Evening eyes, bedroom eyes, or every day eyes are enhanced by attention, and a little bit of smokiness. But for this style, a little goes a long way, and too much color or too dark a shadow can take your eyes away from attractive and drop them into a Tim Burton movie.
The key is color matching, meaning your eye color, not your outfit. Michigan freelance makeup artist Renata Stojcevski says women can enhance their natural eye color with the color of shadow around the eyes.
"The biggest misconception is, 'I have blue eyes, I should wear blue eye shadow," but it does nothing for eye. Shadow smoky brown makes (blue) eyes pop even more," Renata says.
For green eyes, shades of brown, copper, and rust "intensify the eye color," and brown eyes look best coupled with plums, and greens.
To give the eye a smoky look, follow these steps:
"I start in the outer corner with a campaign color across the lid, and do a little smoke in the crease," Renata says. Everyone's eyes are different, and some look better with a more intense smoky eye, whereas women with smaller eyes will benefit from less intense colors.
"If (the eye) is big and bold, use intense color all over the lid. If they're little, and small, do the smoky within the crease…I always start out with the crease, then do all of the eye," Renata says.
Champagne colors should be used on the lid to the brow line. Dab color into the crease and blend from there. The color should be well blended and smoothed around the eye, not just on the lid, Renata suggests.
"A smoky eye doesn't mean all the color is packed on the lid. It depends on the eye shape," she says. Blend the color across the lid to the outer corner of the eye to give it a cat-like look, or for something less intense, stay within the confines of the crease and outer corner.
Finish the look with eye liner and mascara. To carry the smoky eye to the lower lashes, fill in the water line–the inner lower lash line–with a deeper color like dark brown. Carrying color to the water line closes the eye, so this look is best done on women with large eyes.
Renata never uses black. The color is too harsh, she says. Instead, she sticks to a more natural color pallet of champagnes, browns, and taupe. When choosing complimentary colors, she considers the color of the eye and skin tone.
Renata warns never to couple a dramatic eye with a dramatic mouth. "You want the focus to be on the eyes," she says. The double dramatic is aging.
Neutralize the mouth with a gold to mauve pink.
Although the Corps Bride, in all of her gauntness, missed the memo on smoky eyes, it seems Helena Bonham Carter has caught on.
Written by: Erika Fifelski was born and raised in West Michigan, and after a brief stint on the sunrise side, she's home and loving it. Erika enjoys cooking, sewing, vacuuming, and discovering new ways to live sustainably and support local businesses.
