# So how do YOU define a smokey eye??



## DirtyPlum (May 28, 2008)

Hey,

So it seems that everyone has their own idea of what a smokey eye is, and I'm sure other MAC MUAs will agree with me that this is the number one look we get asked to do..

So I'd like to hear what you think a smokey eye is and what colours you think are best to create it?  and what MAC e/s you use to do so? 

More importantly I'd like to know your technique i.e. colour placement??

Lemme me know ur complexion too...


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## BunnyBunnyBunny (May 29, 2008)

I am NW20 and my favorite "Smokey" look on myself:

(Painterly Paint Pot all over lid first)
-Satin Taupe all over lid
-Brun in crease, dramatically smoked out
-Carbon in inner crease
-Carbon smoked under eye
-Shroom lining inner eye
-Liquid liner on top

Something like this





I also really enjoy the same look with Woodwinked, Twinks, or Bronze instead of Satin Taupe.

on customers I like basically the same thing but not as dramatic:

(Paint Pot all over lid depending on their complexion)
For lighter skins, Shroom all over lid
-Brun in crease
-Maybe some Carbon if they want it deeper
-A little smoked under eye
-A pop of Shroom lining the inner eye

Similar to this (this is on me though)





Hope that helps!


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## DirtyPlum (May 29, 2008)

Love it, thank you so much for including pics!

For myself NC40, either one of two, I love a classic smokey eye with the followiung: 

blitz & gritz fluidline all over the eye followed by 
dark soul pigment blended up to 
shroom and sometimes carbon if i need it
plenty of black eyeliner n mascara too... 

so starting with a dark colour all over lid, dark at the root of the lashes and fading up to a lighter colour.

Otherwise I love greys and so use 
scene all over eye, 
silver ring in the crease and 
nehru in the outer corner... 
I will blend it up to wedge and then shroom

For customers I might use this but sometimes go for colours like Graphology or Poisen Pen...

Anyone else?


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## BunnyBunnyBunny (May 29, 2008)

Oh, I love having a dark lashline, fading to lighter! I rarely do it on myself though. I think it's because I like more definition. I don't know why, I just never really do that and the times I have I haven't liked it as well as the looks I posted above.

On customers I love that look though. Especially on Asians and on prom girls!! I love it with Shadowy Lady fading into Sketch too.


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## ms.marymac (May 29, 2008)

Does anyone else wish they had a dollar every time someone asked about/requested smoky eyes?  I sure do.  lol


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## BunnyBunnyBunny (May 29, 2008)

I wish I had boxing gloves for every time asked for smokey eyes at work. "Smokey" is sooooo open ended. Those looks I posted are just my favorites. Smokey means anything. Some customers get angry when I try and investigate too much, but seriously, I really need to or they're going to end up with an Electric Eel and Hepcat smokey eye!!


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## DirtyPlum (May 29, 2008)

exactly! So i start with telling them what a classic smokey eye is and once they hear blacks and charcoals most of them are kinda scared lol (well at my location anyway) so I end up toning it down with browns and lighter greys...

Its all about 20 Q's... sorry I meant Investigation! 
Kinda hoping this thread will help out a lil too...


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## ms.marymac (May 29, 2008)

Yeah, I think a lot of people don't realize it's about technique, or the way the shadows are applied...it can be any color. I find that using celebs as an example works to get on the same page.  Even better if you have examples of celeb smokey looks in your look book at the counter.


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## ktb8293 (May 29, 2008)

*(btw this is the first time I have posted pictures)*

I am certainly not a MUA but I have noticed the same variance in the what many consider a smoky eye. I have just started to experiment with what I would consider the traditional smoky eye this month.

Here is how I applied it (I am growing out my brows so sorry for the strays):





I am just beginning to start my MAC collection so I only used Sharkskin as a base and the other products are drug store items.

