Smokey Eye Tutorial

By Ronnie Nickols

Empowered Woman, Artist, & Makeup Lover

“Next time you think of something beautiful, don’t forget to include yourself.”

When people think of teenage girls, they think of youth, immaturity, promiscuity and at times, a lack of poise. These stereotypes have perpetuated a cycle for young girls to feel the need to be superficial and to dress or look a certain way, to be sexy or to be thin. I, personally now know that I don’t have to fit into those stereotypes.My journey into makeup began at the age of twelve, I started wearing makeup to attract boys and to fit into the stereotypes, as I was insecure about my appearance. But, over the years I’ve realized that the boys didn’t care about how much mascara I was wearing, or how even my eyeliner was, and that was when I realized that I had stopped doing it for them and I did it because I enjoyed the process. I started really getting into the whole makeup lifestyle about 2 years ago, constantly watching tutorials and buying new products to learn and progress as an artist. And ever since then I’ve constantly practiced and have fallen head over heels with the craft of cosmetology.Recently I’ve been more into using makeup to “enhance” rather than to cover or transform. I believe that all women are beautiful and I like using different cosmetics to invoke that sense of pride in someone’s appearance. I really like the trends of bolder, more naturally shaped eyebrows, super glossy lips, and highlighter. But, on the opposite hand, I see makeup as a form of art and I love experimenting with bold shadows, (my current favorite color combination is a deep orange with a navy blue lid) and all different types of lipsticks. My favorite look to this day is a lavender and dark purple cut crease look which was inspired by some old vintage neon signs I saw in an antique store in downtown LA.I’ve been stepping out of my comfort zone more lately, and branching out to doing other people’s makeup instead of just my own. I’ve found that with all forms of makeup that less is more, as it’s a lot easier to add rather than to take away. My standard look for others and myself starts with skin preparation, I like to start with cleaning the skin with micellar water and following with an oil-free hydrator. After that I prime the face, and my go-two primers have been the Laura Mercier hydrating primer and the Guerlain l’or face primer. When the priming process is done, I work on the brows, starting with a tinted brow gel, and possibly a pencil or powder to fill in any gaps in the brow. After that I prime and set her eyelids and usually go in with a neutral tone shadow in the crease, deepening it towards the outer corner and connecting it with the outer part of the lid, creating a defined crease. After, I apply a lighter or more shimmery shadow to the inner and mid part of the lid to open and brighten the eye. If I don’t need to deepen the outer corner I then move to highlighting the eye which is done with a highlighter or shadow on the brow-bone and inner corner of the eye, followed by eyeliner and mascara. Depending on the skin type (if she wants more or less coverage) I’ll go in with a sheer to medium coverage foundation (I recommend the nars sheer glow foundation), building coverage with concealers. Most people nowadays don’t really use blush these days, but I see it as essential to make the face look more natural and healthy so I will typically go in with a smaller fan brush on the apples of the cheeks, taking long brush strokes all the way back to the hairline. After that I use a translucent setting powder to set the makeup, and I follow that with a highlight on the cheekbones and Cupid’s bow. To complete the look I usually go for a tinted gloss on the lips and a healthy amount in setting spray (I’m partial to the Tatcha luminous dewy skin mist). Over the course of the day, I recommend using oil blotting sheets, the new Fenty Beauty ones are amazing, and to reapply the lip gloss.When it comes to makeup, practice really does make perfect and just remember, nothing has to be perfect, as my aunt always said, “your eyebrows can just be sisters, they don’t have to always be twins”. Social Media:Instagram: @ronnie.nickols or @ronnien_mua