Hello there! Today’s belated TGIF tip-tutorial comes to you after having had enjoyed a beautiful vacation in sunny Los Angeles. I was so consumed by the warmth and sunshine that I forgot to post a tip on Friday… or do much makeup at all. For that reason, I want to share with you my staple going-out look for vacation. It’s a simple 4-step smokey eye great for if you’re in a rush and don’t want to spend too much time fussing with your makeup. And,  like me, if you want to travel light and are tight on space in your makeup bag. I actually also did this look today, after taking a red-eye and going straight to work.  Although the look consists of only 4 products, don’t think that it’s short on impact! What you’ll need are eye shadow primer, black water-resistant eyeliner, a densely bristled eye shadow brush, and mascara.

clockwise from top center: Urban Decay primer potion in Sin, Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in Zero, ELF blending brush, Lancome Hypnose Doll Eyes mascara,

Go ahead and follow these steps:

1. Prime your lid with eyeshadow primer. I used Urban Decay primer potion in Sin. 
2. On one eye, draw a thick chunky line along your lash line. It doesn’t need to be neat or even at all. Depending on how dramatic you want the look to be, make the line more or less opaque. I used Urban Decay’s 24/7 pencil in Zero.
   

   Step 2

3. Smudge this messy line using your brush, with a back and forth motion going side to side and back. Try to pull the line up the lid a bit, to increase the ‘smokiness’. Once that is done, repeat steps 2&3 on the other eye.
   

   Step 3 – line all smudged

4. Finish with mascara and enjoy your smoky new look!
   

   Step 4 – mascara applied et voila!

Some tips:

• don’t skip the eyeshadow primer! eyeliner is such a creamy product, if you skip the primer then it will end up creasing up on your lid!
• although any dark colored pencil will work, a water-resistant one is ideal because it is more likely to stay put.
• do ONE EYE at a time! water-resistant pencils dry down in less than 30 seconds. if you pencil both eyes, by the time you’ve smudged out the first one, the second one will not budge no matter how hard you try to smudge it with your brush (ouch. i speak from experience)
• note that one of the 4 products needed for this look is a tightly-bristled brush, not a q-tip! sure, it can be used in a pinch.. but q-tips end up removing so much of the makeup that you’ll find yourself having to waste time going in with more pencil and then smudging again… and then more pencil and smudging again… you get the idea

Let me know if you try this and how it works out!