05.15.2014

Urban Decay Naked 2: The Smokey Eye for Dummies.

A typical Saturday night in my apartment consists of:

5:00 pm- Jump in the shower
6:30 pm- The girls show up
6:31 pm- Start pouring drinks
6:45 pm- Start doing the hair whom ever calls first
9:00 pm- Finish all the girls' hair
9:01 pm- Start on everyone's make up.
10:00 pm- Finish makeup (feeling accomplished and a little drunk at this time)
10:01 pm- Drunkenly attempt to do my own hair and makeup (end up looking like crap)
10:30 pm- Everyone yelling at me to hurry my ass up and get out the door (even though I just devoted hours of MY time to them)
10:35 pm- Out the door and in a cab (on a good night)

So I was thinking, I could save myself A LOT of time by teaching them all how to do their own makeup!  This opens up more time to devote to myself :) as well as mix another drink or two.  Plus, Heather has been begging me to give her a step by step tutorial on how to use my Naked pallet.  So here we go- a literal step by step (pictures included) of a brown smokey eye using my Naked 2 pallet, my bdellium tools 777 make-up brushes, my AMAZING Mary Kay gel liner, and Clinique mascara.

I typically start by taking the light color, Tease, and cover the entire lid, crease, and upper portion of the eye.  This light color is good for an everyday eye if you want to wear it alone.  Or, if applied heavily it can achieve the smokey look by itself.  This is one of the most commonly used and versatile colors in my Naked pallet.

The next color I chose is called YDK. It looks relatively dark in the pallet, but when you put it over Tease it gives you a shimmery brown look.  You have to apply it pretty thick to darken the eye, or again just put it on by itself for a light shimmery brown eye.  The picture on the right is my #1 FAVORITE beauty secret.  Just take tape (any type) and apply it at an upward angle on the eye.  This eliminates quite a bit of clean up in the end (when using pigmented colors) and gives a perfect cat eye appearance.

The next color is the darkest and last color I used for this smokey eye-- Busted.  I thought it was better for my first tutorial to keep it simple and only use 3 basic colors.  Since we applied tape as a barrier, you can apply as much or as little of the dark color as you want.  I tend to go over board and put on multiple layers of this shade.  It's also important to really blend this color, failure to do so may give less than desirable results.  Once you have applied Busted to your liking, it's important to take a CLEAN brush and lightly blend the entire eye.  I usually take a light color (in this case Bootycall) and clean up the eye.  I apply it right below the brow, on the inner corners of the eyes, and on the edges near the winged shadow.

The last (but definitely not least) step is my personal favorite, the eyeliner.  I recently broke down and bought Mary Kay black gel eye liner for $18 after some serious debate.  This is one of the BEST investments you can make if you are  obsessive about your eye liner, like myself.  It takes quite a bit of practice to get the the perfect winged eye liner down.  And since I've been doing it almost every day for a few years now my friends tend to ask me for help.  All I can say about winged eye liner is practice, practice, practice.  And there you have it; a complete step by step look using the Naked 2 pallet or what I have decided to call 'The Smokey Eye for Dummies'!

Here is a quick look at the colors that I talked about within the blog.  Above is YDK and Busted.  Below is Bootycall and Tease.

I will brag and brag all day about these AMAZING bdellium tools 777 brushes ($16 on amazon).  I recommend them to anyone who wants to attempt a smokey eye.  Don't believe me?  Ask Heather! She bought them and admitted they are life changing.  Also the Mary Kay black gel liner may look small, but you only use a little bit at a time so this bad boy will last me about a year-- (and I use it DAILY).