Nothing says "mysterious and alluring" like a pair of smokey eyes giving someone the "come hither" look from across the room. This look can be achieved fairly easily. The "smokey eyes" look is characterized by makeup that emphasizes the eyes using soft lines and blending; usually, darker colors like black, brown, or gray are used, although you can opt to go for a more dramatic kind of smokey eyed look with fun colors like green or even red.

Smokey eye makeup tips proliferate throughout the internet, but all of them pretty much say the same thing: blend blend blend.

Good blending is the key!

The secret to great looking smokey eye makeup application may be in the blending, but another very important smokey eye makeup tip to take to heart is to choose colors that complement your skin tone.

If you have very pale skin, for example, using a strong, all-black color palette for your smokey eyes look can make you look less like a seductive vamp, and more like the walking dead. Likewise, if you have skin with yellow undertones, blue-tinted colors, like lavender, can make your skin appear jaundiced. Try to go for makeup colors that share your skin's own undertones.

Many smokey eye makeup tips forget to mention that taking care of your skin and your eyes can go a really long way to opening up your eyes and making them look much more striking. Getting rid of puffiness around the eyes using cucumbers or tea bags, for example, may mean that you won't have to add in that extra layer of concealer before putting on your base for your eye makeup; this makes your makeup less likely to get cakey.

If you've taken care of that business already, the first thing you have to start with for your smokey eyes look will always have to be the base. Make sure that any makeup you apply goes on evenly and doesn't end up turning into a greasy line on your eyelid crease by using eyeshadow base.

After you've applied your base, you can opt to apply your eyeliner first by using an eyeliner pencil and then "smoking" it up by smudging it, or for a more subtle effect, apply your eyeshadow first, and then wet a slanted brush and use a darker eyeshadow tone as an eyeliner substitute.

Keep close to the lash-line, and even though coloring the bottom part of your eyes is an important component to this look, it's a good idea to use a slightly lighter color and to only line from the middle out, since coloring the bottom of the eye all the way through has a tendency to actually make eyes smaller. Also, don't forget to smudge! Smokey eyes are all about blurring the lines.

Whether you apply the eyeliner before or after the eyeshadow, the eyeshadow itself is a very important aspect of the smokey eyed look. The base color for your eyeshadow should either match your skintone, or be somewhat light. Creamy or pearly colors are great for this; apply them to the tops of your eyelids up to your brow bone before putting in the darker colors.

The dark-colored eyeshadow is what gives smokey eyes makeup its eponymous "smokey" effect. Once you're done applying your light-colored base, use an eyeshadow brush to blend in the color, starting at you lash line and working your way up. Make sure that your eyeliner and your eyeshadow also blend, and once you hit the crease of your eyes, tone down the deep color.

One of my favorite smokey eye makeup tips is, after double checking so that your eyes match and the colors are blended; finish off your look with three or four coats of volumizing mascara. It'll really make your look pop.