The Sultry, Smoky Eye

Nothing makes your makeup application look better than healthy, glowing, hydrated skin. Always begin your application with a healthy dose of moisturizer to prep the skin.

Since the eyebrows are the frames for the face, take a moment to groom your brows by brushing the hairs into place, and filling in where needed. For this look, we apply makeup to the eye first before we apply the foundation and powder. Creating a smoky eye can be very messy. Shadow tends to fall, or you may extend your shadow too far, creating a raccoon effect. By doing the eyes first you can clean up before you put on your finishing touches.

The key to a flawless smoky eye is to first frame the eyes, and then fill in the blanks with color. Using a crease brush, choose a shadow tone that's a shade or two deeper than your skin tone, and apply it directly to the crease in a sweeping motion. Next, blend away any harsh demarcation lines using an angled fluff brush. The more you blend your shadows, the better your final eye will look. Apply the same steps to the bottom lid using the same shadow tone. Blend carefully. For more of a sultry, cat-like look, blend your base tone out slightly past the outer corners of the eyes.

Using a soft black pencil, create a very dark line in the inner rim of the eye. Next, using the same pencil, draw a line directly at your bottom lashes, smudging and blending slightly below the lash line. Apply the same steps to the top lid, smudging and blending upwards and outwards to the crease of the eye and slightly beyond the outer corners.

Using a shadow brush, set your penciled base by sweeping a black shadow directly over it to seal it in place. Repeat this on both the top and bottom lid.

To add a little extra sizzle, apply a clear lip gloss or a black shadow cream over the lid.

To add a bit more catlike appeal, add individual lashes to the outer corners.

Clean up imperfections, and then apply your foundation. To add an extra glow, apply pink cream blush to the apples of the cheek and blend well.

Add a natural toned lip gloss or nude lipstick and you are ready to melt the hearts of many!