Basic Smokey eye

Of course makeup is becoming more and more expressional. Entertainers like lady gaga who constantly are pushing the boundaries with makeup and fashion encouraging others to stand out and express themselves and their individuality. Personally I love that times are changing where now rarely anything is out of the ordinary.


However that being said the classic smokey eye will always be timeless and admired by all.
A smokey eye can be achieved, interpreted and tweaked in so many ways using various colours,textures and techniques but the fundamentals of a smokey eye will always remain the same that being the darkest point is at the lashes, blending outwards to create a smokey effect hence smokey eye ;)

Foundation: Foundation, conceal, powder as usual. highlight and contour if desired.

Eyes: Like I mentioned before a smokey eye can be achieve and interrupted in so many different ways, this is I think one of the simplest and fundamental ways to achieve a typical smokey eye. but of course feel free to adventure and add your own touch, everyones eye shape is different so work with your eye shape using these basic techniques.
First conceal and powder the eyes providing a stable base for our products. Take a creamy black eyeliner, By this I mean use a eyeliner that can be easily smudged and manipulated, some eyeliners can be to stiff and dense. If this is the case simply take a regular household lighter and hold the flame to the end of the eyeliner for just a second. Obviously wait for it to cool before applying it at the base of your lashes like you normally would. Make the line as thick or thin as you want but keep in mind this is the base of our smokey eye and where all the magic is going to be concentrated.

Don't worry it doesn't have to be perfect. Now taking your angled brush, finger or even a Q-tip blend the black eyeliner up towards the lid still keeping most of the black towards the lashes. To create more shape to the eyes blend some of the black liner out towards the outer corner of the eye creating a V shape from your lashes to your outer crease.

Again it doesn't have to be perfect, this is going to be the underlying base for the rest of the look and will be blended out. That being said grab a dark brown eyeshadow. I used a mixture of Espresso and Charcoal brown from MAC, but any darker brown you have will work. 

Taking your flat eyeshadow brush pat this colour on top of the black eyeliner and blend it out onto the eyelid. Like with the black you want to keep the most color at the base of the lashes.

 For a more intense look feel free to use black eyeshadow. I just like to use a mixture of browns overtop the black base to create a more softer look, I find to much black can be overdone but feel free to experiment. Continue patting, blending and working the brown into the lashes, blending outwards. Blend the brown over the V shape as well softening any harsh lines.

Feel free to keep layering the browns and blacks at the base of lashes and continue blending out to get the darkness and depth you wish. To really bring out depth and dimension don't be afraid to go back over intensifying the colours and adding depth where you feel its needed. The more layers you create the more dimension the look will have.

After your satisfied with the lids, apply a matte white eyeshadow under the brow bone highlighting that area.

 line your inner waterline with black eyeliner. Line the top of the lids as well and go over with black eyeshadow, remember we want the lash line to be the darkest point. 

Taking your angled brush and the same black and brown shadows run these colours along the lower lashes and blend. Softening the line and creating the same smokey look but along the lower lash line, feel free to make this smokey line as thick or thin as you feel comfortable however try to avoid blending it to far down otherwise it might look black eye chic ;) 

Curl and Mascara your lashes, apply false lashes if desired

Cheeks/ Lips: Because a smokey eye is so neutral any blush colour will work just try not to overpower the eyes. When going with such an intense look for the eyes the cheeks and lips should simply compliment the eyes. For my cheeks and lips I decided to go for a neutral pinky colour for my cheeks I used a mixture of BlushBaby(soft neutral pink) and Fluer Power ( soft mid toned pink) by MAC. Both these blushes I use quite often and if your in the market for a new blush I definitely recommend giving these a try they add a instant glow of colour to the face without being to overpowering. 

I first lined and filled in my lips with a neutral pink peachy colour I used Peach Pearl from Gosh. 

Lining and filling in the lips with your lipliner fills in the lines that are naturally on our lips and gives you're lips more colour and longer staying power. I used a nude pinky colour lipstick on top of the lips, I used Hue from MAC but again any nude pink you have will work just fine :D

  (teehee my false lash is a little gimped..oops)

So no matter what your style is, or what adventures the night brings you got yourself a sexy smokey look to bump up the partayy!!! or in my case I just rocked it around the house and did the dishes..gotta look good for them dishes ;) 

Get Creative! and explore! were living in a time where "normal" doesn't exist so embrace it and get creative. This same look can be alternated using colours just remember to keep the darkest colour at the lash line.

Have fun, Get Creative and Rock it!

xoxox

Relish 

  

Contouring/Highlighting

Have you ever noticed celebrities always have a flawless complexion. There cheekbones always well defined, under eye circles gone, luscious lips. Well here's a little secret, its all the illusion of makeup.

Before:


                          SHADING/CONTOURING

Makeup has the ability to transform a face giving it a whole new structure just with highlighting and contouring, also known as shading, certain areas of the face. Shading features you want to recede and drawing attention to features by highlighting. The typical rule of thumb is any feature you want to make recede shade a darker colour such as hollows of the cheeks, temples, under the chin, sides of the nose.

lol its a nice face it know ;) but here I'm just demonstrating the areas of the face you typically want to shade or contour using foundation, concealer, brown eyeshadow, or a bronzer with no shimmer! looks scary and confusing but all you need to remember is blend blend blend! with a sponge, fingers, brush ect. However keep the darker colours in the these general areas.

 Countoring the hollows of the cheeks slenderizes the face and allows your cheekbones to stand out. Contouring down the sides of the nose slenderizes the nose and makes it appear straight. shading the temples gives the illusion of a smaller forehead, and lastly shading under the chin and down the neck slenderizes these areas as well.

After:

See! all blended and notice how much definition and colour it brings to the face. Our face isn't just a flat surface its dimensional, and has high and low points that the sun naturally hits more then others. So covering it with just one colour will make you look lifeless, dull and flat.

HIGHLIGHTING: 

Before:

Light colours highlight and make things come forward bringing attention to these areas. The apples of the cheek, under the the eye, the brow bone are typically the ares you want to highlight. Here I've used concealer to demonstrate the areas, but I find shimmer and pearlized powders work great. I usually use Shell cream colour from MAC. But you can also use a light shimmer eyeshadow. 

Applying your highlighter down the centre of the nose works with the contouring to slenderize and straighten the nose, highlighting the tops of the cheeks bring attention to your cheekbones, Highlighting the brow bone as well as the inner corners of the eyes, brighten and bring attention to the eyes making them the main focus point of the face. Simply dust your shimmer powder on these areas with a blush brush. If you notice I applied a bit of concealer above the cupids bow of the lips, this makes the illusion of fuller lips without the botox!!

After:

Now you know all the secrets to achieve a flawless face. Try these techniques and play around with your features. Once you know your face and your structure using these techniques to your advantage will get easier and easier. No matter what look your going for a flawless face is essential! 

Good luck and get your flawless face on!! 

xoxox

Relish