Smokey eye look using the HiP Darkwave eyeshadow duo

The other night, my boyfriend (aka Mr. G) and I decided that we deserved a little night on the town. After weeks and weeks of being good and staying in, cooking homemade meals from scratch and watching our budgets closely, we both thought it was time to treat ourselves to a nice dinner.

So we tried a new restaurant which serves Mexico City cuisine and the food was amazing. We had the best time, and finished the spicy, delicious meal off with some caramelized plantains served with vanilla bean ice cream.  Both Mr. G and I are absolute suckers for plantains and whenever they're on a dessert menu, we have no self-control. I try so hard to stay away from fried foods, but like I said, we were treating ourselves and I justified it by telling myself, "Hey, at least it's fried fruit and not a fried Twinkie or something."  Yeah, well, whatever makes me feel better right?

So because this was a "special night out" for us, I decided I better put some extra time into my makeup. I wanted one of those smoldering, smokey eye looks, but I didn't want it to be too heavy (no black eyeshadow or eyeliner).  Then I remembered that I had that HiP Darkwave duo (which I reviewed here) and I thought I'd pair it with my trusty CoverGirl Liquiline Blast eyeliner in Silver Spark (click here for my review of this eyeliner) and use the wonderful smudge tip on that pencil to achieve the smokey look. (Note: if you're a novice at smudging, the smudge tip on these Liquiline pencils makes it sooooo easy it's unbelievable).

I've been asked to list all of the items I use on my face when I do these looks, so here we go:

Maybelline Super Stay Concealer in Light
Prestige Multi-Task Wet/Dry Powder Foundation in Wheat
Maybelline Define-a-Brow Eyebrow Pencil in Dark Blonde
L'Oreal HiP Darkwave eyeshadow duo:
green shimmer shade from lashline to crease and blended up
charcoal gray shade in outer "v"
CoverGirl Liquiline Blast Eyeliner in Silver Spark:
applied to upper and lower lashline and, using the smudge tip, blended out for a smokey look
CoverGirl Lash Blast Fusion Mascara in Very Black (review to come)

I didn't use an eyeshadow primer because I generally find that I don't need one when I use HiP duos (they wear like iron for me).

I really liked this look because I think it gives the look of a smokey eye without all the drama of a smokey eye. Sometimes using black for a smokey eye seems a bit heavy and too intense on me, so  substituting green and gray for black is a nice way to make the look a bit softer.

If you generally stay away from green shadows, I think you might be pleasantly surprised with the HiP Darkwave duo. It's not an in-your-face green, and it's a lovely alternative to black.

Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I purchased all of the above products listed in this blog post with the exception of CoverGirl Lash Blast Fusion Mascara, which was provided to me by PR on behalf of CoverGirl for a future review. All opinions on NouveauCheap.blogspot.com are the honest opinion of its author and editorial samples do not in any way affect the outcome of said reviews.