This is for a friend of mine. I wanted to make it more of a tutorial but it didn't work out as well as planned so for now, this is more of a checklist and review of products needed to get a smokey eye look without paying a fortune since I know my friend would never spend a ton of money on make up. You will only need three products and a couple of make up brushes.
My first suggestion is to pick out an eye shadow palette. There are lots of high end and drugstore options, but for the pictures you will see in this post, I used a Michael Giordano Colors palette. I got it for 99 cents at Walgreen's and for fifteen shades with enough pigment to get a smokey eye look, it is probably the best deal around.
To get the smokey eye look. You will begin with one of the lightest shades. I prefer one that closely matches your natural skin tone. You will put this shade all over your lid and up to your brow line then you will pick the second darkest shade and put it all over your lid up to eyelid crease (usually a brown or grey), followed by the darkest shade on the outer part of the lid and eye crease (usually a matte dark brown or black) and last use the second lightest shade to highlight your inner lid (usually something with shimmer).
The second product I would recommend is a gel liner. One of the best is also the cheapest and that is Wet N Wilds Black Gel Liner. I believe it costs $1.99-2.99. It is currently kind of hard to find because of Fergie's new line. You want the original Wet N Wild gel liner, not the limited edition Fergie kind.
When applying the eye liner you can use an eyeliner brush to get liner close to lashes for a fuller look. I line completely around my eye.
The last product you need to finish the look is a Maybelline mascara; whichever you like will probably work, because Maybelline makes awesome mascara. But, for this look, I used Maybelline Express Falsies Blackest Black mascara. My favorite is Maybelline Express Turbo Volume in Blackest Black. Most Maybelline mascaras cost between $5-$7 and coupons are usually easy to find to get them even cheaper.
When applying the mascara lift lashes and try to apply to all lashes, let dry and apply another layer.
Lastly, if you want to ensure your eye shadows are dark and stay put, you can go over the $10 budget and buy an eye primer. For this, I would recommend the limited edition Fergie eye primer called Take on the Day Eyeshadow primer, which you apply all over eye lid up to brow and even under the eye before following the above mentioned steps.
And that's it. I didn't even use expensive brushes. I used a couple that I bought at the Dollar Store for $1 each. Once you get the hang of it, you can accomplish this look in ten minutes or less.
