Makeup Tricks that Work: The Daytime Bronze Smoky Eye

Although most daytime eye makeup guides suggest a natural look, there are times when you just want to shine a little brighter. The bronze smoky eye is a great way to do that. Depending on your coloring and facial shape, there are many different interpretations of this look. The trick to wearing the daytime bronze smoky eye is to chose the right shadow for your face and to "prime the canvas" by paying equal attention to your skin, eyebrows and lips.

Eye Makeup Trick #1: Prime the Canvas

You wouldn't slap paint on an unprimed surface, right? Neither should you paint your face without properly preparing your skin. Daytime makeup is not heavy, so you won't need to worry about too much foundation or concealer, but you should at least moisturize and use a light eye primer on your lids. Two great products for this are Neutrogena Healthy Skin Enhancer Tinted Moisturizer and Ulta Eye Base. A tinted moisturizer will even out your skin tone and the primer will do the same for your lids as well as provide a better surface for the eye makeup to adhere to. Foundation and concealer can be too heavy for daytime, so tinted moisturizer and eye primer are best.

Eye Makeup Trick #2: Balance the Elements

Your brows, lips, and cheeks are the framing elements for your eyes. Too much makeup overwhelms a daytime look, but a bronze smoky eye will look completely unbalanced if the rest of your face is bare. First, give a little attention to your brows. Pluck any eyebrow hairs that fall below your brow line and then use a small stiff brush to neaten everything up. A natural, slightly heavier look is best for the smoky eye, so don't worry too much about creating the perfect brow. You just want to tidy up. Use a thin makeup brush and a little brown powder the same shade as your brows or very slightly darker to fill in any gaps in your brow line. Brow powder rather than pencil will look more natural and will compliment the smoky eye look. Though expensive, I love Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Ex-Press because it's an all-in-one solution that will last years. The compact comes with a small brush, two shades of powder, some shimmer, some brow stencils, and some wax to either seal in the powder or just help groom your brows and keep them in place. Trust me, this is a product that will last years and cost the same in the end as the ten cheap eyebrow pencils you will go through in the same length of time.

For cheeks, consider bronzing powder. Ulta, my favorite cosmetic superstore, makes a good one and it won't empty your wallet. You'll want a shade that compliments the bronze smoky eye and bronzer will do that. In fact, the best eye makeup trick for a fast bronze smoky eye is to use the bronzing powder on your lids as well. Whichever method you use, dust a little powder with a fat makeup brush on your cheekbones. The best way to find a natural place to apply is to smile and then brush the powder in a few circular motions onto the apples of your cheeks, and then sweep it across both cheeks towards your ears. Do this sparingly, as too much powder will make you look like a clown. You can tap your brush a few times first to knock excess powder from it before you apply.

Lips should be minimal with a smoky eye. A bit of gloss should do it. Use something in the same shade family as your eye powder, but with barely any pigment. A great choice is Bare Escentuals 100% Natural Lip Gloss.

The Main Event: Creating the Bronze Smoky Eye

Always, always select a shade and a method that works best with your skin. I can't stress that enough. If you have oily skin, liquid products will slide right off your face. Dry and mature skin looks horrible with sparkly high pigment powder. Think shimmer, not sparkle and look for golden yellows, bronze, or brown. Try a palette like Too Faced, which has both shimmer and matte colors you can play with. First, sweep a neutral base color over the entire lid and brow bone area. Then a medium intensity yellow or bronze on the lid. Finally, accent your brow bone with a darker bronze. If your eyes are deep set, you may not even need an accent. Alternately, if your eyes don't have a lot of definition then you may have trouble finding just the right way to apply darker powder to this tricky area. Go subtle at first and then bolder one you feel you've mastered the technique. You can highlight the skin just under your brows with light powder or leave it bare, depending on your preference.

Don't be afraid to play with color. There are lots of shimmery powders in nude pinks, champagnes, rose, and gold that go great with a smoky eye and work a lot better with fair complexions than deep bronze does. Use different colors on lid, crease, and brow if you like, or sweep one color over the entire lid and call it good. Most important, use whatever works for your face.

I find lately that there's a lot of disagreement on the best way to line your eyes. Liquid liner is striking and bold, but is hard to apply straight and can look aging. Eye pencil can drag at the delicate skin. Powder is subtle and best for older eyes, but it can be hard to apply without having some "snow" onto your cheeks during application. For the bronze smoky eye, you can go with any of the above, but use a dark brown or bronze rather than black. Finish up with a little black or dark brown mascara, and you're done!

The bronze smoky eye is a sexy look that looks great in daytime as well as night. Hopefully this guide has given you the tips and tools you'll need to create that look. Above all, have fun with it!