The nicety of every eyeliner style depends on how well your spider sense is. That’s a fact you can’t deny. But after practising and mastering that stable sense, the frustration reaches its limit when the eyeliner style you’re going for doesn’t work out. Smokey eyeliner can be one of those styles. But does it ever hit you that maybe you’re missing tips on how to make the look work for your eyes, not against them?
You can wear any eye makeup you want, but the ways vary. This article on smokey eyeliner focuses on those ways. So if smokey eyeliner is an arch nemesis of makeup for you, this is the field guide to win against that. Hope this eyeliner style will be an everyday makeup look for you after you give it a read.
JUMP AHEAD TO
WHAT IS SMOKEY EYELINER?
A liner with a gradient effect over the eyes. Just think of a fire that was just blown out, the smoke is very dark and heavy at the base, and it gets more diffused when you look at the top. Smokey eye makeup or smokey eyeliner is the same, except it has preciseness like any other liner style.
HOW TO DO SMOKEY EYELINER (STEP-BY-STEP)
THINGS YOU NEED –
- Gel eyeliner.
- Eyeshadows.
- Scotch Tape.
- Fluffy and pointed small brushes.
- Mascara
STEPS YOU NEED TO FOLLOW –
STEP 1 – Assuming, You’ve already done your base makeup and primed the eye area properly. If so, we’ll go with the tape first. Take one and a half inches of your tape, then stick it and remove it on the skin of your palm. The reason is to reduce the stickiness, you don’t need that much, and this won’t disrupt your makeup.
STEP 2 – Now, place the tape based on how you want your eyeliner to be. For example, I like extending my lower waterline and placing the tape accordingly. You can do that, too, but make sure the placement is the same on both eyes.
STEP 3 – Take some light brown eyeshadow on a small fluffy brush and blend over the tape, mainly focusing on the outer corner. This step is to map out the eyes where you’re going to put the eyeliner later onwards. Also, draw the eyeshadow halfway over the lid; accuracy is not required.
STEP 4 – Let’s get right into the gel eyeliner. This will be the foundation of the entire aesthetic look. You’ll apply the gel liner close to your lashes on the outer corner. Keep it reasonably thin when you drag it to create a wing. Your motto should be ‘start small’. You can always add more later.
STEP 5 – Jump right in with a pencil/smudge brush to blend the liner out. Even if it’s easier to blend gel eyeliners, they might dry down a little so be quick to diffuse and blend the liner.
STEP 6 – To set the liner, take a lighter shade of eyeshadow and go over the liner gently. You can add more colours that synchronize with your liner if you want. Tightline the upper lid too.
STEP 7 – Moment of truth- remove the tape! You’ll be obsessed. To finish the look, you can add a light shade of eyeshadow over the lid and a darker shade but neutral to your skin tone on the lower lid. Just involve the lower lid with the whole look. Finish up with mascara, and if you want, add falsies too.
PRO TIPS FOR APPLYING SMOKEY EYELINER
PRO TIP #1 – You don’t want dark colours too close to your inner corners because that closes off the eyes a little bit. This specific look is more on the lifted, elegant and brighter side. So avoid darker shades on the inner corner unless that’s the look you’re going for.
PRO TIP #2 – If you decide to put on falsies, cut them in half and put them on the outer half of your eyes. Falsies with clear bands will look much better.
PRO TIP #3 – You may use concealer to clear up any mess.
PRO TIP #4 – While blending outwards, you may see the wing is getting messier. In that case, blend the liner inwards instead of flicking it. The blending motion should be back and forth.
HOW TO DO BLACK SMOKEY EYELINER (STEP-BY-STEP)
STEP 1 – Start directly with your black gel/pencil liner to draw your eyeliner. Don’t bother with how precise the liner is.
STEP 2 – With an angled brush, start blending the liner. Flick the liner outwards for a more elongated smokey wing.
STEP 3 – For the lower lid, do the same process but keep it closer to the lash line. Connect with both the upper and lower liner.
STEP 4 – Fill up all the empty spaces. Use a dark black shadow over the smoked liner gently to set it.
STEP 5 – You can tightline both the upper and lower lash line. Instead of tightening the lower lashline, a nude or white liner can be applied.
HOW TO DO BROWN SMOKEY EYELINER (STEP-BY-STEP)
LOOK 1: SIMPLEST BROWN SMOKEY EYELINER TO EVER EXIST
STEP 1 – Draw a simple wing with brown eyeliner and smudge it out.
STEP 2 – Go in again with the brown eyeliner to add a little depth.
LOOK 2: A MORE INTENSE BROWN SMOKEY EYELINER
You should follow this tutorial to look more glammed up with a brown smokey eye look. A cut crease and different shades of browns hyped up the whole look.
SMOKEY EYELINER APPLICATION GUIDE FOR EVERY EYE SHAPE
The great news with smokey eyeliner is that it can be adapted to suit any eye shape. Whether you have monolid, hooded, upturned, downturned, round, or almond-shaped eyes, there are specific suggestions and techniques to create the perfect smokey eyeliner look. Let’s discuss how you can achieve this versatile and trendy look for your specific eye shape.
