Have you always wondered how women in magazines and films have perfectly smokey eye shadow? Many of us have tried to replicate the style of eye make-up at home but only succeeded at it looking too dark and more suitable for Halloween. Nailing down the art of shading your eyes to look smokey requires technique but it isn’t hard to achieve. To make things easier, we’ve worked out five easy steps that you can follow if you want perfect, smokey eyes.

First, let’s make a list of the things you’ll need to get started:

1. Concealer
2. Pencil or gel eyeliner which is dark brown or black
3. Three complimentary shades of eyeshadow: a medium brown or beige, a black or very dark blue and a light, shimmering tone for highlights.
4. Dark mascara to match your eyeliner
5. Make up brushes – or even your fingers will do
6. Two cotton buds (as needed)  

Now that you have what you need, let’s get down to work – but before you start – remember to not stress if you don’t get it right the first time. Once you figure out the technique after a couple of tries, it will be smooth sailing. Before starting anything however, make sure your face is washed clean and well dried. Applying make-up on a greasy face can make the shades of color around your eyes disappear or smudge incorrectly

1. Conceal

Next, take your concealer and rub a thin layer to coat the entire eyelid. Make sure that the whole lid is painted over with the concealer. This will work as your base and ensure the other colors appear well on your eyelids. If you want a smokey look, this step is essential

2. Upper Line

Next, take your eyeshadow pencil or gel and draw a think line across the bottom of your lid, making sure to include the area between the lashes so that there isn’t a gap in the eyeliner line.

3. Middle Tone

Once the liner dries, use the mid-tone eyeshadow and cover your eyelid with it again, being careful to not get too much on the eyeliner. You can always wipe off the extras with a cotton bud if needed.

4. Dark Shade

Now it’s time to use the darkest shade of your eyeshadow. This time make sure to only rub the dark shadow starting across the lower eyelash line and continuing to the outer corner of your eye. You can also use a jeweled or shimmery dark tone here for more effect.

5. Top Shimmer

The last step involved your light, shimmering tone which finishes off the look by giving it a contrasting highlight. Remember to pick a gold or silver tone here, depending on what works best with your skin tone. Run this tone in the upper part of the eyelid and just under the eyebrow, going from one corner of the lid to the other.

Try these five steps a few times over until you find the combination of tones and application spaces to suit your eyes and face shape for best results. We look forward to seeing your work!