Ways to Customize The Common Black V Smokey Eye

Picture courtesy of Frantastic Makeup

Sometimes a pain black and gray smokey eye isn't going to cut it; maybe you want to change it up without completely altering the style. There are many easy ways to do it and it only takes about 1-2 extra minutes to your routine makeup application,


Don't get this style confused with the classic smokey eye. (click link)
Link courtesy of Makeupgeek (Favorite artist by the way!)
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This is for beginners, so if you are a little more experienced, you'll most likely know these tricks & you probably do them quite often.

Colorful Eyeliner

A great way to make a smokey eye pop with color is to replace the lower lash line color with any color of your choice.
All you do is apply a colored eyeliner (pencil or cream) on the lashline, then set the eyeliner with a similar colored eyeshadow. The eyeshadow will prevent the liner underneath from smudging (also known as raccoon eyes!) and will also help the color to be more vibrant.
Apply black eyeliner on the lower waterline or apply the same color as the lash line. 

Below I am using green for the lash line, and black for the waterline.
Click links if you do not know what waterline/lash lines are!!

I blurred out my horrible skin and stray brow hairs, so you guys wouldn't get distracted hahah!

Color Above The Crease

A little color right above the black crease will also give a subtle color without going to the extreme. This one is great for beginners, because it gives a light shade of color, instead of a drastic change, and this gives the chance for the person to see if they like the color they are working with.
The trick is not blending or adding too much or it will look muddy and messy. Just apply a little at a time, and very lightly blend until you get the pigmentation you want.

Adding this with the colored eyeliner will complete the look if you want to go all the way!

Green above the crease along with the green applied on the lashline,

I have a scar underneath my brow, it's not a makeup flaw. haha.

Lid Color Only

This one is quite obvious and is popular among the other options. Just change the usual gray/silver eye lid shadow for a fun color. You won't have to change the black (crease & outer-V color) if you don't want to, because black is such a versatile color and goes with pretty much any color.

Stole this picture from xteeener to show you that you can work with different lid colors for the black. She's a great YT Gruru by the way!

Monotone Colors
You will be using colors from the same family and creating a smokey eye with them.
Say for instance you are using a light brown shade for the lid, you are going to want to use a darker shade of brown for the crease, and an even darker brown, for the outer V.

Here is mine with monotone colors of the shade purple. I used a pinkish purple for the lid, and used darker shades of purple for my crease and outer V.

Yay for terrible quality ;)

**If you are more advanced, go ahead and mix and match colors and shades, but make sure they compliment each other. Complimentary colors will be the colors that are opposite (or close to the opposite) of each other on the color wheel. I will talk about this in another post, but for now, I want to keep this post as simple as I can, so I won't get too into this part. Here is an example of  someone complimenting colors and shades together: CLICK ME 

Glitter Liner!
Adding any colored glitter liner will always give your smokey eye a pop with that extra sparkle!
There's not much to this one: Just add the glitter liner under the lower lash line and voila! Or if you want the color to stand out more, before applying the glitter, line the lashline with pencil or cream liner of the color that will match the glitter, then apply the glitter on top.

**Try to stay away from lose glitter, as it can get very messy. If you would rather use lose glitter, make sure it is COSMETIC SAFE. Glitter that is not cosmetic safe can scratch your eyes!!
Liquid glitter eyeliner or glitter eyeliner pencils are your best bet.

My eyeball with pink glitter on the lower lash line!

Jewels/Rhinestones
You can get pre-made eye jewels that are ready to stick on that you can get at the beauty store. If you are getting them elsewhere, please make sure they are safe for the eyes and use clear-drying lash glue only to apply, do not use any other type of glue! (this can be harmful to the eyes!) You can dress them up however you want with the rhinestones/jewels, be creative!! You can even use different colors! This will definitely dress up a smokey eye any day and is even great for parties!

Here is a picture of a simple placement of the jewels. You don't have to go all crazy with them if you don't want to; sometimes less is more!

Picture courtesy of  LetzMakeup

Colored Mascara 

This is a bit for the more "extreme" because sometimes the black eyeshadow from the smokey eye can clash with the lighter-colored mascara making it look "ashy."  You can always use this with a complimentary smokey look to prevent the ashy effect, such as the picture below.

I found this on Google Search and found this picture, here is a link to her page with her look.
The blue compliments the gold and brown very well, but you can also use it with silver & black eyeshadow! 

That's it for this post!

Hope you enjoy it and if you have any comments or questions, or if you even have an idea for dressing up a smokey-eye, leave a comment below! Post your looks under the comment section!

Thanks for reading!