease. We love Bobbi Brown Long Wear Cream Shadow Stick in bark – a rich brown shade. Apply this straight from the stick and use a blending brush to blend the shadow upwards and outwards.
For liner, use a liner pen in brown, such as the Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in mad max brown. Line the top lash line, bringing the liner out into a small cat flick. If you’re not confident applying a liner pen, then try Clinque’s Quickliner for Eyes in dark chocolate. This liner has a sponge at the opposite end, so you can smudge out your liner if you make any mistakes.
Finish the look with a coat or two of your favorite mascara. One of our treasured mascaras is Dior Diorshow Mascara. If you want to finish your look with a little highlighter under the brows, then try Benefit Cosmetics High Brow Glow to help define your overall eye look. Apply straight from the pencil, and blend gently with your finger.
Evening
For a quick and easy evening smokey eye, follow the above steps but use different shades. Silver and blue are both great shades to use for an evening look. As a base color, try Bobbi Brown Long Wear Cream Eyeshadow in galaxy – a deep silver shimmer or Marc Jacobs Beauty Twinkle Pop Eye Stick in frannie – a silver shimmer. In the crease, opt for Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Color in tuxedo – black or Bobbi Brown Longwear Cream Shadow Stick in shadow – a smokey blue/grey. For liner, use an intense black, such as Stila All Day Waterproof Liquid Liner in jet black for an extra dramatic look.
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