Smoky Eye

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007, 12:22 pm

Veronica Lake is my icon. I stare at her achingly beautiful eyes and covet their sultry depth. Ah, the smoky eye. It looks so easy on the runway. Yet, even when armed with eye pencil, liquid liner and the whisper thin liner brush, I often end up looking like an overzealous raccoon.

But, now I have the secret; the insider scoop on sophisticated smudge of the season. And, the big news is that, like sequins and satin, the smoky eye is now the ideal look for day

Don't spend a bundle on smoky eye equipment. The trick is a perfect brush and technique.All you need is a quality liner in graphite (works for all ethnicities) Mac's "smoker" brush , a rich, quasi metallic (metallic seamlessly translated from the runways to the eyes) shadow to add depth to the eye and a mascara that both lengthens and thickens.

Here's what to do:

1. Line the lid with your liner. Three passes will create a nice, thick surface
2. Set the liner with the smoker brush. Then, go over liner with brush to soften the hard line into a sexy Debbie Harry looking smudge.
3. Place deep blue shadow in the corner of the lid and blend into small triangle for intensity and a blast of color. Blend out so the look is ethereal, not harsh.
4. Use a sparkly wheat colored shadow in crease of the eye to bring light to the eye.
5. Pile on an ultra volumizing mascara like Bourjois' VOLUME GLAMOUR ULTRA BLACK to create a false lashes look.

NEWSFLASH! With such a dramatic, bold eye, go easy on the lips. Just a neutral and a hint of gloss will do.

BOURJOIS                     LAURA MERCIER                      MAC

Volume Ultra Black         Eye Colour Quad Blue Sky         Blending Brush

Mascara                        US$38.00                                US$28.00

US$13.50                      available at:                            available at:

available at:                  Nordstrom                               maccosmetics.com,

sephora.com