Smoky and sultry suits everyone

Nov 15 2007 by Laura Davis, Liverpool Daily Post

SULTRY and alluring, the smoky eye look is one that’s turned a thousand heads and broken as many hearts.

It’s also timeless – think Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Debbie Harry in Blondie, or Keira Knightley on the red carpet.

It suits every eye and face shape, and can be as subtle or as bold as you like depending on the occasion.

But, while professional make-up artists make it seem easy, there’s a delicate balance between sexy dark eyes and looking like you’re doing an impression of a panda.

In the interests of every girl who’s ever tried this look at home and failed miserably, I placed my face in the capable hands of James Molloy, senior artist at MAC.

To begin, he evened out my skin with Studio Tech Foundation applied with a 109 brush for more even coverage.

“It’s great for puffing in foundation, especially if your skin is slightly dry or porous,” he explained.

Then he started on my eye lids, using Copperplate matt shadow that he blended around the eye with a 217 brush to provide a base for the smoky eye.

Next he used the Blackground Paint Pot, a long wearing cream in gun metal grey, which he blended over the lid to give depth.

To finish the look, James pressed Carbon shadow into my lash line as a liner using an angled brush. A handy trick, he pointed out, for women who struggle to apply traditional eyeliner.

He brushed my brows with a brown wax to create a more manicured look and used contoured Harmony blusher and a light dusting of Pink Swoon to emphasise my cheek bones.

“Relax your face when you apply blusher,” he advised. “People tend to smile when they put it on but you don’t usually smile when you’re walking along so it looks more natural this way.”

Finally, he applied Ample Pink lip gloss.

The effect was dramatic, but not too over-the-top. The real test will be whether I can recreate the look myself next time I’m planning a big night out.

* TO SEE James Molloy create Laura’s smoky eye look, view the video at www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/stylecity later today.