Black Smoke

       Hey everyone! Hope you're having a good week. Today's post is a full tutorial on a black smokey eye. I received a request by a really sweet girl to do a look like this, so this is for Ash Leigh :). I absolutely love your all's requests, so keep them coming and I'll get them up for you as soon as I can! Let's get right into the tutorial. As always, all tips will be in the captions below each picture. Enjoy!

To prime my face I used the L'Oreal Revitalift Miracle Blur Instant Skin Smoother. I really like this product, but you have to be very careful how much you use. If I use too much, my makeup doesn't blend in as well as it normally does. A good thing I've found is that this does keep me more matte throughout the day than the Benefit POREfessional.

For foundation, I used the Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3 in 1 foundation in the color 842. Now, I do have to mention that with this type of a look, you may want to do your base after you've finished the eyes. Black is a very tricky color to work with, as it can have quite a bit of fallout. Once the black eye shadow fallout gets on your face, it's hard to get it off without wanting to re-do your entire base. So, with that being said, do whatever you're comfortable doing. In my case, I didn't think about that...

After putting on my foundation...which I thought I had a picture of, but I guess not...I moved on to my eyes. To prime them (very important for this look!) I used the Lorac Behind the Scenes eye primer.

Black is a difficult color to build up, so I decided to lay a black cream base on my eyelids using this NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Black Bean. Be careful not to put too much of this on, as it can make the eye shadows you put on over it crease.

I just applied this messily all over the lids. We'll blend out in a second.

Well...this is a creepy picture...Anyway, that's the area you want to keep the black base in.

I took a fluffy duo fiber brush and blended that cream base out.

This is what you should have after blending.

Now, take any black shadow you have, and pack that onto the lids, being careful not to take it up too high.

After packing that black shadow on the lids, I took a big fluffy brush and just blended out the edges. Blending is key for this look. 

After I blended, I went back into the black shadow and packed more onto my lids. When we blended everything out, we lost some of that color. So, I packed more on until I got the color saturation I wanted. A tip for applying black eye shadow: When you are putting the color onto your brush, tap the excess shadow off the brush before putting it onto the lid. You will get less fallout that way.

Next, I tight-lined my eyes using the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in "Zero." When I say "tight-lining" it just means that I lined my upper and lower waterline with the eyeliner.

Lining the lower waterline.

Next, I wanted liner along my top lashes, and for that I used the L'Oreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense liquid liner. And I created a pretty dramatic wing on each eye.

Then I moved back to the face. For concealer I used the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind.

I wanted to really highlight under the eyes, because when you have such harsh colors like black, you can easily look tired. The concealer will help brighten you up!

All concealed.

To set the face, I used the MAC Prep + Prime Translucent Setting powder all over the face.

Face is set!

To contour, I used the Benefit Hoola bronzer. If you'd like to see how I contour and highlight, I just posted a tutorial on that this past Monday. You should be able to find that post on the right-hand side of your screen.

After contouring, I went back into that Hoola bronzer with a fluffy blending brush, and blended that right into the upper crease above the black eye shadow. That will bring more warmth to the look, and it won't be so harsh.

Blending away!

There, now. That's better! It just takes the edge off a little :)

I also added that to my lower lid for that smokey effect.

To highlight the inner corners and brow bone, I used the "Cream" shadow above.

We're getting there!

To add some color to the face, I am using this Jordana blush in the color "Passion Rose." This blush is a beautiful color, great pigmentation and wears nicely throughout the day.

All blushed.

For brows I used the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in "Medium Ash." I wanted the brows to be defined, but soft. Since we have such a bold look going on on the eyes, I didn't want the brows competing with it.

Nice and soft brows.

For the lips I used Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in the color "Primrose." I looooooooove this color. It is the perfect pinky-nude. A definite must-have.

Soooo pretty!

To add some shine, and a bit more color, I used the NYX Butter Gloss in the color "Eclair."

Love this lip combination!

And lastly, for mascara I used the Jordana Best Lash Extreme Volumizing mascara. I packed that on both top and bottom lashes.

And here's the final look!

       So, there you have it! A black smokey eye! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Let me know what you think in the comments below, or on my Facebook Page "Beautymark." Again, if you have any requests for things you'd like to see me post about, feel free to let me know. I love getting requests! Thank you all soooo much for reading, and have a great rest of the week!



                                      XOXO - Tabitha