Sultry and super-sexy, smoky eyes is one of the most popular evening looks and the one I am most often asked how to do. Depending on your mood, you can tone it down for a more wearable, sophisticated version, or max out the kohl to make it more edgy and rocker-chick. Don’t feel limited to a palette of charcoal and gray – chocolate browns, deep berries, midnight blues, and metallic gunmetal and silver can all work extremely well.

1. Prep the eyelids with a neutral base of foundation or concealer set with a light dusting of translucent powder. Starting at the outer corner of the upper lash line, push the tip of a black eyeliner pencil between the roots of the lashes.
2. Work all the way along the upper lash line, building up color intensity between and around the lashes. This gives depth of color and makes the lashes look thicker.
3. Using a small, pointed natural-hair brush, blend dark gray eyeshadow along the upper lash line, smudging the pencil and blending it all together.
4. Using a synthetic brush, apply silvery gray cream eyeshadow above the eyeliner, blending it up to the socket crease. This creates a creamy base for the powder eyeshadow to adhere to and intensifies the effect.
5. Using a natural-hair brush, blend a little more dark gray powder eyeshadow over the lower part of the lid, blending it from the lash line upward and outward, and blurring the colors together.
6. Apply black eyeliner pencil all the way around the inside of the upper lid and along the edge of the lower lid at the roots of the lashes. Finish with lashings of mascara to define the eyes.