The Makeup Box

[Requested] Simple Glamour: Smoky Brown Evening/Prom Eye (a la Bruno Mars “Just The Way You Are” Music Video)

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Perfect opportunity for me to combine 2 requests; one for a dark brown prom-makeup done using the 88 Matte Palette (the Warm palette has the same shades needed), and one for the smoky eye look worn by the gorgeous model in Bruno Mars’ Just The Way You Are video.

Dissecting the Look

The lighting in the video is extremely orange/yellow and the moving images aren’t crisp and clear (you can click on the images for a closer look at my screen grabs). From what I can tell, she is wearing:

• a matte chocolate brown smoky eye
• an eyeshadow shape that wings straight out, and emphasizes the outer halves of her socket line
• very defined and thick black liner but it’s not a very hard and precise line (i.e. does not look like liquid liner)
• full false lashes that are a “rounded” shape, longer in the center instead of at the outsides

It’s a very straightforward and flattering look as long as you can get the shadow shape correct, and it doesn’t matter if you have mono-lids, hooded eyes or double lids; blue, green brown, hazel or grey eyes. But in real life, it probably works better for an evening out clubbing or at the prom than to school.

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Forest: Matte Teal and Metallic Pink-Bronze Cat Eye

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Dark matte teal isn’t a shade that I normally reach for, because green is a pretty dramatic color in many cases. To keep it from looking to flat and heavy, I’m contrasting it with a luminous bronze. MAC Pink Bronze, like its name implies, has an iridescent coral-pink sheen which stands out very well against a deep aqua-green like Revlon Matte Shadow in Tempting Teal.

I paired it with rather dramatic black gel liner so it’s not the typical smokey eye.

Step 1: Apply a dark black-toned base to the lid. This will keep the green very intense and deep.

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Step 2: Apply the deep teal green to the outer halves of lids, keep the inner corners bare. With a soft blending brush, gently spread the color inward along the socket line, and then outwards into a wing.

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Step 3: With the pink bronze pigment (you can use any metallic bronze or copper as well) pack the brighter color onto the inner halves of lids, overlapping the green that you spread inwards along the socket line.

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Step 4: Now the eye lids are done, apply a black gel liner thickly along the upper and lower lash lines, ending in a long, thick flick at the outer corners. The flick should be a straight, upward extension of the lower line.

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Step 5: Apply black mascara to finish.

The “Caroline Flack”: Hooded Winged-Eye

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Caroline has hooded eyes, where the lid folds over very low and hides the crease, so she looks almost like she has a mono-lid. There are many other women with a similar eye shape (including Blake Lively), and while it does give a slightly exotic look, many people find it hard to apply shadows.

On Caroline, the highest point of the shadow is not in the center or at the outer corners (typical of most other smoky looks). Instead, her makeup artist has placed the highest point near the start of the brows and then diagonally down and out into an elongated wing. When done right, this shape exaggerates that “squint” that hooded eyes have, and gives a slightly grungy rock star feel.

I don’t have that eye shape to show you very clearly, but I’ll give you a run-down and hopefully it helps some of you! (This look definitely can be worn even if you don’t have a hooded eye.)

You will need:

• 1 overall lid shadow in a medium-deep shade. Caroline favors rich sable browns and dark smoky greys.
• 1 very soft and smudgy black pencil or liner. You can definitely use gel/pot liner for this as well.
• 1 matte charcoal (if you’re using grey) or espresso-brown shadow (if you are using brown).
• Black or dark brown mascara.

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Step 1: I’m using a single soft blending brush for the whole look. Lay down the main lid color ONLY WITHIN the crease. Don’t blend or smoke out yet. (I’m using MAC Sable.)

Then now, you begin to blend and expand the shape at the inner corners and outer corners in the directions shown above. As always don’t be too heavy-handed at the start. Build up the color very slowly.

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Step 2: Using a darker cocoa brown in a matte texture (Revlon Matte Eye Shadow in 009 Rich Sable), I just emphasized the outer corners more, making sure to blend out into the wing.

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Step 3: Using a very soft and rich black kohl pencil, apply black liberally to upper and lower lash lines, going over the waterline twice to make sure it’s really black. I finished by dipping a Q-tip into the brown shadow used earlier, and then smudging out the edges of the liner to finish. (See dotted line above). Be careful to only smudge BELOW the pencil along the lower lash line. You want to still keep the black very dark and intense there.

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Step 4: Very important. I dabbed a bit of concealer on the peaks of the brow bone and below the outer corners of my eyes, then blended outwards in the direction shown ahove. This cleans up the area and emphasizes that wing shape.

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Step 5: To finish, apply mascara generously to the lashes, pulling up and out at the outer corners. Caroline always has heaps of black mascara on. If you prefer, you can apply false lashes, but make sure to choose ones that are longer at the outer corners.

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The finished look: the skin below the brow bone should be clean. The wing should stay low and stretch straight out, not up. You can also afford to use a lot more black along the upper lash line than I did, just to emphasize that mono-lid effect.