Follow these seven steps to achieve the smokey eye look.

Step 1. You must start with a good under eye concealer, such as Prescriptives Camouflage Cream. Always choose one shade lighter than your skin tone, and completely cover any dark circles. Since the smokey eye is very dark, you want to be certain you have good coverage here. If this is a stubborn area for you, (like it is for me) swipe a small amount of liquid highlighter under your eyes and blend with a brush gently. This should do the trick; however, practice before you wear it out.

Step 2. Using an eye shadow brush, dust your entire eyelid, from lash line to brow, with a shimmer pearl eye shadow.

Step 3. With a black eye pencil, draw a line along the upper lashes, as close to the lash line as possible. Start thin at the inner corner of the eye, gradually getting thicker as you work your way out. If you want to take it beyond your natural lash line, flick it up, and out.

Step 4. Draw a thin line as close to the lower lash line as possible. You can stop either one third of the way in, or take it all of the way to the inner corner. It all depends on how dramatic of a look you want. It also depends on your eyes. For example, if you have wide set eyes, you can line them all the way in, but if you have little space between your eyes, only line around 1/3 of the way in as this will make your eyes appear more wide set. Play around with both and see what looks best on you.

Step 5. Draw a line over the line you just drew, with black liquid eyeliner. This gives it staying power. The reason you apply your liquid liner after your pencil is two-fold. 1) You are simply tracing a line that is already there, making it much easier 2) Liquid liners typically have a bit of a glossy finish, which is very attractive.

Step 6. With a dark grey eye shadow, and an eyeliner brush, dip the brush into the eye shadow and draw a line right above the liquid liner, blending upward into the crease. This is what creates the smokey look. I use Bobbi Brown's eye liner brush because it's thin enough, but not to stiff.

Step 7. Coat top and bottom lashes with two coats of black mascara.

Don't feel that you have to stick with blacks and greys. Feel free to play around with different colors, as long as the prominent colors are dark shades. I have done this look with shimmer blues and emerald greens, and it has always looked very sexy.

Apply a small amount of snow white eyeshadow, to the inner corners of each eye, to make your eyes pop. I do this with everybody and it instantly brings them to life!

The smokey eye look does take a bit of practice, but it is well worth it. It is a sultry evening look that looks great on just about everyone.

Copyright (c) 2007 Rebekah Mack Bono