Makeup Tutorial: Basic Smokey Eyes

Here's a fairly basic makeup look that I typically wear outside. I'm sure you've seen hundreds of these, but I filmed one anyway just to have some variety in my posts. Read more for a step-by-step tutorial!

Start by priming your lids to prevent creasing and to make the eyeshadows stay longer. I'm using Urban Decay's Primer Potion.

With an angled brush, choose a dark brown shade (or depending on your hair color) and fill in your eyebrows. I chose darkhorse from the Naked palette.

Using your pinky or ring finger, dab a little bit of a highlighting shade (Virgin) on your brow bone.

With a fluffy brush (mine is from a special edition Lancome collection), load it with gray/silver eyeshadow to apply as base (I chose Gunmetal).

Apply it all over your eyelids and extend just a little bit to the brow bone.

Using a smaller C-brush (I'm using E.L.F.'s eyeshadow brush), dab it on a matte black eyeshadow (Creep).

Apply it on the outer thirds of your eyelids to intensify the look.

Taking a blending brush (E.L.F's fluffy brush), load up on a matte brown shade (Naked).

Apply it above the crease to blend all the eyeshadows. Make sure not to overblend. This step creates that gradient smokey effect, so don't forget it!

I prefer using gel liners especially with smokey eyes because they're highly pigmented and very opaque, so here, I'm using L'Oreal's Infallible Lacquer Liner in Blackest Black with E.L.F.'s small angled brush. 

Create a sharp and thick cat eye or "wing" by starting from the outer corner then building your way in. Some people do the reverse or even start in the middle, but this is typically how I do mine.

Now take the same eyeliner and run it on your waterline. I also extended it just below the waterline for a more dramatic look.

Take a lengthening or volumizing mascara (preferably waterproof) and build it up on your lashes. I'm using Lancome's Sumptuous Extreme Volume Mascara.

Because this eye makeup is very bold, I opted for E.L.F.'s nude matte lip color in Praline which has a really nice mauve undertone.

Here's the finished look! It takes a while to perfect, but once you've mastered it, you can play around with different shades very easily. I usually go for neutral colors just because they go with any outfit.