How to create that smokey eye

Smoky eyes are the little black dress of the make-up world; they look sexy and will never go out of fashion. The great thing about the smokey eye look is that once you master the art of application, you can be as creative as you like by using different colors. Here is a step-by-step guide to what you need and how to create the smoky eye look:

What you need:

- Black pencil (kohl) eyeliner

- Gray and black eye shadows (ideally you will have 2 shades of gray, one dark and one light)

Note: ensure that you are using powder eye shadows. Creamier textures will not work so well.

- Eyeshadow brush

- Blending brush

The principle: starting from the lash line and working your way upwards, smoky eyes are created by starting off with a dark color and working your way up to a lighter shade. The effect it gives is an intense color that fades out like a puff of smoke!

1. Prepare the eyes to make sure that the eyeshadow can be applied evenly and can be blended well. You can use a primer to do this if you wish, but a small amount of foundation is usually sufficient.

2. Using your eyeshadow brush and the black eyeshadow, apply a line of it across the bottom of your eye lid (the part closest to your lash line). The thickness of the line should be so that it covers approximately a quarter of the height of your eye lid.

3. Using your eyeshadow brush and the darkest grey eyeshadow, apply another line above the black one, ensuring that you do not go above the socket line (the natural crease).

You should now see two blocks of color which are distinct (not faded).

4. Using your blending brush, move it in gentle small circular motions on the powder. Start with the black part and work your way upwards, trying not to move the brush above the socket line. Try and do it so that the inner corner of your eye is darker than the outer corner.

The aim of blending is to merge the two colors together so that you cannot see where one ends and the other one starts. It also evens out the color and gives you control of which parts need to be darker than others. Blending is the most important part of the process, so invest your time in this step.

5. With a very small amount of black eyeshadow, move your eyeshadow brush along the socket line, ensuring that you do not go all the way to the inner corner of your eye. Use the blending brush to go over it so that the line is softened.

The effect of these steps should be that you see the dark colour gradually becoming lighter. More blending may be required on the outer corner of the eye lid, so make the gray/black slowly fade out.

If you have a lighter shade of gray eyeshadow, you can apply a very small amount to the center of the eye lid which will open the eyes up without compromising the smoky effect.

6. Finally finish off by applying a thin line of black eyeliner along the lash line (upper and bottom) and mascara on the eyelashes.

And there you have it! Now you can experiment with various shades of a different colour, or even with the blending of various colours.