Smoky Eyes and Celebrations

It’s not often that I take the time (or have the opportunity) to glam up my makeup for a night out. Because I travel for business and am around co-workers, prospects and customers, I generally dress and make up more conservatively than I feel inside! So when I do get a legitimate opportunity to go a little wild with my makeup, I usually choose a more dramatic, smoky eye. This past Saturday, we celebrated my husband’s birthday so I did it up right with a gray and navy color palette..

For this look, I started with Urban Decay’s Primer Potion. Then I applied Sephora’s Jumbo 12 Hour Eye Pencil in 03 Gray and smeared it all over my lids with my fingers. Using a Mac 217 brush, I blended it out so that it reached slightly higher than my crease. After that, I patted Mac’s Idol Eyes eye shadow on the inner half of the lid. For the crease, I used Contrast, a navy blue and blended it slightly above the crease, concentrating most of the color on the outer “v” of the eye lid. The navy shadow added depth to the gray. As a “transition” color, I used Urban Decay’s Laced eye shadow (a matte that looks a bit like a warmish pink) on the area above the crease where the gray and navy shades met my brow bone area. This shadow allowed the two colors to blend well and also warmed up the area just a tad so that there weren’t any harsh lines. Last but not least, I brushed a small amount of Mac’s Crystal eye shadow right below the arch of my eyebrows. Lining the eyes is a thinnish line of Bobbi Brown’s Black Mauve Shimmer Ink.

On the lower lash line area, I applied a medium thick line of the Sephora pencil and smudged it with a pencil brush (you can also use a Q Tip). On the uuter third, I used the same pencil brush to apply a bit of the Mac Contrast shade. The tear duct area was highlighted by Mac Crystal. Finally, I applied two coats of Le Volume de Chanel Mascara in Black on the top lashes and wiggled the applicator against the bottom lashes to barely give them one coat. A little goes a long way with this mascara!

Overall, I was very happy with how this gray smoky eye looked. It wore well throughout the evening and got me out of my “rut” of neutral eye shadows. My husband really liked it as well! :)

So, a smoky eye can still work at even the advanced age of forty-eight, right? Do you have a favorite look for when you’re glamming it up a bit? Do share!