How To: The Jade Smoky Eye
ORIGINAL LOOK: THE JADE SMOKY EYE
Makeup maestro Mary Greenwell puts her original spin on a vibrant, sultry eye.
Written By Christina Han
Los Angeles welcomed legendary makeup artist Mary Greenwell back to town with open arms. The British beauty industry megastar’s impressive career began in Hollywood nearly 30 years ago, and her sort-of homecoming was nothing short of spectacular: Greenwell crafted the looks for Tom Ford’s fall/winter runway show, working with fashion’s leading models (Karlie, Joan, Gigi) in a house packed with the biggest names in Hollywood (Julianne, Reese, Beyonce, Jay). Before she jetted back to London, the self-taught artist, who was Charlotte Tilbury’s mentor and an integral player during the golden age of supermodels (“Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, Stephanie Seymour and I all stayed in the same Paris hotel when we were just starting out,” remembers Greenwell), popped by the VIOLET GREY flagship store to create an original smoky eye look using a palette from Tom Ford’s limited edition spring collection of Eye Colour Duos.
At first glance, rich jewel-tones of deep green (Raw Jade), purple (Ripe Plum), and blue (Brushed Indigo) seem like unusual color choices for the typically airy spring aesthetic. But Ford decided to pair each shade with a pearlescent highlighter, which, when they are layered together transforms each hue into a dimensional pastel with a golden glow.
“People have an expectation for spring, which is all about nude, bronzy, pinky-apricot colors,” explains Greenwell of the season’s standards. “But what I love is keeping the skin pure and then having a really strong eye, or rather, a colorful eye— not necessarily strong, but colorful.” Below is the artist’s step-by-step guide to creating an eye with “pop,” plus two lip color options: one for a day in the boardroom, the other for the evening that happens after a disco nap.
THE JADE SMOKY EYE
CONTOUR THE EYE
Greenwell’s quick and easy contouring method will add more shape to an eye socket, which is particularly useful for almond-shaped eyes. Using the Tom Ford Shade & Illuminate brush, load up the brush with the second lightest shade in the Tom Ford Cocoa Mirage palette, dab it onto the back of your hand to remove any excess pigment, and then place the flat-side of the brush between edge of your nose and the inner corner of your brow. Lightly shade in the area near the inner corner of the lid with a slight wiggle of the brush, then sweep the shadow across the entire lid.
Expert advice: If you do not have the Tom Ford Cocoa Mirage palette, select a similar shade from your own kit, but be sure that the pigment is shimmer-free. Matte shadows offer an optimal finish for a contouring technique.
MAKE IT POP
Dip an eyeshadow brush into the darker shade in the Tom Ford Raw Jade Eye Color Duo, dab off excess onto the back of your hand (to prevent too much powder from falling onto the face), then lightly sweep the color along the lashline and up to the natural curve of your eye’s socket. Then, using the same brush, apply shadow underneath the bottom lashes, blending the top and bottom together at the outer corner of the eye to create a unified “smoky” look.
DEFINE WITH LINER
To anchor the eye, Greenwell selects a Charlotte Tilbury’s Veruschka Mink eye pencil, a brown eyeliner with a subtly shimmering blue undertone, to give the eye a multi-dimensional effect. Draw the liner directly into the lower and upper waterlines and into the inner corners. For the outer corners, Greenwell lightly kicks out the ends of the line, which is much subtler than a dramatic cat eye or “winged” effect.
ADD A DASH OF DISCO
Each of Tom Ford’s spring shadow duos include a complementary highlight shade that contains gold particles which alter the pigment when layered. Using the same eyeshadow brush as before, pick up a light dusting of the shadow and gently dab it down the center of the eyelid from the brow bone down to the upper lashline. An instant peacock effect occurs, since the green-gold flecks in the highlight power mix add nuance and depth to the jade-green shadow. Restricting the the highlighter to the center of the lid offers just the right amount of light-catching pop without overdoing it.
FINISH WITH STRONG LASH
To complete the smoky eye, Greenwell defers to Serge Lutens’ Comb Mascara on both top and bottom lashes. “I believe that adding mascara to the bottom lashes really opens up the eyes,” she explains. “If I don’t have my bottom mascara done, my eyes look half the size!”
CREATE A HANDSOME BROW
Like hemlines, the arch of the brow migrates with each season, and right now, Greenwell prefers a straighter, more natural-shaped brow. Following your growth pattern, Greenwell used Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil to further deepen and define the arch. Slick down any errant hairs with a brow gel (Violet Says: MAC’s brow gel offers hold with a hint of brow-defining pigment).
Expert advice: “To really shade in your brows, go back-and-forth with the pencil like you’re scrubbing your laundry,” cautions Greenwell. “You want to tint the skin, not the hairs.”
LET THE LIPS SAY IT ALL
“You can really wear any lipcolor you want for this look,” declares Greenwell, who selects Tom Ford’s Smitten (a glossy pale pink) for daytime and Scarlet Rouge (an orange-red) for a bit more drama. Her secret for a lip look that lasts is to first line and fill-in the mouth with a lip pencil that best matches your natural lip color (Violet Says: Laura Mercier Lip Pencil in Natural Lips will do the trick). A layer of the pencil will adhere tothe lipstick longer than natural lips do. Then, apply the lipstick liberally, straight from the bullet. Press lips together, then add another layer (repeat as desired). “I really want this lipstick to look like you put it on,” explains Greenwell of her smoosh and slather technique. “There’s nothing phony about it.”
Expert advice: “Take a little bit of the Smitten lipstick and pop it onto the highpoint of your cheekbones,” advises Greenwell for an extra hint of highlight.
See the complete Jade Smoky Eye Tutorial & more at VIOLETGREY.COM
