Trend Alert – The Bollywood Smoky Eye With Mickey Contractor

Written by Jyotsana Rao, BE Experience: 4 years

Jyotsana Rao is an engineering graduate from NIT, Nagpur, who discovered her love for writing during her undergraduate days. She is passionate about writing about everything related to beauty - makeup... more

• Apr 1, 2024

Trend Alert – The Bollywood Smoky Eye With Mickey Contractor

Image: iStock

Can you think of anything more classy and sophisticated than the dramaticsmoky eye look when it comes to makeup? Most of us want to try out this look in our own way, and we often draw inspiration from Bollywood divas. But, did you ever wonder who brought this classy style to India?

Mickey Contractor was the first makeup artist who introduced smoky eyes to Bollywood. He’s virtually a makeup magician who has been wielding his magic wand for over three decades on Bollywood beauties for advertising campaigns and movies.

Remember Rani Mukherjee’s smoky eyes in Chalte Chalte? That was the first time he did the dark and smoky eyes on Rani, and everyone raved about the look.

Today, we are going to decode the Bollywood smoky eye – a deep brown and black smoky eye.

[ Recommended Read: 10 Best Inspiring Makeup Tips From Mickey Contractor ]

1. Prep Your Eyes

Start with a cream color base on the eye. The cream color base holds the powder eyeshadow really well and retains it for a longer period. It also prevents creasing of the eyeshadow.Recommended products

Lightly dab translucent/transparent powder over the eyes. This is important because as soon as you directly apply powder eyeshadow on the cream color base, it will start congealing, and you will have too much of the product in one place.

2. Apply Gel Liner

Line it close to the eyelids using a 219 pencil brush. (Recommended product: Blacktrack by MAC)

Quick Tip: You don’t always have to use black for smoky eyes. You can use any shade, and using two shades adds extra dimension.

Check this video to learn simple procedure to apply gel liner:

3. Start Blending

As we all know, blending is the key to perfect makeup. So, make sure you blend the brown eyeshadow really well so that you get soft, blown-out eyes. Go even with the liner and start smoking it out with black in the outer corners. (Recommended product: Folie Eyeshadow by MAC)

[ Recommended Read: 5 Easy Steps To Blend Eyeshadows Perfectly ]

4. Highlight The Brow Bone

As a highlighter, Mickey prefers to use a studio fix powder from MAC. Use a shade close to your skin tone and blend it with a small fluffy brush (217). Don’t make it too sharp; smoky looks best only when it is blended well.

5. Apply Kajal

Take a creamy textured black eye pencil, rub it on your hand to slightly warm the pencil tip, and then apply it evenly on the waterline. (Recommended product: Feline/Smolder by MAC )

[ Recommended Read: How To Apply Kajal Perfectly ]

6. Load Up The Lashes

Time for mascara! Applying mascara not only gives your lashes thickness, but it also gives them a nice feathery feel. (Recommended product: Extra Dimension Mascara from MAC)

7. Blend It All

To blend everything together, use a brown eyeshadow (Recommended product: Folie from MAC), and using a flat brush 239, blend it on the lower lids.

Then, take a black eyeshadow (Recommended product: Carbon by MAC) and an angular brush. Slightly intensify the color on the lower lids and smudge a little.

8. Complete The Look

Dab a nude lipstick that complements your skin tone (Mickey has used Yash from MAC) using your fingers. Don’t ever pair your smoky eyes with dark lips. Since your eyes are looking so dramatic, it’s better to stick to nude shades for the rest of your face.

Finish by applying powder on the face.