Being Asian, you know that the majority of us aren’t blessed with double eyelids and deep-set eyes. International magazines tend to focus eye makeup techniques for Western women. Which is great for them, but not so much for us, because as much as we try to apply colour on the “crease” of our eyes, a lot of us are going to go “Eh? What crease?? I don’t even have double eyelids to begin with!” 

Smokey eye makeup has always been an Everest for me. If I may say so, it could well be a feat for a lot of Asian women too, because it is difficult to create that smokey eye effect without looking either like a raccoon, or that someone has punched the daylights out of our eyes. I tried it many times in the past, and all I ended up with were black eyes. Literally BLACK eyes. Not a pretty sight, if I may say so myself.

It was only after I went for a makeup and grooming course with Stella-in International that I finally learnt how to create the smokey eye effect correctly. Even then, I still need a LOT of practice because a bit too much dark grey or brown, and you’ll end up looking like a zombie.

So there I was, on a lazy Sunday afternoon, suddenly struck with the desire to paint my face, and I finally got it right (YAY!! :p). But not before I checked out these videos. Man, there sure are a lot of good makeup videos on YouTube :p

This is done by the Asian Beauty Blog. I quite like it as it is not overly dramatic, as most smokey eye makeup are. However, she tends to use a lot of MAC, which I’m not so in favour of (other than the foundation). They’re not too bad, but I guess a lot of the sales assistants in MAC (and I can vouch for many consumers who share the same view) are pretty arrogant, which pretty much turned me off even visiting the store. Not all of them, of course, but sadly, a majority are.

Okay, I know, the model isn’t Asian (even though the makeup artist is), but her makeup tips are pretty good. This was by Your Look.

This is quite a good tutorial (okay, okay, she’s pretty :p). Michelle Phan has quite a number of video tutorials in her blog too, so do check it out.

This is by Pursebuzz. Man, she has a LOT of video tutorials on Youtube, ranging from hair style tips to more makeup tips. Worth a watch, but look out for more use of MAC.

There are so many more smokey eye makeup tutorial videos out there on YouTube (plus other makeup tips), so do check it out. Remember to practise this style of makeup several times before an actual function, so that you’ll get a hang of it (especially if you aren’t used to applying makeup on a regular basis). You don’t wanna only try it out when you have an actual function to attend, ‘cos there are chances that you might muck it up because you aren’t used to the amount of dark shadow to apply on your lids (yep, happened to me once. Wasted my time removing the mess and applying something else which I was more used to). So, ladies, practise, practise, practise. Good luck!

And most of all, have fun! 🙂

PS: Oh, and remember to clean out your brushes after you’re done with the makeup. Some eye shadows tend to stain and remain on the brushes, especially the nondescript, cheapo (aka cap palang) ones.