The last of three looks using the Too Faced “Return of Sexy” Palette is The Bombshell. Of course, my brain instantly flashes images of Marilyn Monroe in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” where she is prancing around in bright red lips and platinum blonde hair singing “Diamond’s Are A Girls Best Friend.” Marilyn did wear smokey eyes in her time, though the eyeshadow was almost always matte, and it was a more subtle smokey eye. So many classic bombshell beauties back then rocked the smokey eye (hello Jayne Mansfield!) that it really became an iconic look. Like a little black dress, a smokey eye can take you through the night feeling confident and sexy, and it’s the new girls best friend (diamonds are nice though, too). To see how to get this look,
How To Achieve This Look:
- Apply the shade labeled “Inner Corner” to the inner corners of your eyelid up to the crease.
- Apply the shade labeled “Eyelid” on to the entire eyelid up to the crease. Pat the color on for intensity.
- Apply the shade labeled “Crease” to the crease area of your eye, blending the color out toward your brow-bone. This doesn’t have to be perfect yet, since we will blend it later, and you want to build the intensity up so that it is dramatic.
- Apply your “Brow-Bone” highlight and blend the crease area with this shade, as well. Use a blending brush to blend out just the edge of the dark grey crease shade.
- Apply the “Outer ‘V’” shade with a patting motion to the outer, sideways “V” shade your eyelid has. Use the brush to blend, blend, blend. Darken this up to your desired intensity.
Since to me a smokey eye means drama, drama, drama, I added black eyeliner to my lower water-line and tight-lined my upper lashes so that there were no gaps of flesh showing. I also added a black gel liner to my upper lash line and winged it out at the ends. I curled my lashes and applied tons of black mascara for effect. Some fun ways to mix this up would be to add glitter on top of your upper lash-line or lower lash-line or use a “pop of color” liner on top.
The Anatomy of a Smokey Eye:
You can literally choose any group of shades for a smokey eye that you want. The general anatomy of a smokey eye, though, never really changes. You always want to have the lightest shade on the inner corners of your eyes, where the light reflects, this way your eyes don’t look closed and small. Your eyelid should have a shade just as light-reflecting as your inner eye, but it may be slightly darker in shade. I chose a really bright, shimmering metallic silver for this look. Your outer “V” should always have the darkest shade on it, in this case, black, and it should be a gradient from the lightest shade to the darkest shade overall. I like to repeat the lightest to darkest shade gradient on the bottom lash line as well. When it comes to smokey eyes, this formula works every single time, no matter what brand or shades you are using. Just remember to blend, blend, blend!
The Finished Look:
**See swatches of the Too Faced Return of Sexy Palette**
**See Look #1, “The Ingenue”**
[ALL PHOTOGRAPHY ON THIS SITE IS TAKEN BY REBECCA KAZIMIR. NO PHOTOGRAPHS ARE TO BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION.]
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