Here are the FOTD/EOTD pics of this same look:















and here is a really fun one I did last week with Mac Humid over L'Oreal HiP cream liner as a lid base:





















hth (just wanted to share)


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## lsperry (May 29, 2008)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *ktb8293* 

 
_*(btw this is the first time I have posted pictures)*

(just wanted to share)_

 
And thank you for sharing your pictures......You are absolutely gorgeous and have very good mu skills.....Keep posting them.


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## FiestyFemme (May 30, 2008)

Honestly, when I think of smoky eyes, I imagine something more like the traditional smokey eye. Probably something close to ktb8293's black look, where the color is concentrated towards the lashline and smoked upwards into the crease. However, I also describe smoky like Bunny's look, where to me it has more to do with the technique/application than the actual colors used. When I do smokey eyes, I mostly do them similar to Bunny's, just because I find that's what suits me more than the traditional smoky eye.

I'd do a light color on the lid, some medium color in the crease and slightly above, then a dark color in the outer corners and blended into the lid, as well as outward towards the brow. I would list specific colors, but I don't have a "go to" look as I find I can do this technique with a lot of colors.

I think it's very subjective though, and you really do have to find out what people mean as everyone seems to see it differently.


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## erine1881 (May 30, 2008)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *ms.marymac* 

 
_Does anyone else wish they had a dollar every time someone asked about/requested smoky eyes? I sure do. lol_

 
no kidding!  smokey eyes are the easiest eye to do (neutral/natural is harder).  the hardest part is deciding what color of smokey eye you want.

 Quote:

   Originally Posted by *BunnyBunnyBunny* 

 
_I wish I had boxing vloes for every time asked for smokey eyes at work. "Smokey" is sooooo open ended. Those looks I posted are just my favorites. Smokey means anything. Some customers get angry when I try and investigate too much, but seriously, I really need to or they're going to end up with an Electric Eel and Hepcat smokey eye!!_

 
people always ask me to show them how to do a smokey eye, or what makes a smokey eye.  to me, its:

darker colors
smudged lower liner
lining the waterline

i tend to split the lid in vertical sections with the same colors faded up into the crease.  i usually use three colors: the lightest on the inner third, medium on the middle third, and the darkest on the outer third.  then i bring the darkest color down as the lower liner.  

the look on their face is priceless when you ask them what color smokey eye they want.  you can do purples, blues, greens, greys, browns, and the classic black.  you name it, as long as its dark (darker than a normal day look) and sultry.


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## newagetomatoz (May 30, 2008)

Thanks you guys!!  This is so helpful!!

For me, I've always thought of the 'traditional' smokey eye as being a dark lid that starts to lighten/fade out just above the crease like...smoke.  lol  Sorry for the bad pun.


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## chocolategoddes (May 30, 2008)

I remember reading a magazine that said smokey eyes are sexy becase women naturally have darker eyelids than men, so this just enhances that trait. That's also why red lips define femininity: women normally tend t have brighter lips than men. Also, the smokey look gives that "deep, dramatic, bedroom eye" which comes from the facial expression one makes when they're about to orgasm. The muscles in your face and eyelids tend to relax. Same with a bright lip: When one is sexually aroused, the lips are supposed to flush.

I'm not making this shit up, people!!!

I personally tend to do a brighter looking smokey eye where I use a light, pearly color on the lid and then blend a deeper color into the lashline and crease. But some people like the BLACK smokey look, which I personally prefer on lighter eyes. 
Smokey eyes don't need to be black or even brown. I've seen lilac smokey eyes done on very fair people and navy blue smokey eyes done on darker people. As long as it gives that effect I described previously, it's SMOKEY to me!


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## DirtyPlum (Feb 25, 2009)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *newagetomatoz* 

 
_Thanks you guys!! This is so helpful!!

For me, I've always thought of the 'traditional' smokey eye as being a dark lid that starts to lighten/fade out just above the crease like...smoke. lol Sorry for the bad pun._

 
No, thats exactly it!  Its a technique, not a colour!

I'm bumping this thread... only the other day I got asked ''how do u do the perfect smokey eye'' and I pushed back and asked ''how would you describe a smokey eye?'' to which the response was *silence*.  The girls and I at the counter were discussing this around xmas time when the palettes were out and one customer asked me if she really needed all six colours in the palette to create a smokey eye?!  

