Warm Brown Smokey Eye Tutorial

May 29, 2017

Warm Brown Smokey Eye Tutorial

One of the best things about smokey eyeshadow looks, and why they’re so popular, is because you can do it with almost any color range. Of course, the traditional smokey eye incorporates the grays and blacks and way back in the day, the blues were really popular. More recently, though, we’re seeing a lot of browns and purples. I’ve done tutorials on all of those previously, but have been playing around with more of the warm browns than the cool tones that I usually love. I’m not sure if it’s because the tans are coming back as the weather gets warmer or what it is, but I can’t get enough. I’ve never used many warm browns before, so this is a whole new world for me!

To prime the eyes, I’m using my current favorite Maybelline Color Tattoo Eye Chrome in the shade Beige Luster. I’ve also used the one I have in Gilded Rose and that works just as good. This will really help to hold onto the eyeshadows, guaranteeing that they won’t go anywhere all day long.

I never use a base shade with this primer, so we’re just gonna jump straight into the actual colors. I’m taking MAC’s Soft Brown on a Morphe MB23 brush and carelessly placing that all throughout my crease. This is a very light matte shade that provides the perfect amount of dimension that I’m looking for and because it’s so light, you don’t really have to worry about messing this part up.

Then switching to Makeup Geek’s Crème Brulee, I’m placing that basically directly on top of where we applied Soft Brown. I did use a slightly more dense Sephora Professionals blending brush to apply this. Instead of going all the way to the inner corner, I only brought the color about ¾ of the way through my crease and about half way on my eyelid. Make sure to blend with a clean brush afterwards to keep everything as seamless as possible.

Taking just the tiniest amount of Makeup Geek’s Cocoa Bear on an Elf Contour brush, I applied that to the very outer corner of my eye. I really wanted the focus to be on Crème Brulee, but we’re adding a little bit of this to create even more dimension and some depth on the outer part of the eye. This will also make the eyes appear bigger. Then go through one last time with a clean blending brush to keep things as perfect as possible.

Using a BH Cosmetics #105 Pencil brush from their Eye Essential Brush Set, I’m applying just a small amount of Crème Brulee under my lower lashes. This will help bring everything together and prevent the look from appearing too top heavy on the upper lid. I tend to go pretty light-handed with this step, but it’s totally up to you, your eye shape, and your preference.

Moving into the StudioMakeup On-the-Go Warm Up Eyeshadow Palette, I’m taking the lightest shimmery shade in the top left corner and applying that on the inner half of my eyelid. I like to apply it with my fingertip first to get the most pigmented application and then go back through to blend it out with my BH Cosmetics #103 Small Shader brush, which is also from the Eye Essential Set.

To brighten up the inner corner, I’m staying in that same palette and using the top middle matte cream shade on a small Sephora Professionals Smudge brush. I think this shade could be just a little brighter for my preference, but it’s still great. I already have my brow bone highlighted, but you could also use this shade there as well. Or even on one of the fluffy blending brushes if you happened to go too dark with the other crease colors.

For eyeliner, I’m using my favorite Hikari Cosmetics Retractable Eyeliner in the shade Raven and applying that halfway along both the upper and lower lashes. Relying on my best eyeliner hack, I’m taking the black eyeshadow from the StudioMakeup palette and placing that directly on top of the pencil eyeliner with an Ecotools angled eyeliner brush. This will ensure that the eyeliner stays in place all day.

As per my usual lash routine, we need about a billion coats of mascara and we should be good. I’m still using my travel size of Clinique’s High Impact mascara, which is just okay. But if fake lashes are your thing, you could totally do that too. Either way, no eyelook is complete without enhancing the lashes somehow.

Here’s a close up of the final look:

And a quick, more condensed guide recapping every step we just did for easy reference:

I’m not exactly sure what took me so long to start experimenting with more warm brown eyeshadows, but I really am enjoying myself right now. I think it was just that I was naturally more drawn to the cool tones and didn’t realize the potential of the warmer shades. I’ve also done this same look a lot recently, but toned it down when I wanted something more simple. Leaving out the darkest brown and the eyeliner creates a look that’s just as beautiful, but a little more softer for every day.

If you recreate this look or get inspired to create something similar, please tag me on social media. All of my links are at the bottom of the post and on the left sidebar. Also, leave me a comment below letting me know whether you prefer cool or warm-toned eyeshadows! What are some of your favorites?

~Mani Monday~

I had this color picked out since sometime last week. I saw it when I was walking past my nail polishes one day and realized I hadn’t worn Butter London’s Yummy Mummy since the first time I received it in one of my Boxycharms. It is a little bit more sheer than I remember it being, but I was able to build up the color enough after two coats. I like that it’s a natural nude shade while still having a little bit of color.