A makeup tutorial is well overdue, sorry folks! They just take so blinking long…! I did this bronze smokey eye a few months ago for the first time and it’s been getting a good thrashing ever since. So, I figured I would do a tutorial on it so you can all share the love too. I’ve done this look on a few friends that have brown, green and blue eyes and it looks absolutely fabulous on everyone. I love this look as it’s relatively quick and straightforward to do, you only need two eyeshadow brushes and the overall combination of MAC’s Bronze Eyeshadow and Maybelline’s Colour Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze is stunning. Of course, you can use any bronze shade eyeshadow, and any taupe/bronze toned eyeshadow in place of the cream Maybelline Colour Tattoo – don’t feel you need to rush out and buy these specific products. Anyhow, this is a look that’s absolutely day appropriate, as well being glam enough for an evening event. Mac Bronze, by the way, is my Number One favourite eyeshadow, it’s stunning just on it’s own or used with other eyeshadows.
Products Used
1) Maybelline 24hr Eye Studio Colour Tattoo in ‘Bad to the Bronze’ (this is a cream eyeshadow)
2) A matt brown eyeshadow in a warm chocolate colour. I used Makeup Geek Cocoa Bear eyeshadow
3) A bronze eyeshadow. I used MAC Bronze eyeshadow
4) A matt cream coloured eyeshadow, the same colour as your skin tone. I used MAC Brule eyeshadow.
You also need a dark brown or black eyeliner, I used MAC Coffee Eye Pencil. For eyeshadow brushes I used a MAC 217 Blending Brush for both eyeshadow application and blending. I also used a MAC 219 Pencil Brush for applying eyeshadow along my lower lashline, this brush great as it’s both stiff but soft and therefore it does a stellar job of smudging out eyeliner and eyeshadow. Both of these brushes are Out-Of-This-World-Brilliant, by the way. You’ll also see I used a mix of matt and sparkly/frost eyeshadows, that was purposeful: Too much frost and your eyelid will look like a disco ball… On the other hand, if you use all matt eyeshadows, your eyes could look ‘flat’. Therefore: Mix up your eyeshadows and use both frosts and matts to create a lovely balanced eyeshadow look.
Here’s What To Do
Step 1: Using your finger apply Bad to the Bronze cream eyeshadow all over your eyelid. If you have slightly hooded eyelids like me, bring it up slightly past your eye crease/socket as this will create a shadow on the hood (and minimise the appearance of the hood!). Blend the edges of the cream eyeshadow with a soft fluffy brush, going backwards and forwards with the brush in a window wiper like motion to blend the edge. I used my MAC 217 brush for blending.
Step 2: Clean off that same soft fluffy brush on a tissue. Now apply a matt brown colour to your eye socket/crease (you will apply this on top of the top edge of the Bad to the Bronze) I used Makeup Geek’s Cocoa Bear eyeshadow for this look. Extend this matt brown colour up above your crease up about halfway towards your brow bone. Blend well, quite softly, going backwards and forwards in a window wiper like motion to blend away the edges again – Blending is always the key to flawless eyeshadow application!
Steps 3 & 4: Clean off that same soft fluffy brush again and now apply a medium bronze eyeshadow colour to the outer one-third of your eyelid, on top of Bad to the Bronze, extending it slightly into your outer eye crease. Repeat this step if you want a more intense look. Clean off your fluffy blending brush again on a tissue and blend the outer edge of this bronze shade so you don’t have any harsh lines. Using a small stiff eyeshadow brush (I used a Mac 219 brush) apply the bronze colour along your lower lashline, making sure it’s pushed into the roots of your eyelashes. Get your (clean) soft fluffy brush and blend this out. Apply a dark brown or black eyeliner along your upper lashline. Also apply this to the lower lash line, not all the way, just ¼ of the way in, on top of the bronze coloured eyeshadow (this way the eyeliner runs along the top of your upper lashline and then it connects with the lower lashline). I used MAC’s Coffee eyeliner. Curl your eyelashes (optional). Then apply oodles of mascara (at least two coats. Tip: If you curl your eyelashes a waterproof mascara will hold the curl a lot better than normal mascara…
Lastly, apply a cream coloured matt eyeshadow (i.e. one that is the same colour as your skin tone) just under your eyebrows. I used my finger to do this. This helps will help achieve a flawless look as well as help with any eyeshadow that isn’t perfectly blended. I used MAC’s eyeshadow in Brule – this is a matt colour and it’s the exact same shade as my eyelid skin colour.
Done!
Note: If you want to ramp this look up even more (for a slightly more glam evening look, simply add a waterproof dark brown or black eyeliner to the upper water line (e.g. the rim inside your upper lashline) and also line the lower water line.
Other products used (FYI)
- Garnier BB Cream (for oily/combo skin)
- Napoleon Perdis concealer
- MAC Blot Powder in Medium/Dark
- Benefit Hoola Bronzer
- NARS Orgasm Blush (I need to invest in some proper photography lighting, you can’t even tell I’m wearing blush in the photos!)
- Milani Brow Fix Kit (see my review here)
- Maybelline Lipstick (Make Me Pink) with Revlon Colourburst Lacquer Balm in the colour Demure over the top of Make Me Pink (my favourite combo at the moment!)
So, who is going to give this a go? Or better still, who has tried it? Do let me know, I absolutely love hearing from you 🙂
Do you follow me on Facebook? Come and join in the fun: http://www.facebook.com/thebeautyfoodie – I’d love to see you there 🙂