SUGGESTIONS FOR SMOKEY EYELINER ON MONOLID-SHAPED EYE
While regular eyeliner can be a little tricky on the monolid eye, this eye shape rocks smokey liner looks. A well-done smokey liner can shift the shape of the monolid eye. The best suggestion for these eyes is to do a double smokey liner on both the upper and lower lid.
Keeping both wings parallel and adding concealer in the middle makes the eyes look big. Cut crease, aegyo sal, fake lashes on the lower lid, and highlighter add to the look.
SUGGESTIONS FOR SMOKEY EYELINER ON HOODED-SHAPED EYE
A smokey wing liner is more forgiving for hooded eyes than a normal one. To make this look work for you should keep the following tips in mind-
SUGGESTION #1 – Keep the arch of your brows as high as possible when prepping them. This will help ensure enough space between your brow arch and your lash line. Maximize the space by brushing them upwards.
SUGGESTION #2 – Start with any deep brown shadow. Extend the lower lash on the outer corner. It’s okay to go over the fold. After blending properly, you’ll eventually get a good wing that will not look distorted. Then go with your eyeliner following the previous smoked-out wing and blend for an ombre effect.
SUGGESTION #3 – To dress it up further, you can use glitters on the lid.
SUGGESTION #4 – For lashes, only mascara will do it. If you want to wear false lashes, choose one that extends out and adds to the wing rather than covering the whole lid space.
SUGGESTIONS FOR SMOKEY EYELINER ON UPTURNED SHAPED EYE
It’s as if every other eye shape is trying to get the upturned-eye effect by doing a smokey eyeliner look. So smokey eyeliner is the easiest to do on this type of eye; just follow the eye shape. One look that you should try is applying eyeliner boldly on the lower lash line and smudging that out for the smokey effect.
SUGGESTIONS FOR SMOKEY EYELINER ON DOWNTURNED-SHAPED EYE
These suggestions are about how to enhance this eye shape’s beauty rather than try to change it.
SUGGESTION #1 – Trace your lower lash line with any shade of brown you like and flick it upwards following the lower lash line. Connect the now elongated wing with your eye’s apex(the highest point of your lid). Smoke and blend that lightly with a lighter shade of brown. That’s how you map the eyes out for the liner beforehand.
SUGGESTION #2 – Just as you drew a V shape on the outer part of your eyes, draw a V shape on the inner corner, too but with shimmer eyeshadow. This elongates the eyes.
SUGGESTION #3 – For the actual liner, you’re going to follow the upper lash line and extend it slightly, which means the liner will be downwards. After going down, turn your brush and pull the line upwards, following that first line you made with the brown shadow. Then connect it with the upper lash line. Smoke it out afterwards.
SUGGESTIONS FOR SMOKEY EYELINER ON ROUND-SHAPED EYE
An elongated smokey eyeliner looks best with round-shaped eyes. Otherwise, the eyes would appear as if they were trapped in headlights. So focus on elongating the eyes and avoid too much eyeshadow on the crease. As round-shaped eyes have ample lid space, the eyeliner can be bold enough. Elongate the space between your crease and lash line for the wing and smoke it out inwards.
SUGGESTIONS FOR SMOKEY EYELINER ON ALMOND-SHAPED EYE
You may end up getting a round-eye shape if you don’t follow these tips-
SUGGESTION #1 – You want to avoid too much blending above the pupil and under the pupil. This makes the eyes rounder.
SUGGESTION #2 – To emphasize the shape of your eyes, go along the lash line without thickening it in the inner corner or the middle.
SUGGESTION #3 – If you’re doing a smoked wing, then the direction of the flick should be the end of your brow.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
ARE THERE ANY ALTERNATIVES TO SMOKEY EYELINER?
ANSWER: A good alternative could be smudged eyeliner.
Smokey eyeliner has a crisp and pointy finish while having a smoked-out look. Smudged eyeliner is more on the messy, cluttered side but has smokiness. Paired with fabulous lashes and maybe some faux freckles on the face, the look will be a more fabulous alternative to smokey eyeliner.
CAN SMOKEY EYELINER MAKE THE EYES LOOK BIGGER?
ANSWER: Yes, it can certainly make the eyes look bigger.
Black or brown eyeliner blended with different shades of eyeshadows makes the droopiness of the eyes less visible. Thus the size increases.
WHAT TO DO IF IT’S HARD TO BLEND THE EYELINER OVER DRIED EYESHADOW POWDER?
ANSWER: Start blending right after you apply eyeliner.
Also, using gel or pencil eyeliner won’t cause this problem. You need a stiff small blending brush for both.
WHICH ONE SHOULD I APPLY FIRST EYELINER OR EYESHADOW?
ANSWER: Going with eyeshadow first is more convenient.
Eyeshadow maps out the eyes for eyeliner. That way, you can get an even liner on both eyes. Applying eyeliner first would be a hassle, plus eyeshadows afterwards will cover most of it anyways. So eyeshadow>eyeliner is serial.
FINAL VERDICT
That’s all about the smokey eyeliner look. To make the most out of this article, follow all the step-by-step guides and then go through the suggestions suggested for your eye shape. Try your best to apply all those suggestions while doing this eyeliner, can’t stress enough on this.
While researching different eye shapes, I wanted to find ideas to enhance their beauty rather than change them. I hope trying them out will make you appreciate your features more. <3
If you have liked this article you can also check How To Master Puppy Eyeliner
