Keep in mind the idea of "smoke" entails the deepest color fading up in tints to the lightest color. Also, smoky eyes does not necessarily mean black or grays, for example, you can start with a deep eggplant purple smoking up to a light soft lilac tint. See example below.
There are many different ways to achieve this look. I will demonstrate what I find is the basic, easiest, and most consistent way to create a smoky eye. In this tutorial, I will show you a level 6 smoky eye on an imaginary scale of 1 to 10- 10 being blacked-out, the most dramatic smoky. We will focus first on a conventional look; a matte black-gray smoky eye using black degrading up to a light gray. After you've practiced the standard smoky eye, the other types (colored smoky, liner smoky, etc) will come much easier.
What you will need:
1. A smudgy black eyeliner
2. A safe-for-waterline black eyeliner
3. A creamy flat black eyeshadow
4. A creamy flat dark gray eye shadow (you can use more than 1 shades of gray)
5. A stiff synthetic hair eye shadow brush
6. A tapered blending brush (synthetic or natural)
Tip: Create your smoky eye first, before applying the rest of your makeup regime. This way you can clean the face of any fall-out, thus insuring a clean final look.
Ready? Let's begin
STEP one:
First, start to feel around your eye socket bone. With your soft smudgy black eyeliner, draw up from the base, making sure the liner is deepest by the lash line and softer as it goes up to the socket line. Do not go higher than the socket line. Don't worry about how it looks now because we will smooth it out later. Repeat with other eye.
STEP two:
Next, with your stiff synthetic eye shadow brush, move the smudged liner marks up, paying attention that the deepest hue will sit on the lash line and fade into a lighter tint by the socket line. In other words, darkest on bottom and lightest on top. Repeat on the other eye.
STEP three:
Now, with your tapered blending brush apply the dark-gray eye shadow. This is a building process, so be mindful of how much product you have on your brush. Start from the base of the lash line and blend up with the excess. I personally like to go in little circles for flawless blending. Be careful not to blend too far past your socket line. Repeat with the other eye, making sure both eyes are symmetrical.
*Tip: Putting on the eye shadow over the smudged liner sets the eye, so the smoked liner underneath will not move around.
STEP four:
You should now have soft-gray smoky eyes. With the blending brush, apply the black eye shadow softly from the lash line up. The more dramatic you want your smoky eyes to be will depend on how much of the black eye shadow you use. For this demo, we have chosen to do a level 6 smoky eye.
STEP five:
Now the key step in achieving the perfect smoky eye look; apply your safe-for-waterline liner on your waterline.
STEP six:
With the stiff, synthetic hair eye shadow brush, smoke out the lower lash line. Again, being mindful that it will go from dark fading out.
STEP seven:
Now that you have rocked-out your smoky eyes, go and clean any fall out and start your regular makeup regime.
