The Wearable Smokey Eye

Morning Divas,

Yes, I pressed snooze one too many times this morning, but the unpleasant medly of construction workers outside my window did the trick. Too bad. For my last two years at Yale, I have not been able to escape living close to a construction site. Wait... why must they start religously at 8 in the morning again? I think 3 PM is a much more agreeable time. But now I'm up, showered, and on my way to get a cup of jamal (it has been my saviour during finals) and cram the work load I should have been doing over the past three days into about 24 hours.

On to more serious matters. I feel like we, as divas committed to looking fabulous every day, should discuss what I call the wearable smoky eye. The smokey eye is an amazing make-up technique empoyed by the likes of show girls and film stars to create the illusion of a large, deep-set, doe eye. Smokey eyes look best on women with large, almond shaped, or slanted eyes. Sometimes they can have an unflattering affect on women with smaller eyes or eyes that are further apart. Be mindful of that. (Pictured here is the divalicious Sheryl Lee Ralph with a sexy smokey eye in shades of brown)

Deep shades of purple, blue, black, and brown help create the smokey illusion on women of color, but for day wear, stick with browns. The first step in creating a smokey eye is getting the right colors. Look for a duo or trio that combine a lighter color (champagne, bone , subdued gold, apricot), with a deep brown, and possibly a medium tone (burgundy, dark green).

Next, you need the right tools. You'll need a large shader brush that is relatively flat with a rounded tip. You'll use this to apply make up to the lid and possibly a slight high light to the arch.

A full angle brush will be used to apply the shadow to crease and blend.

Now here are the steps:

1. Fill in medium shade all over lid and crease. From outer corner to close to where the eye brow begins.

2. Fill in light shade on lid, from tear duct to three quaters of the way in.

3. With angle brush, fill in dark shade from outer corner, along the crease, to just under where the brow begins. And sweep from outer corner along the bottom of lid, three quaters of the way in. It should look like a side ways V.

4. Blend. (You should be followin the v back and forth as you do this. Not side to side.)

5. Line eyes. I use a liquid liner. It's crisp, dramatic, and easy.

6. Use tip of shader brushes rounded tip to sweep a bit of the dark color under the outer 1/2 of the bottom of the eye.
7. Add mascara. Because a smokey eye looks best with long, dramatic lashes.. I use fake lashes in a bottle. Fiber Wig. It's only available at Sephora . It's $22 and wonderful.

And here are some colors that I love: L'oreal HIP Duos in Playful and Dynamic, Clinique color surge eyeshadow duo in coffee shop, Milani Eye Shadow quartet in Sedona Sunset (pictured here) and Revlon's 12 Hour Eye Shadow quartet in Coffee Bean.