How To... Do Gorgeous Smokey Eyes

Lots of people ask me how to achieve perfect smokey eyes so with a little guidance, the right products and the right colour pigment I can show you how. So I'm going to start with Bourjois Smokey Eye kit. This is in Rose Vintage. It comes with three colours. These are available from the Co-operative Pharmacy. So first of all I'm going to start with the mid-tone shade. I'm going to pop this colour on to the lid going about half way across the eye. Don't take it higher than the lid at this stage because when we come to blending it out it's going to naturally lift up a lot higher. Next we're going to go in with a darker shade on the outside corner and then we're going to put it through the crease in a backward C shape. So now you need a soft blending brush; brush it through the socket line and then working in small circular motions, really work the colour outwards and upwards. What you will find is you will buff a lot of the colour off your eye but don't panic because what you can do is go back in with the colour now; so again with a darker colour and work it in the base of your eye and blend in again. It's all about the blending. Okay, now the same principles apply for underneath the eye and I'm just going to use a really fine brush and I'm just going to pop the darker colour on the outside edge and then I'm going to use the mid-tone colour to fill in the other gap. Now you're ready for your highlighting colour. This goes underneath your brow bone Ð I'll just press it on like so Ð and then you're also going to put some just on the inside corners so we really open up your eye. Now we're going to go in with an eye liner. This is a kohl eyeliner pencil. All the other eyeliner pencils out there on the market can really tend to drag your eye Ð kohl is really, really soft. So I'm just going to pop this in the water line and on the lash line. This creates drama even if you've gone for really nice soft colours, this really frames the eye. The eye kits also come with little applicators; these are perfect for blending out kohl eyeliner pencils so now we're just going to really smudge that in like so with a darker colour over this again just to soften it right out and then just blend the black eyeliner just in to the outside corner of your eye. Now we need mascara. I'm using a Max Factor Masterpiece Mascara, this gives real length and curl and you really need to work this up in layers. Bourjois also do another Smokey Eye kit; this one is in Gris Dandy. I'm just going to use the darker colour out of this one just to really darken up my socket line here and again, through your socket line blending. Now we're going to go in and groom the brows. What this does is it frames the face and finishes off the eye make-up. What you need to do is start at the bottom of your brow and in small movements Ð I would say strokes probably the size as one eyebrow hair Ð if you compare the difference between the first brow and the second brow, you can see what difference a groomed brow makes. Just using a simple eye make-up remover on to a cotton bud I'm just going to sweet it under the eye. Now you can see all that product that is left on the cotton bud Ð if you had done your foundation first that would have all wrecked your foundation. I'm just going to go with the concealer around the eyes. I'm using a Rimmel Match Perfection foundation and using a flat brush just work your way around your face; make sure you get right into your neck line and also on to your ears because it's amazing how many people don't realise that their ears are a different colour to their face. I've chosen a nice matt bronzer by Bourjois that looks almost edible and I'm just taking it around the perimeters of my face, working it under the cheek bones and into the temples. This is literally just called Blush by Bourjois; it comes with a nice brush so it's handy for your handbag. Pop it on to your apples of your cheeks Ð if you can't find your apples, just give a little smile and it's just the round part of your cheeks. All these products can be found on the Co-operative Pharmacy website and that's it! Gorgeous smokey eyes, the perfect skin for the perfect night out.