How Do I Get A Smokey Eye Without Looking Too Messy?
Dear Kristin,
How do I apply the smokey eye look without it looking so messy? I want the clean smokey eye look that the celebrities have like Kim Kardashian!
-Rach Donahuee via StyleCaster Advice page
There are many different interpretations of the smokey eye and many ways of achieving this look, but in order to keep your eyes from getting too smudgy you need to stay away from using creamy products. (However, I love to conceal the eyelids before putting eye shadow on them so eyeshadow remains true to color.)
I would use powder eyeshadows to create your smokey-look. A smokey eye is not limited to grays and blacks! You can create a smokey eye with various shades of brown, purple, blue, green, etc. I think the easiest way to create a really beautiful clean, smokey-look is to use an eyeshadow palette that has 3 or 4 colors in one. For instance you could get a Dior 3 Couleurs palette. They are designed to make creating the smokey eye super easy and they have 7 different color trio options! There’s a lighter color to highlight the brow bone and inner corner of the eye, a shimmery medium color to use as the base color on the lids, and a darker color for the crease and lash lines! If you would like to intensify this look, add eyeliner in the waterline (which is the fleshy, wet, pink part just inside of the lash line closest to the eye ball) using a pencil. (Even though pencils are creamy, if you keep it just on the waterline it won’t be too messy.)
Another way to intensify a smokey eye is by using a liquid liner on the top lash line. Liquid liner dries down so it doesn’t smudge at all! A favorite liquid liner of mine is Dior’s Style Liner in black. It is easy to use and super black! And of course you finish off this look with a generous amount of black mascara top and bottom.
The main thing with a smokey eye is that you need to make sure that you are blending properly. You don’t want to look like a raccoon or have harsh/sharp edges. Blending and layering the shadows is key to getting this look right, so have some Q-Tips on hand. The brushes you use are very important as well! For this look I love Bobbi Brown’s Eyeshadow brush to apply the wash of color to the lids and brow bone. I love Bobbi Brown’s Eye Blender brush for the crease and outer edge of the eyes with the dark shades. The brush will do all of the hard work for you! And lastly don’t forget to properly conceal your under eyes. You don’t want any dark circles competing with the lovely smokey eye you have just created!
Kristin Gallegos, a Community NYC makeup artist, will be answering your beauty questions regularly here at Beauty High, so submit any makeup qualms to experience@stylecaster.com with the subject: Dear Kristin. Kristin began her work as a makeup artist assisting the talented likes of Dick Page and Lisa Butler to refine her own skills, and has since worked with legendary photographers such as Terry Richardson, Patrick Demarchelier, Peter Lindbergh, David Bailey and many others. Her work has been captured in the pages of “Vogue”, “V Magazine” and “Self Service” with clients such as Michelle Monaghan, Amy Ryan, Amber Heard and more. Kristin has also been featured in StyleCaster’s 50 Most Stylish New Yorker’s and The Kiss. You can reach Kristin directly on Twitter@KristinGallegos!
