Together At Home With Sam Chapman

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When was the last time you spent more than three minutes applying your makeup or experimenting with a new look? With most of us having more time on our hands at the moment, makeup artist Sam Chapman wants us to experiment with our makeup and try some new looks.

To get you started, Sam has shared her eight-step guide to achieving a flattering smoky eye look. So, dust off your palette and let’s get started. Over to Sam…

There is an optional first step depending on your preference. Not everyone needs a primer, but if you’re someone who finds that your foundation slips or you get creases on your eyeshadow, it’s worth investing in a primer. I don’t tend to use primers when I’m on a shoot because it fixes the makeup in place and means I can’t play around with it. However, in day-to-day life if you want your eye makeup to last longer you might want to use something like NARs Pro-Prime Instant Line & Pore Perfector

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1. Apply Your Base

Start by creating a natural-looking, smooth base with your foundation. While I don’t use tons of Chantecaille, I do really love the Future Skin Foundation – it’s absolutely amazing. The oil-free, gel-formula is super flattering on my dry skin – so much so, I intend to wear it when I get married next year. I work it into my skin all over using a brush and build it up in the areas I need. You can achieve the finish of a tinted moisturiser or layer it for a fuller coverage if you prefer.

2. Fix Your Brows

If you find your brows are a little unruly, you will love Surratt’s Expressioniste Brow Pomade. It’s a white cream that you comb through your brows in a downwards direction to make sure you’ve coated every hair, before using your finger to push it into your brows. It works like a glue to fix your brows in place. 

Brush your brows up and take your pencil to fill in the colour where you need it the most. Rather than drawing your brows on, I tend to add colour where my brows look a little patchy or faint for a softer, subtler finish. 

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3. Choose Your Palette

To create the ultimate smoky eye you need a selection of complimentary shades, so I find a palette works best. Hourglass’ Graphik Palette in Vista has a great selection of wearable colours. I like to use a khaki iridescent colour as a base for my smoky eye. A good tip is to apply your eyeshadow along the lash line and blend upwards. This ensures the pigment will be more concentrated there. The more time you reapply and blend the longer your makeup will last for. It is a sandwiching effect that really works. You don’t have to be neat with it because you’re going to blend it. 

Take a little bit of the warmer colour – in the Hourglass palette it’s a brown matte hue, and apply into your eye socket for a smoky finish. Blend and layer the two shades with a blending brush. Use your finger to apply a tiny amount of the lightest colour to the middle of your eyelid to add a touch of light. Take your brush and blend it altogether.

4. Line & Define

Take an angled brush and apply the darkest colour in your palette along the outer corner of your lash line. I like to try and create a wing-like shape. If you want a more intense, smoky finish you can use a kohl liner instead. 

Sometimes people want to add a touch of colour to their makeup, but aren’t sure where to apply it. I like to add a little pop of colour to my smoky eye by using a bright liner along my water line. I love NARs High Pigment Longwear Eyeliners, the shade range and colour pay-off is fantastic. My current favourite is Ocean Drive, a bold blue.

 

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5. Neaten Up With Concealer

Add two or three dots of concealer under your eyes and blend with a brush. I like the new Hourglass Vanish Airbrush Concealer as it is a high coverage formula. Regardless of which concealer you use, remember less is more. I like to use my concealer to tidy up any eye makeup that has dropped and to define my winged outer-edge.

6. Amplify Your Lashes 

The finishing touch to any smoky eye is lashings of mascara. For this, I love to use Hourglass Caution Extreme Lash Mascara because it’s a really inky black and requires minimal effort to create great lashes. Sweep it into your upper lashes, wiggling it side to side to ensure every lash is coated. If you get mascara on your eyeshadow just take your brush and blend it all in together. If the mascara is darker than your eyeshadow, wait for it to dry and take a cotton bud to scratch it off.

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7. Enhance Your Glow  

I’m not hugely into powders, but I love By Terry’s Compact Expert Dual Powder in Apricot Glow for adding warmth to your complexion. I’m not a fan of the trend for baking in your powder, instead I prefer to use it sparingly, especially under my eyes.

A touch of bronzer will help to enhance your glow. I’ve used Charlotte Tilbury’s Filmstar Bronze and Glow for years. People often use it to contour, but I prefer a subtler approach. Apply along the hairline and gently blend in as you go. Brush over your cheekbones and the bridge of your nose, in a W shape as if the sun has hit the tops of your face. Add a tiny amount of highlighter along the tops of your cheek and brow bones and down your nose, and then blend it in with your bronzer.

8. Lip Line & Define

For the last step, I push my lipstick on with my finger for a softer finish. I tend to opt for a shade closer to my natural colour if I’m going bold with my eyes – NARS Lipstick in Boukhara is my my shade. Finish by using a lip liner to shape the outer corners of your lips – I love Laura Mercier’s formulas.