Glowing Purple Smokey Eye

I wore this look earlier this week to a fashion show I worked on and got loads of compliments on it so I thought I'd show you guys how I did it! And try using this technique with different colours! I think it would look great in blue and green too!

1 Apply foundation all over and concealer on any area's of concern. Leave the area under the eye clean of concealer... we'll come back to this area later in the look.

2 Sweep your matte bronzer through the back of the cheeks, (concentrating on the hollow of the cheek to further contour) on the temples, and around the hairline. Apply blush on the apples of the cheek. A light/bright pink compliments the purple eyeshadow.

3 Pat eyeshadow primer all over the lid. It's important to use a primer with this look to not only ensure a long lasting, creaseless makeup, but also because colours like this (especially ones as pigmented as Makeup Forever matte shadows!) tend to stain the lid and adding a primer will prevent staining from happening.

4 Apply your dark purple shadow all over the lid from lashline to crease and blend the edges. Apply the same colour all the way along your lower lashline and around the inner corner of the eye.

5 Lightly blend your lighter purple shadow all around the edges of the darker purple. This will not only help blend the harsh edge of the lid colour (matte colours can be trickier to blend so take your time) but it also gives that glowy ethereal look to the eyes.

6 Highlight your brow bone with a matte skin toned shadow.

7 Line the upper and lower waterline with a black pencil... and if you're comfortable press the dark purple on top of the pencil liner in the water line. This will really lock in the liner. Place a little bit of the liner on the outside edge of the upper lashline and blend so it's soft and smokey.

8 Coat the upper and lower lashes with black mascara.

9 Now go in with your under eye concealer and clean up any shadow that may have fallen under the eyes. I always leave concealer until the end when I'm doing dark smokey eyes to clean up fallen shadow, shape my shadow lines, and make the area under the eye nice and bright!

10 Apply translucent setting powder through the t-zone and under the eyes.

11 Finish with a light pinky gloss!

I love this look! It's a simple way to make a bold statement and I love how the shadow looks like it glows! As I said in the instructions, matte shadows can be a lot harder to blend out, so take your time and have plenty of blending brushes on hand. Using the lighter purple and the matte highlight really help these shadows have a softer blended edge.

I had to wear all black at the show, so I matched my shadow to my nails! I think I'll be doing this a lot in the future. I love how matching nails and shadow look! My nail polish is OPI 'Funky Dunkey' from the Shrek collection. (You can click on any of the pictures to enlarge them).

Products Used:

Benefit Total Moisture Facial Cream

Nars Sheer Glow Foundation 'Santa Fe'

Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage 'SC-01'

Laura Mercier Translucent Powder

Anastasia Brow Powder 'Brunette'

Urban Decay Primer Potion

Makeup Forever Eyeshadow 'Lavender 9' (light matte purple)

Makeup Forever Eyeshadow 'Purple 92' (dark matte purple)

MAC Eyeshadow 'Brule' (matte highlight)

Urban Decay Eyeliner Pencil 'Zero' (black)

Laura Mercier Full Blown Mascara

Benefit Bronzer 'Hoola'

MAC Beauty Powder 'Oh So Fair'

Laura Mercier Lip Glace 'Baby Doll'

xo candice
www.candicegroen.com
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