Look Book : Smokey Eye for the Day

Look Book : Black Smokey Eye for the Day

A lot of women sit down in my chair and tell me how they want to wear a smokey eye during the day for certain occasions, but are apprehensive because they don’t want it to look too overdone for the daytime. My answer is always the same. What puts the smoke in the smokey eye look is the addition of black pigment (be it powder or cream shadow, smudged eyeliner, etc) and the removal of any harsh lines through blending, and you really can smoke out any color. I’ve done iridescent aquas, hot pinks, purples… you name it, just by adding the black “smoke” on the outer corners and blending. And in order to make it a comparably dramatic look that is not as dark, substitute a dark gray for the traditional black. Doing so will make any smokey look you create perfectly acceptable for day wear. So today we’ll talk about creating a more traditional smokey eye look that is wearable for the day, and we’ll be substituting most things black (except mascara).

Look Book Smokey Eye for the Day
Look Book Smokey Eye for the Day

To get things started, I prepped my face because as we all know a flawless face starts with flawless skin. Taking care of your skin with a 3-step process at the very least should be a part of everyone’s morning routine if it isn’t already. Ten minutes after applying my moisturizer, I applied the NARS face primer all over my face to ensure my makeup will stay on longer and continue to look fresh throughout the day and got my eyebrows filled and out of the way with Anastasia’s Perfect Brow Pencil in Brunette and MAC’s Eye Shadow in Studied Brown (a matte, warm, deep dark brown). Filling in your brows not only frames your eyes but also frames your face which is why I like to do it first—it gives me a better idea of what else needs defining and to what extent. When working with darker shadows, I often like to do the eyes first because it makes it extremely easy for me to clean up any fall-out. And if you’ve run into this before, you know what a pain it can be to try to remove dark or other highly pigmented colors from your foundation or concealer! I primed my eyelids with Lancome’s Aquatique, then went for my MAC shadow in Print (a matte highly pigmented charcoal gray) and applied it to the outer half of my lid, with the outer corner containing the most shadow and it slightly fading as it went towards the inner portion of my eye. Typically speaking, I usually work on eyes from the lightest color to the darkest, but with smokey eyes I do the opposite. For the lighter color, I used MAC’s All That Glitters (a shimmery neutral with a hint of mauve) and applied that to the inner half of my eye, thoroughly blending out the line of demarcation between this color and Print. If necessary, add a little of the Print and/or All That Glitters until you have the intensity and color balance you’re after. I also used All That Glitters as my highlight beneath the brow bone. I then used a gel eyeliner (MAC’s Fluidline in Blacktrack) and only went over the area of my lash line where the charcoal gray hit, using my MAC 266. Since I was creating a day look, I decided black on the water line would be a little too much so I used Bronze instead from Lancome’s line of LeStylo Waterproof Eyeliners. For mascara, I never apply any with my Lancome Cils Booster, so that in combination with Maybelline’s Lash Stiletto Voluptuous gave me the length and volume I was after. As usual, whenever I play up one feature I like to leave the others out of the spotlight so I used MAC’s Powder Blush in Margin and diffused it with Smashbox’s Soft Lights Bronzer in Baked Starburst. On the lips, I only applied Lip Fusion XL by Fusion Beauty and I was ready to take on the day with my modified black smokey eye!

This article was written by Natasha Kohli, makeup artist and editor of TheCosView.com . Natasha’s philosophy on beauty is to find and then do what makes you feel good and feel gorgeous no matter what it may be, because that’s what this is all about.

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26 thoughts on “Look Book : Smokey Eye for the Day

    1. I think the colorful smokey eye looks are the most interesting. On all skin tones, but especially darker ones. It really brings a lot of attention to the eyes and gives a much more warm look than using traditional black and whites/silvers.

      Try it out sometime and let me know what you think! And it’s even more fun when you play with mattes and shimmers together to get real dimension.

  1. Very wearable look Natasha… pretty and simple!!

    But I love your curly hair better… You look awesome in curly hair..

    1. Thanks, Mrunmayee. 🙂

      Curly is my natural hair, but I like to change it up once in a while (like once per haircut I’ll straighten it because it is so horrible for the curls).

    1. Hi Priya,

      Thanks very much and I’m so glad you liked it. I think it’s completely appropriate for the office, and please let us know how it works out for you!

    1. Hi Shugraa,

      Thank you! I actually have fairly thin brows which is why I always fill them in. Anastasia has some really great products. And if your brow shape ever gets messed up when threading or waxing, it’s also a great way to keep it a secret!

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