All About That Smokey Eye

Makeup trends can be fickle, but one look you can count on to never go out of style is smokey eye makeup. From Kareena Kapoor Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachan popularising it in the early 2000s to Alia Bhatt and Ananya Panday making bold statements on red carpets and TV show appearances, the smokey eye is quite the favourite.

The whole point with a smokey look is that it is one of those trends where your time and effort in front of the mirror really pays off.

Here is a step-by-step smokey eye makeup tutorial that is so easy to follow, you can add it to your daily beauty routine.

Once you have washed and prepped your face, the fun part begins. A good rule of thumb is to have a minimum of two shades that you want to play with. If you are comfortable with blending, you can add more colours.

First, take a light shade like the mauve shade from the Lakmē Glitterati Face Palette 'Night Diva' and apply it all over your eyelids. Pat the light shade onto your eyelid for even coverage. It is one of the most effective eye makeup techniques.

Editor's Tip: Choosing a palette like this one gives you a varied range of glitters and mattes so all the colours that you may need to complete your look are in one place.

Next, take a darker shade like black or dark blue and, using a flat top brush, apply it to the outer corner of your eye in the shape of a horizontal 'V'.

If you prefer natural smokey eye makeup, you don't necessarily need a dark colour. As long as it is darker than your base shade, you're good to go.

Lakmē 9to5 Eyeconic Shadow Stack 'Golden Hour Goddess' is perfect as the pink base can be followed up with the slightly darker brown shade. And it has a golden shade to highlight the inner corner of your eye, all in one stack!

Then take a blending brush that is round and has soft bristles and blend the dark eyeshadow in! Use circular and outward motions for the outer corner and use a windshield wiper motion for the crease.

While smudging it all up, remember to move in the same direction. Keep going till you cannot make out where the dark eyeshadow ends and where the light shade begins.

The Lakmē Absolute Makeup Master Tools - Dual Ended Eyeshadow Brush makes blending easy. It is super soft and easy to control, making it one of the best smokey eye products. And the best part is that it has a flat brush on the other end, which you can use to apply your eyeshadow.

The liner for your eye makeup is the equivalent of a full stop to a sentence. Especially if it's light smokey eye makeup, or if you are going for a soft glam vibe, you'll need to draw on a liner with an eye pencil to frame your look.

The ethereal YouTuber Kali Ledger, who is known for her soft glam looks, says, "Stamp on [the eyeliner on] the inner corner, I am drawing the line out on my waterline. Just stamp everything on [your eyeline] ...With my finger, I'm going to follow my bone structure and just pull up [the liner]." If you think the eye pencil is too light for you, you can intensify it with a little bit of liquid liner on top.

With smokey eye makeup already being so OTT, you don't need false lashes. Instead, a coat of mascara can easily draw the right amount of attention to your eyes.

Get to batting your eyelashes and flaunting your hard work by generously coating them with Lakmē Lash Boost Extreme Mascara, which you can use for your daily eye makeup routine too.

It gives the illusion of falsies by darkening and lifting your lashes. Simply run the spoolie in a zig-zag manner from the root to the tip of your lashes.

BTW, you can easily tone down your smokey eye for that trending office siren look:

Okay, say you have the basics down, or you did before even coming across this article. But do you ever feel like your smokey eye makeup look is not 100%? Or just doesn't have that finesse you see from makeup influencers online? Well, we are going to spill all the secrets that will make you super proud of your makeup game!

1. If you feel brave enough, take a glittery light shade to highlight the inner corner of your eye and your brow bone. This gives that oomph factor and opens up your eyes if you go too heavy with the dark shade coverage.

2. For eyeliner, using a pen is so much easier. Since your fingers are near the tip, it is easier to keep your hand steady. This is exactly what the Lakmē Eyeconic Pro Brush Liner is for. It is super pigmented and shows up on even the most powdery eyeshadow.

3. Bridgerton's Season 2 star Charithra Chandran has the perfect trick to ace the outer corner, "Try to also kind of a give it a more feline-y shape; just take it out [with the dark shade]." She then adds a lighter gold shade and glitter to the inner corner of her eye for the perfect natural smokey eye makeup.

4. Keep a nude eyeshadow, eye pencil or a concealer in your shade handy to erase any mistakes. But always fix them at the end after you are happy with your look.

5. Consider your eye shape when applying a smokey eye makeup look. For example, if you have hooded eyes, you may want to extend the eyeshadow slightly above the crease to create the illusion of more lid space, while those with round eyes may focus on elongating the shape with darker colours on the outer corners.

6. There is no shame in extra help. Apply a thin strip of tape from the outer corner of your eye to the edges of your brows, so that you are in control of the smokiness. Keep it on even when you are applying eyeliner if you are interested in adding a wing.

When wearing dark smokey eye makeup, go for a lipstick that complements rather than competes with the intensity of your eyes. Nude shades, soft pinks or muted mauves balance out the drama of a smokey eye. Alternatively, you can go for a classic red lip for a bold and glamorous statement but keep the rest of your makeup minimal.

While traditional dark smokey eye makeup involves layering multiple shades, you can use just one colour as well. Choose an eyeshadow that builds the pigment, this will help in layering. Swipe one layer all over the lid. Then dip into the eyeshadow again and focus on the outer corner of your eye to darken the shade. Blend out the edges for that smokey effect.

You can use your fingertips to apply and blend eyeshadow for a softer look. But a brush gives you more control, especially when you're blending multiple shades. You will need a flat brush to apply the eyeshadow and a fluffy blending brush to blend.