Monday Makeover: The Perfect Smokey Eye *Guest Blogger*

Hi Everyone

I feel very privileged to be writing a Monday Makeover post for Who’s that girl?, my new favourite blog!

Chelsea and Naomi know I am addicted to all things beauty, so I thought I’d share some tips on how to achieve a look that is universally flattering - The Smokey Eye. Toned down, this look can be wore on a daily basis (as I do!), or you can amp it up for a night out.

1. Before you start - apply a primer. Lots of brands do eye shadow bases, but my favourite one is Urban Decay’s Primer Potion – this stuff is magic! Without it my eye shadow turns into a creased mess, but if I put a small amount of this on my lids before my shadow, hours later it still looks freshly applied!

2. Choose around three eye shadows that complement each other.  So say you’re doing a brown smokey eye - a champagne colour, medium brown and darker brown are a great combination! It’s always good to have a palette to use – an amazing one (another Urban Decay product!) is the Naked Palette. It has 12 beautiful colours that are all highly pigmented, so you can try so many looks with just one product!

1. Start with the lightest colour of your three and apply it all over your lid with a flat brush. 
2. Then take the medium eye shadow and sweep this into the crease of your eye using a round shadow brush.
3. Finally take the dark colour, which could be a deep brown or even black, and using the same round brush push this colour into the outer third of the eye, using small circular motions.

Pictured adapted from Benefit

3. Always blend! Once you’ve applied your eye shadow, take a clean fluffy brush and buff around the edges. This is an essential step, as it really achieves the smokey look and makes your make-up look more seamless and natural.

4. Apply the darkest shadow underneath your eye. Take a small brush with the deepest colour you have used and run it underneath your lower lash line. This again adds to the smokey effect, but be careful not to go too far down under your eye – you may enter panda territory!

5. Another trick a lot of celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Blake Lively use is to apply a light, shimmery shade just on the inner tear duct area of your eye. It really opens your eye and makes them look bigger!

6. And finally, always finish your look with some liner and lots of mascara! You could use whatever eyeliner you prefer – gel, liquid, pencil, but the combo I often use is Urban Decay 24/7 Black Liquid Liner on the upper lash line and MAC Teddy kohl liner on the bottom. Then of course curl your lashes and apply a volumising mascara top and bottom; my new fave is Maybelline The Falsies (from Naomi’s Mascara Dating Monday Makeover post!) and you are done!

So that’s it for the smokey eye! I hope I’ve provided some good tips you may not have tried before and thanks for reading!

Katie x



Ps. I have included links for Debenhams as Urban Decay is 10% off there at the moment.

Monday Makeover: Mascara Dating

Hey guys

It’s the first Monday Makeover and what better way to start than with a make-up bag staple and item most frequently reported as the answer to the “if you could only use one item of makeup what would it be?” question*.  Ladies and gentleman (gentleman, stop reading now) I give you mascara AND it’s lover: eyelash primer  (two products in one Monday Makeover, Who's that girl? is spoiling you today).

*I may have made that up, but I’m convinced it would be up there on the list.

As a girl with short lashes I have given a lot of effort to finding a mascara that ticks all the boxes: volume, extension, curl, not clumpy - you know the deal.  I don’t mean to brag, but I have tried many many different brands from $$$$ to $$ to $.  I love that moment when you think you’ve found *the one* but a couple of weeks later you become dissatisfied and anxiously wonder: "is there a better one out there?" (Much like dating a romantic partner perhaps) …And the hunt continues with highs and lows (i.e. Benefit BAD Gal)

Well I’m currently floating on a mascara high and must share this with the rest of you – hopefully this will pick those of you in a lash-depressed state up and into a lashfull** euphoria.  

Lashfull euphoria in pictures:

Maybelline Falsies and Clinique Primer. The dating is over... two become one! A love story that makes  Who's that girl?'s heart sing. 

Yes, I know two products might seem like a cheat, but does that really matter if the result is the lashes you’ve always dreamed of?

Clinique Lash Building Primer (£11)
This acts as a first coat to thicken and lengthen lashes. It also conditions and protects lashes (an added bonus!).  Apply liberally and really work those lashes and you will notice the volume and extension before your very eyes (quite literally).  Soon after purchasing the primer I forgot to apply it to one eye (it was not yet cemented in my makeup routine) and the difference was hugely noticeable!

Maybelline Falsies Volum' Express (£7.99 - but often involved in an offer at Boots or Superdrug)

This mascara has a unique spoon shaped brush which shapes the eyelash covering corner to corner and lengthening and curling them to the heavens!  Even before the primer romance this mascara was high up on my list of top mascaras.  It is clump-free and lengthens, volumises, intensifies and curls like never before!  

Application tips: 

• Apply the primer immediately followed by the mascara (obvs - no one wants white lashes!)
• Apply one eye at a time or the primer dries and it’s harder to work with!
• Do you guys know the blink trick? Whilst applying the primer and the mascara – hold the wand to your eyelash and blink quickly and repeatedly – this works wonders on the old length factor!
• Apply Falsies with the spoon side upwards and repeat until you've got those show-stopping lashes!
• Makeup faux pas: Forget curling before - I finish off with an eyelash curler!

That’s all guys! I would love to hear your reviews on this combo – so drop me a comment once you’ve tried and tested!  

Lots of lashfull love,

Naomi

**NB: LASHFULL [lash-fuhl] adj. to be full of lashes (obvs!)

P.S. Come back tomorrow for Tuesday Shoesday where Who's that girl? will be blogging on a pair of wedges that you will want to get your hands on!