hey all! a post tonight on an obsession/phobia i've cured once and for all...the simple smoky eye! this is a look i've coveted since i was about 10 years old when i hurriedly paged, wide-eyed and breathless, through Sassy magazine (which i loved and MISS so much, oh why can't Sassy please come back?!). however, i was born with a cruel affliction known to the general public as BLONDE EYELASHES! eeeeeek! if you're familiar with this curse or suffer from it yourself, you know you look like hermit crab without mascara and that it is virtually IMPOSSIBLE to wear black eyeliner because you can always see your blonde lash roots peeking forth and it completely ruins the look! try
and try again as you might, you'll never conquer this annoying lash-root-visibility until you have the proper tools...1. a flat, STIFF, eyeliner brush! my personal favorite (pictured here, the Japonesque Travel Sized Flat Eyeliner Brush, around $8) is the most IMPORTANT tool i can urge you to purchase for this mission, ladies! sometimes referred to as a 'push' brush, this badboy will take those blonde eyelashes and make them wish they were born dark! the way you'll use this wonderful little brush is by taking some dark pigment (such as powder, cake, pencil or gel eyeliner) and actually 'pushing' it into your lashline, right between your eyelash roots. this masks fair eyelash roots and makes your lashline blend into your eyeliner line just like it's supposed to! also i should mention along with this first tool is how essential an eyelash curler is to helping this look come together. if you curl your lashes sky-high before you attempt to use the push brush, it will help to open up the area and give you easy access to those between-the-lashes spots. next up in order of essentialness...
2. your choice of black eyeliner! i come from the 'black is best' side of the fence, whether it comes to mascara or eyeliner, i feel that EVERYONE looks best in black. that's not to say that you might not want to rock a rich brown or shimmery purple (as i sometimes do, also) but since we're discussing the simple smoky eye, i figure we'll stick with basic black. my pick for eyeliner for this task is MAC's Fluidline in Blacktrack, $15. this, my friends, is perfection and LIFESAVER in a pot! Blacktrack is a soft gel eyeliner with the blackest black pigment and the BEST staying power, EVER! it applies smoothly and evenly in the first stroke of your brush, no retracing needed, and the economically priced pot will last you AGES. what i like to do when going for the simple smoky eye is first trace a line of this on my top lashline with MAC's 209 Eyeliner Brush, $17, and after letting it dry for a minute or so, i curl my lashes and then whip out my handy Japonesque push brush and get to darkening those lash roots! i do this by gently tapping the tips of the bristles into the Blacktrack and then wiggling them into my lashline. easy as 1,2,3 and works like a charm!
3. personalize your look! this is where you get to flex your creative muscles. you can add some black eyeliner to your bottom lashline and waterline or just go for the dark look on your top eyelid. you can smudge or leave your lines sharp! for a softer looking, pencil eyeliner for your bottom lashline, i am LOVING Rimmel's Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil in Jet Black, $3.19 (at Drugstore.com), which is so soft and sooty and black! it goes on without a bit of tugging and lasts fairly well for a pencil so soft and smudge-able. i wore this the other night on my bottom waterline and it did need a few touch-ups but for the look it gives you at the cut-rate price it comes at, no problem for me! when i'm doing a smoky eye, i like my lashes to be as over the top as i can get them, and Too Faced Lash Injection Mascara, $19.50, is my personal FAVORITE PICK for ultra lush volume and length. this mascara, another in the tube variety like Imju's Fiberwig, gives you amazing volume, holds a curl like CEMENT and never flakes or smudges. this is the mascara you will want to use for your best look at me lashes!well i hope i've helped just one of the lash challenged girls who i used to belong to. rock your smoky eyes with all the gusto you can muster up, ladies! it doesn't have to be hard, as long as you get the basic elements of the look down pat, you can run with it! meow!
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