Smokey Eye

Model After

Model Before 

In Todays workshop we practised creating a strong black smokey eye suitable for Catwalk. This was a very enjoyable session however I did face a number of challenges! 

To being with I prepped my model by cleansing and moisturising the skin to remove any previous make up. My Models skin was extremely sensitive because of this I used a milk cleanser to sooth and moisturised really gently. 

1.Black Eye shadow on its
own/2.Black eye shadow
with gel liner

I then started by working creating the base for the smokey eye. To achieve this look its vital to go on with a black base this is to create an intense jet black colouring on the eye. When I applied the eye shadow on its own to the back of my hand the colour that comes out is almost translucent and isn't a genuine transparent jet black as this look requires there for its really necessary to apply black eye shadow on top of a black gel liner base or black track etc. 

For the base I used Mac Black Gel Liner to apply the base I used a concealer brush, this is because a congealer brush is slightly stronger and tougher then an eye shadow brush, this is important because gel liners dry super quickly and can become tough to move about so a stonger denser brush can provide the support needed to smudge and spread the gel liner. Because of the gel liners quick drying properties I applied the make up to one eye at a time getting a shape I was happy with before moving onto the next one. 

Before applying the liner I applied a small line to the crease line to mark my edge of the gel liner, to check that the crease line is in the right place when the model opens her eye you should not be able to see the marking this is a way of judging that the guideline has not gone over the crease. Any further then this then this would create a completely black eye going right up to the brow line. I had problems with this because I was not experienced on working on eyes so small so naturally I wanted to extend the gel liner area above the brow line. I did this a couple of times and had to change the shape by reducing it using a cotton bud and toner. Unfortunately my model had sensitive skin so this was a bit of a problem and caused some discomfort so I stopped using the toner to reduce the size of the gel liner area and instead used JoJoba oil which can be very soothing to the skin, although it doesn't remove gel liner as well as the toner it did the job and more importantly did not bring discomfort to my model. As stronger products such as toners can be very irritating to her skin. In future no matter what size the eye lid I must remember to stick to the guideline of the pre placed line in the crease of the eye. Ignoring this really took time to rectify because of how quickly the black gel liner dries. Also the black area was far to large and started to look like an entire black eye.

After applying the gell liner up to the crease line again I used a concealer brush to blend and drag the edges to create a soft line. Leaving a harsh line defeats the point of a smokey eye as I feel the whole point of a smokey eye is to have that smoke of colour on the edge rather then a straight line edge. Again a concealer brush was vital to use when blending out the edges with it being strong enough to drag such a dry stiff product. Using gel liner as a base is great because it is very durable and strong so is perfect for catwalks and shows.

I applied Black eye shadow from my Ben Nye pallet on top of the dried gel liner to intensify the black and give that smokey effect that is only possible from an eye shadow. This is also vital to set the gel liner in place thats why its important to do this after applying the black gel liner. 

For the brow bone I used Mac Brûlée to highlight the brow bone. 

Once I had blended my edges I applied Oh Naturel from my Ben Nye Pallet mixed with black and brown to the crease line and blended this helped to give a natural blend and finish to the line using colours similar to my models skin tone. Using a skin tone colour to blend the line also prevents the blended area from looking grey on the skin.

When I stepped back to look at my model the shape of the eye was looking a little to rounded, I wanted to create a much more winged shape for the eye to achieve this I went back of the edges slightly with a eye shadow brush and black eye shadow to create that winged shape that I intended. What also helped me to create this shape was when I was applying my foundation I was able to manipulate the shape when applying foundation to the edges just to perfect both eyes into matching and even shapes. 

Mascara helped to intensify the look. I applied this using a clean mascara wand using fresh mascara from the back of my clean hand. 

To prepare the face for applying the eye I had to clean the excess off underneath the eye. I used a calming milk cleanser on a soft cotton pad taking into consideration the sensitivity of my models skin. 

For the base I applied Kryolan Ultra Foundation this was my first time working with the foundation. I found you really only need a tiny amount to go along way, Its really great at covering and so applied a small amount to the centre of the face then worked with a blending brush to blend the foundation outwards towards the edges of the face, afterwards my model said this is one she will be buying for her personal use because it worked really well on her skin and didn't cause any reaction or flares like some other foundations on her sensitive skin. I didn't need to use any concealer on my models skin. She had no blemishes that needed covering, the Kryolan Ultra covered everything that needed to be covered. 

For the eye brows I gave them a little shape and darkness I think this helped to create a stronger look and worked well with the smokey eye because it helped to give the look a little more of an edgier look. Also giving the shape a little more definition helped to frame the smokey eye nicely specifically as I had created that wing shape with the smokey eye. I gave the eye brows shape using a Mac Eye Brow Pencil I like using this product however sometimes I find them very soft and so I had to take extra care not to apply to much pressure when working with them. In some areas when this happened I used and eye brow brush to work in the colour evenly so that there were no darker areas due to too much pressure being applied. 

I added the make up to the under eye after the foundation had been applied, for this I applied black eye shadow just below the waterline using a small angled brush, I then blended this line to create a smokey effect using a small blending brush. Unfortunately I lost the picture I took of this! 

The smokey eye to me is timeless and so I think its a really important technique to know! One of my favourite smokey eye advocates is Cara Delevigne