If diamonds are a girl’s best friend, then sapphires, emeralds and rubies are definitely her rich and sophisticated cousins! Nothing dresses up an outfit like a little bling, so this holiday season decorate your eyes with a jewel-toned smokey eye.

The smokey eye technique doesn’t have to include a zillion shadows. All you need is two eye shadows and a good eyeliner.

These simple steps will help you create a jewel-toned eye like a pro:

What You’ll Need
+a velvet or satin finish eye shadow powder the colour of your preferred gemstone: sapphire, emerald, ruby or amethyst.

+a matte eye shadow 2 shades deeper than your skin tone. #ProTip: fair to medium complexions tend to look pink in the crease, so choose a cool grey vs. warm brown to neutralise the eye lid.

+black kohl pencil

How to Apply
For this look, we’re going to switch up the order of application and apply foundation and concealer after the eye makeup in case you get fallout that you need to clean up. Vibrant pigments are eye-catching, so it’s important to have the skin surrounding them pristine.

Eyes
+Sweep matte shadow over the lower lid with your blend + blur shadow brush and buff out the edges into the crease. This will neutralise the lid and act as a transition colour.

+Take the vibrant shadow onto your smudge brush and work over the upper and lower lash line. Soften and blend the pigment toward the crease (and along the lower lashes) with your blend + blur shadow brush. Repeat application to build the intensity of colour closest to the eye.

+Run a kohl pencil along the lash line and blend with your smudge brush to anchor the colour gradation.

+Finish the eye with several coats of mascara and fill in your brows with your go-to products.

Complexion
+Clean up under the eye and along the outer edge of the eye shadow with a drop of micellar water on your miracle eraser sponge.

+Apply your favourite foundation over the face with your blend + blur foundation brush, starting at the centre of the face and working out to the perimeter. Use your concealer brush around the eyebrows to sharpen and define them.

+Run a creamy concealer under your eyes and extend to the outer edge of the brow with your concealer brush to complete the flawless frame.

+Swirl the tip of your soft complexion brush into a matte bronzer and sweep over the high points of the face and along the jaw line to add warmth and dimension.

Colour
+Choose a blush in a cool pink or plum and buff over the apples of the cheeks and up the cheek bones with your blend + blur cheek brush for a healthy flush.

+Keep the lip understated with a neutral lip colour, or balance the vivid eye with a cool pink or plum lip shade—the choice is yours.