THE ONE MINUTE SMOKEY EYE

I do a lot of smokey eyes at work. I love doing it, but what I constantly hear from clients is that “the smokey eye” is too challenging of a look from them to achieve on their own. It's completely understandable because when you look at the artistry being produced on Instagram, it's intimidating as heck. I'm super intimidated and I do this stuff every day. But a smokey eye doesn't have to be a challenge. It doesn't have to be twenty different shadows and ten different blending brushes (don't get me wrong, I love that stuff too). It can be as simple as two products and one brush. That's what I'm going to show you guys today – a super simple one minute smokey eye.

If you want to want to make an impact in one fell swoop there's only one way to go, cream shadow. I find stick formulas tend to be the best, as you can easily pack on a lot of colour. Loads of brands do them, such as Rimmel, Milani, Bourjois, By Terry, NARS, Laura Mercier, Bobbi Brown and Kiko (my personal favourite, as they're so long wearing). What you're looking for in your cream shadow is a tone with some depth and dimension. Sparkly shades will look more glamourous and they're much easier to blend than matte shadows. I'm using the Kiko Shadow in Rosy Brown today, which is a stunning shade that almost looks like multiple different shadows layered on top of one another. Once you've picked out your shadow, you can do your smokey eye in three simple steps:

1. Swipe your cream shadow all over your lid and up to your crease. Before it sets blend out the crease with a dense, synthetic brush. The Real Techniques Domed Shadow Brush is perfect for this.

2. Take that same shadow under the eye. Don't be afraid to go quite low as this is what gives it a sultry look. Again, blend that out with the same brush. Instantly you've got a beautiful, smokey haze around your eyes. You could leave it here if you wanted a lighter look. However, one last step will transition the look into an eye catcher.

3. Grab an intense black liner (I find that the Marc Jacobs Highliner in Blacquer or the Stila Kajal in Onyx work best) and fill in your lower water line. Take your brush one last time and run it up against the roots of your lashes. That will soften the liner, giving it a smokier effect.

After that, all you have to do is pop on some mascara. It's honestly the quickest, easiest eye possible and it looks like you put in way more effort than you did.