Mickey Contractor's Step-by-Step Smoky Eye Tutorial

Face

Mickey stresses on moisturizing the skin lavishly with M.A.C Studio Moisture Fix. “Start with lots, you can remove the excess with tissue later,” he says. Go easy on the oily parts of the face. Apply more around the jaw to prevent blotchy make-up. Let it soak in, it makes blending easier. Dot the T-zone with M.A.C Select Cover-Up and then blend all over. Then mattify it down with M.A.C Select Sheer/Loose Powder. The concealer from the T-zone spreads evenly as base to the rest of the face at this stage. It is best to blend the powder with a brush with light, even strokes; excess powder can be buffed away. Use the powder that is the same color as your foundation. Don’t forget the neck. If needed, use more powder on the neck to bring an even tone. To compliment the smoky eyes mix M.A.C Gingerly Powder Blush and M.A.C Mocha Powder Blush and brush it on the cheeks, finish lightly on your chin and forehead as well. Also touch it over your hairline to get rid of any residual powder. You don’t need 20 colors, buy four or five like peach, pink and brown, mix and match from there. Cream blush is best dabbed with fingers, don’t forget to matte it out with some powder.

Eyes

On the eyelids, Mickey uses M.A.C Creme Colour Base in Shell and then brushes some powder over it to bring it to the same texture as the rest of the face. He then uses M.A.C Blacktrack Fluidline, and smudges it a bit. He then applies M.A.C Folie Eye Shadow, a brown matte, and blends well, leaving no sharp lines. He then outlines the eye (top and bottom lid) from the inside with M.A.C Blacktrack Fluidline for a black kohl effect. M.A.C Folie Eye Shadow is again applied with M.A.C 219 Pencil Brush under the lower eyelids to elongate the eyes. He then takes M.A.C Carbon Eye Shadow on a slant brush and blends over M.A.C Folie Eye Shadow on the lower lash line. Curl your lashes and apply a mixture of M.A.C Fibre Rich Mascara and M.A.C Plush Lash Mascara for a false eyelash effect. Then use M.A.C Brown Down Eye Shadow with the 266 Small Angle Brush and go over the eyebrows. A second coat of mascara and this finishes the smoky eyes. The Creme Colour Base acts as an eye shadow base. The shadow won't move and neither will it crease. If make-up smudges, clean it up with a wet Q-tip. An eyelash curler is essential. “Actresses always carry one in their bag!” Hold your lashes in an eyelash curler. Count till 20.

Lips

Use M.A.C Spice Lip Pencil to outline and fill in the lips with M.A.C Viva Glam 5 Lipstick, and top it off with M.A.C Viva Glam 5 Lipglass. Don’t sharpen the lip liner too much. Always round the tip off. Dual tone lips need to be filled with lip liner. Filled-in lips makes the lip color stay on long.

Tips and Trends

• Play down lips with smoky eyes.
• Stained lips are the ‘it’ look of the moment.
• Puffy eyes can’t be covered with make-up. Just hold your chin up to make sure it doesn’t show!
• Keep your make-up fresh for long by avoiding the sun. M.A.C Fix + is water for the skin, it makes the skin look instantly fresh.
• Treat problematic skin. Make-up is not the remedy.
• Since it is not possible for any brand to make 600 shades of foundation, buy the shades closest to your skin tone and mix. Do a patch test around the jaw line and step out in natural light before you decide to buy.
• M.A.C Studio Fix is the best make-up for ladies on the go.
• There are no make-up rules. Make your own trends!
• Blending is super important. The trick is not to show where it begins and ends.
• Invest in four or five good brushes. They will last a lifetime. Mickey adds, "Now is the time to get those M.A.C Holiday Brush Sets! It's a great way to start collecting brushes"
• Natural light is the best for applying make-up. At night, yellow lights work, tube lights don’t.