smoky eyes

Smoky eyes make many a woman appear glamorous and sensual. This is a classic look that has been around for a long time, and will perhaps never go out of style. After all, who can forget Bridget Bardot's signature smoky eyes, the envy of so many? The smoky eye effect certainly heightens the beauty of almond shaped Bengali eyes, and it goes best with eveningwear such as a saree. If you've longed for the look but never quite knew how to go about creating it, fret no longer as we give you some basic tips:

First, apply a cream concealer over your eyelids to make a smooth base for your eye shadow. Now, to begin creating those smoky eyes: start with a light colour, and apply with a large shading brush all over the lid and a little under the eye. Next, use charcoal colour. Apply the charcoal from the lashes to the crease in the eye-lid, then use a black shadow with a firm bristle brush to apply your eyeliner (use a pencil-based eyeliner--preferably black or grey--instead of a liquid one) Make sure to apply your liner a little thicker towards the outside of the eye; also, smudge both your upper and lower lash lines with a cotton swab or an eyeliner brush. Last, take a large complexion brush to blend all the shades together, and finish it up with two coats of mascara.

Always use quality products that will blend in well, as the key to smoky eyes is a seamless, smooth blending of the eye shadows you've used. A low quality shadow for this look will only make your eyes look uneven and smudgy, far from your desired effect.

It is a hard look to create for some, and there is no one way to create it (the above is just one way, as you can also work with other shades of eye-shadows such as green, brown, grey and so on), and that is why it is always best to go to professionals.

By Rubaiyat Khan

The different kinds of smoky eye looks in these pictures have been done at La Belle by Sadia Moyeen.