I told her no, I would rec a minimum of three for a perfect smokey eye... but she only wanted one product.  So I suggested Smolder and told her to smudge, blend, smudge blend etc!


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## ms.marymac (Feb 26, 2009)

I forgot about this thread...ha ha. Yeah, you really have to investigate what they want the outcome to be.  I've have heard of people wanting the smokey eye to consist of Vapour and something like Wedge.


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## M.A.C. head. (Feb 26, 2009)

I always thought of a smokey eye as a smooth gradation of color with the deepest color starting at the lid. 

Purple smokey looks are my favorite.


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## Rudyru (Feb 27, 2009)

My take on smokey eyes come from the modern version popularized by the club kids of the late 80's and early 90's. Heroin chic comes to mind. Kind of like you've been clubbing all night and haven't gotten a lick of sleep. 

I like to use cream shadows for my smokey eyes because they're designed to deteriorate as the night goes on, giving you those "rock star" eyes that seems to be getting alot of hate...Alice Cooper, I'm looking at you! D<


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## L1LMAMAJ (Mar 2, 2009)

I would say a smokey eye is when all the colors are blended very well to the point where there are no defined lines of separations between different colors. I like the eyeliner smoked out (blended out) instead of distinct. Lots of lashes and well groomed eyebrows.


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## Sexy Sadie (Mar 4, 2009)

For me the Smokey eye is darkest near the lashes and then lighter and lighter up to the brow. I like it in any colour but my is more often light grey or brown.

Daytime smokey look.

Face, lips and cheeks: Nothing.

Eyes: Gosh Silver Fox Trio. KMM Cityboy, Clinique cream shaper in Black Diamond. Loreals Telescope Mascara. 



And here a bit darker for evenings. 

Face and cheecks: Nothing.

Lips: Diorkiss 488, Lychee Rose.

Eyes: Gosh Silver Fox Trio.
Clinique cream shaper for eyes in Black Diamond.
Maybelline Wolume express Lift up. 
Mac pigment Dark soul.


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## SulkyGirl (Mar 6, 2009)

Smoky eye to me means DARK (blacks and charcoals) and very smudgy. My best smoky eyes are the "morning after" accidents, when I forgot to take my eye makeup off the night before and I wake up and everything looks rumpled and awesome. Honestly, I can never get it to look like that on purpose!


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## Sexy Sadie (May 31, 2009)

Who can, really?


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## S.S.BlackOrchid (May 31, 2009)

There are so many variations of the smokey eye. To me smokey eye is blending dark shadow (black, dark plum, navy, etc) on the lid and lower lash line, with a medium shadow just above the crease and a light shadow on the brow bone. I use liquid liner with my smokey eye because smudged liner looks terrible on me. 

Here's my smokey eye with a mix of plum dressing and carbon. 

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...DSCN1752-1.jpg


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## gigiopolis (May 31, 2009)

I think ANYTHING that is blended well and has no definite edges can be called a smokey eye. That being said, smokey eyes represent a huge number of looks - I can imagine how frustrating it can be as a makeup artist when your clients ask you for a smokey eye...it's like asking what type of dessert you'd like to order and you get "something baked". 

Personally, though, I like to think of smokey eyes as the classic dark to light eye, darkest at the lash line (almost black, even), then grows lighter as it reaches the brow bone, in any colour(s). Another thing - to me, smokey =/= black smokey eye! I really think smokey is more of a description of technique more than anything.

An eye that has a lighter inner corner and darkens as it reaches the outer V - depending on how defined the crease is, I'll call it a "classic" eye or a "creased" look. So I mean, it can get really confusing once you start naming things, so sometimes I just like to lose the labels and do whatever I feel like doing.


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## CandiGirl21 (Jun 3, 2009)

Nothing Gothic, but defiantly noticeable.
I like my smokey eye to be seen, but not a show stopper kinda way...


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