Four Colors, Two Eyes, Two Ways.

Are you ready, hive?

I come to you with an eye tutorial! Finally! I've been asked so many times to do an eye tutorial, and I'll be honest, I've been putting it off because it's so incredibly time consuming. Fortunately, I got a chance to put aside a nice chunk of time and figured it was the perfect opportunity to crank it out!

Here goes!

First, your tools:

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Urban Decay Primer Potion is the best eye primer I've used. There is seriously nothing out there that compares. Once you put it on, let it dry down, and then apply your shadow. It seriously will not crease, smudge, or budge. Get some.

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As far as eye shadow goes, there are a lot of well pigmented shadows in both department stores and drugstores. On the department store end, I prefer MAC, Stila, and Make Up Forever. At drugstores go for either Loreal HIP or Maybelline's Expert Wear Quads, they're surprisingly high quality and the colors are already paired for you! For this tutorial, I used Shroom, Girlie, Coquette, and Sketch, all by MAC.

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On to the brushes: Brush #1 is a concealer brush, which I use to blend in my eye primer. Not a necessity, but nice to have. Brushes #2 and #3 are must haves- #2 is for applying and blending and #3 is for applying shadow under the lash line. Brush #4 is an angled shadow brush, which you'll need to chisel the crease in Look One, and #5 is a flat shadow brush which you'll use to pat on the shadow in Look Two. Got that?

Alright, onto the fun stuff!

Look One:

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First, lay down your primer.

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Once your primer has set, apply a light shimmery shade (in this case Shroom) on the brow bone and the inner corner of the eye. This acts as a highlighter and opens your eyes and makes you look a little more awake and alert.

 

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Next, apply your base shade all over the lid as well as under the lash line (I used a dusty pink called Girlie), blending the edges into your highlight color. Applying shadow under the lower lashline (this is what brush #3 is for!) makes everything look a little more "finished". Just like you apply liner and mascara to the top and bottom, do the same with your shadow! 

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Next, take your darker shade (I'm using a medium brown called Coquette) and apply it to the outter half of your lid and lower lashline. Remember to always blend your edges into one and other.

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Now, swap out the fluffy brush (#2) you've been using for the angled shadow brush (#4). Take your darkest shadow (In this case, Sketch) and simply draw a line in your crease and the very outter edge of your lid. It doesn't have to be perfect because you're going to blend the crap out of it. (Don't forgot to put sketch on the bottom lash line as well!). Now blend, blend, blend, add some mascara and liner aaaand...

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Voila! This is the perfect look if you're going for some thing pretty and dimensional but still a little subdued. This is the method I used on our wedding day except with all brown shades, and it came out very naturally pretty.

Look Two:

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Do the same first steps as look one: primer, highlight shade (Shroom), then base shadow (Girlie).

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Now, this is where the method changes. Apply your darker shade (Coquette) all over the lid, staying slightly below your base shade. You want to blend them together, while still allowing the base shade to peek out on top of this layer.

 

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Again, swap out the fluffy brush (#2) you've been using, but this time pick up your flat shadow brush (#5). Apply your darkest shade (Sketch) slightly below your previous layer using a patting motion. You want this layer to be dark, so make sure to pat or else you will brush the pigment away. Gently blend the edges into one and other. You want a stacked gradient without any harsh edges. Add liner and mascara...

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And there you have it, Look Two! This is definitely the more intense, sexy smokey eye.

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L: Naturally contoured, R: Sexy and smokey

P.S. I promise I'm not pissed off... that's just how I look when I don't smile!

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There, that's better!

Got any great make-up tips for me?