Ombre Eyes

 Ombre is a real buzz-word in the hair and bridal industry at the moment and it can also be translated into makeup. The smokey eye effect is the “ombre” of eye shadow styles, working traditionally from white to grey to black from the inside corner of the eye to the outer corner. So in fact, makeup artists could be said to be the founders of ombre colour (besides mother-earth of course!), since they have been creating the perfect shade and blend of colour on the lids of eyes for decades! Now we are seeing it in many creative fields. Keep reading to find out more…

Ombre is a French word meaning shading and colour fade. The “ombre – effect” is shaded or graduated in tone. The DIY Wedding Planner summarises it in great terms….

“So ombre takes a single color, then washes it from light to intense making the layers subtly change as if one were using chalk and smearing the color until it can smear no more. It’s even shown up in hair color and has been adapted by many celebrities as a way to soften the edge of dark roots and make the change from dark to light as if summer hair is gradually changing to winter darkness”.

Look at these gorgeous examples!!!!

There has long been a misconception that a smokey eye is done only with white, grey and black, however there are so many more ways to wear the look and still achieve the same sultry sexy feel of the traditional smokey eye, or alternatively to wear the look with a more playful attitude. And how do we do this? With colour! Here are some ways to incorporate colour into your smokey eye.

The idea with a smokey eye is to smoothly transition the colours, so precise and master blending are essential to achieve the right effect and to make the look successful. You can use colours that are opposite on the colour wheel (but that would be anti-ombre! no!), but some of these may become murky at the blending point (like, orange and purple would turn brown). Think about your colour wheel a little bit when choosing your colour combination, to make sure you won’t end up with muddy waters.

For a colourful Sultry look starting from the inside corner of the eye with the lightest tone, working towards the third and darkest tone on the outer corner of the eye, try these colour combinations:

• alabaster white, musky pink, earthy brown.

• bone, midnight blue, black.

• ice pink, strawberry, burgundy.

• pale frosted yellow, gold, burgundy.

• gold, lime, dark moss green.

• silver, rose, dark blue.

• gold, green, dark blue.

What makes these combinations sultry is the fact that they go quite dark on the outside corner, and the colours that are used are not very outrageous or contrasting, so they still look classic and elegant.

Playful smokey eye shadow combinations will have greater variance in colour and be brighter colours. The third darkest shade need not be that dramatic, making the colourful smokey eye more appropriate for day-wear. You could still make the choice in shades of the same colour (aka ombre). Or you could make the eyelid more kaleidoscopic.

• baby blue, sky blue, midnight blue.

• light frost green, turquoise, sea green.

• yellow, pink, blue.

• yellow, orange, red.

• pink, purple, blue.

• green, blue, burgundy.

Make-Up evolves like anything creative and artistic. The smokey eye has been done for decades, this is just a new way to talk and think about it. Experiment with these colour combinations and you’ll see the ombre-effect appear before and on your very own eyes!

 Check out Ombre Hair Colour for more Ombre inspiration.