Natural Smokey Eye
While it’s a bit counter intuitive the natural - or nude - smokey eye is a super wearable look that flatters just about everyone. Take a classic neutral eye, added dash or 10 of shimmer a pop of smokey around the edges. Or take your standard smokey eye, take out the D-R-A-M-A and lighten the liner to thin, clean line. Think Smoke Level 4 if our friend Pam A is a Smoke Level 11.
Most girls aren't going to wear this look everyday but tons of brides request it and - if you're GLAM LEVEL 10 like myself and Pam A - you might rock this look at brunch.
As always, check out our D-eye-gram if you ever need more clarity on the various terms we’re throwing out!
Before you start check out our Eye Priming Blog. I use this priming routine for every beauty culture look so we gave it it’s very own page!
Did you check it out?? Your eyes are primed, highlighted, and you’ve worked a warm brown like MAC texture into your crease so we are ready to get smokey!
If you're more of a watcher then go ahead and check out our video tutorial - otherwise scroll down for a step-by-step guide!
Step 1: Deepen the Crease
Take a fluffy brush and work a dark brown color like MAC Espresso into the bristles. For this step I prefer to use a dual fiber brush like the MAC 234. Darker colors show fallout more on the skin, and the duo fibers do a great job of grabbing onto the pigment while still bringing bomb blending capabilities to the table.
Take your brush - now loaded with your espresso color - and place the it at the outer corner of the eye next to the lash line. Blend your dark brown in little circles over the outer third of your eye keeping the color roughly the size of a pencil eraser. We really don’t want too much dark color here - just enough to contour the eyelid and open up the area.
~PROCEED WITH CAUTION, UNICORNS!~
This is where things can get crazy, which - unless you want to look like you’ve been punched in the face - could derail the whole look. For this look we do not want our dark brown to go higher than that crease color.
Step 2: Blend, Blend, and Blend Some More!
Grab the fluffy brush we used to define our crease in the eye priming routine and blend the espresso color into the crease.. When you think you’ve blended the colors enough, blend again. You CANNOT over blend these colors.
Step 3: Spice Up that Lid
I love a shimmer lid for this look. There are some really beautiful options out there with different undertones. I will often do a cooler, almost steely taupe griege on my lid or a warm champagne and they’re both beautiful. If you’re fine with being less neutral, this is a great place to sub in a lilac, moss green, or rose eyeshadow. For this post I’m going to use a Moondust eyeshadow from Urban Decay called Chem Trail.
Take a slightly soft brush, not too stiff bristled brush and work some pigment into the bristles. With a shimmery shadow or pigment I will work the shadow into the bristles on the back of my hand before applying it to my eyelid to reduce the amount of fall out onto my face. Sweep from the inner corner of the lid over the center of your eye until you reach the dark shadow you’ve just laid down at the outer corner of your eye. You can overlap slightly to mix some of the shimmer shadow into the outer corner.
Step 4: More Blending!
At this point, take the duo fibre brush and re-blend the outer corner dark brown into the crease again and with the new the shimmery shadow. Now you're going to take the original fluffy brush with the warm brown still on it and blend the crease color the whole length of the eye.
Step 5: Touch up the Lid
Take your brush with the shimmery color and lightly press a bit more pigment to the center of your lid.
Step 6: Highlight
Highlight the inner corner of your eye using a pencil brush and a light, metallic eyeshadow color. I like Nylon from MAC. Blend from the inner corner under your lashes into the center of the eye.
Step 7: Line the Under Eye
Use your same dark brown and line under your outer lower lashes using an angled liner brush. For this again, I use MAC espresso. Blend the two shadows under the lash line in the center of the eye. If you look straight ahead it should be somewhere around the pupil of your eye.
Step 8: Tight Line
Tightline your upper lid, and line the top, focusing on a very thin line close to your lashline. Use either a waterproof gel for both, or a waterproof pencil to tightline and a liquid pen for your upper lid. I like a little bit of a wing on this look, nothing too dramatic, but enough to pull the look together and open up your face.
Step 9: Finish it off With Liner, Mascara, & Lashes
Put on your lash primer followed by your mascara. If you’d like go ahead and add some lashes to complete the look! See my LASH STYLING guide for the perfect mascara application how to. I'm in love with Marc Jacobs Beauty Velvet Noir Major Volume Mascara because I love huge lashes with tons of volume. And this mascara delivers!
Voila! You're done!
Did you try it out? Tell us how it went in the comments!
Want to take this tutorial with you? Check out our how-to guide!
