Makeup Guru

Ladies, when it comes to smoldering smokey eyes, the secret sauce is in the blending. Dark eye makeup looks best when it’s blended really well, and nothing can steal smokey eye thunder like a patchy makeup job that draws attention away from your eyes and onto your makeup. Lawd knows I’ve rushed through my share of smokey eyes. Regrettably, there are few eye makeup looks that can so easily go awry.

But don’t be discouraged! Try one of these tips the next time you’re feelin’ smokey.

1. Fingers Are Built-In Brushes

If you’ve never tried a smokey eye using your fingers before, give it a try. Using fingers can even be easier than using a brush. Start by loading up your ring finger with black shadow. Dab over your lid. Follow the black up with a shimmery gray shadow, and blend with a finger. Add mascara and you’re done! Just be careful you don’t drag shadow out of the lid area or too far into the inner corner of the eye.

2. Use Liner Pencils as a Base for Eyeshadows

Color the entire lid with a dark pencil before applying a lighter coordinating shadow (not necessarily the same color) on top of it. It’s a quick way to add more depth than eyeshadows alone and looks amazing!

3. Black Eyeliner and Eye Gloss Mashup

For uber-easy smokey eyes, use a jet black eyeliner smudged out with a bit of eye gloss. You won’t get a look that lasts forever, but a little loose powder patted over the edges will help prevent smearing. NOTE: don’t rub those eyes!

4. Get to the Root of Things

When lining your waterline with black, cover every nook and cranny. Get as close to the root of the lash as possible, even going in between them, to add as much black to the look as possible. What you don’t want is some of your natural skin tone along the waterline showing through to sabotage all your hard work.

5. Dab a Dot for a Pop of Color

For a pop of color, apply a neutral shadow to the entire lid. Then, smudge a dot of brighter shadow in the center of the lid and thoroughly blend.

Happy Hump Day!

How’s your week coming along? I’ve had better, but we don’t get to choose our days. All we can do is choose how we deal with them.

Have you seen the new holiday palettes for Shu Uemura? They’re called mika shu, and I think they’re adorable! I’ll post thoughts and swatches very soon.

Hang in there this week. This kind of comes out of nowhere … but that’s the kind of week I’m having. I’ve got something big on my mind. Our family’s going through some stuff that I’ll be ready to share with you soon, but for now I just want to thank you all for brightening my days and sharing your time with me.