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I get a lot of people asking me how to create an easy smokey eye, so here is a quick tutorial with step by step instructions and products used!

1. Fill in brows using pencil/shadow in appropriate colour for you (it’s best to use a colour that matches your hair). I used M·A·C Impeccable Brow pencil in ‘Black’. Fill in with light strokes and use an angle brush to smudge in colour to eliminate any harsh lines.
2. After applying eyeshadow primer (I used M·A·C Paint Pot in ‘Painterly’), grab a firm medium sized brush and press matte white shadow (such as M·A·C ‘Gesso’) all over the lower half of your eyelid, building it up so it’s quite strong and opaque.
3. Next, use a creamy black kohl pencil to shade in the outer corners of your eyes, in a sideways V shape – this is going to create a surface for the black shadow to stick to and make it easier for you to really build up the darkness with not much effort! Go over the kohl with a blending brush dipped in a matte black shadow (I swear by M·A·C in ‘Carbon’) and really work it in to the socket, buffing back and forth and in circular motions. Basically build it up as dark as you want to go and make sure both eyes are even. You’ll notice that towards the inner corners of your eyes the blending of the black and white will create a sooty grey – that’s what you want to aim for!
4. Using a pencil shaped brush, apply some of the matte white shadow into the inner corners of the eyes, blending it underneath the eye along the lash line about a third of the way down – this will help balance the smoke and is generally flattering on all eye shapes with this kind of look.
5. I did my usual winged out eyeliner using M·A·C Fluidline in ‘Blacktrack’, and also smudged a little underneath my eyes in the outer corners. To really intensify the look use a little black kohl pencil in the lower waterline.
6. False lashes are optional of course – I just used a pair of no brand natural length lashes, and coated them with black mascara. Don’t forget to mascara your bottom lashes, too.
7. Next I applied a soft sweep of pink blush over the apples of my cheeks, and a little sculpting powder was applied to the cheekbones to give definition.
8. It’s best to keep lips light when pairing with a smokey eye (unless of course you are going theatrical, in that case go nuts with the red lippy!), so I used a frosty pink M·A·C lipstick from the new Colour Forecast range in ‘Victorian’.

Easy, huh?

Readers: What looks would you like to see in tutorials to come?