Celebrity Inspired Purple Smoky Eye Makeup

Purple is the new black. I don't know if that's true but I'm kind of in love with purple right now and all its different shades. From burgundy to violet, purple - among other jewel tones - is gonna be hot for Fall.

I've been trying to play with the smoky eyeshadow look using different colors for a while. It can be tricky at first, finding the right shades that compliment best your eye color. I have blue-gray eyes that looks kind of green sometimes depending on the lighting and makeup, and I have noticed that blue eyeshadow, for instance, tends to wash me out a bit. I'm still trying to work the perfect blue eyeshadow combo that will suit my skin tone and eyes the best. But I digress.

There's a look I've been trying to emulate for a while. Last year, Kristen Stewart rocked a smoky burgundy eyeshadow for the MTV VMA's

that I simply coveted. Her overall look was demure, her dress was feminine, they really worked wonders on her then "Jett-Black" mullet and her makeup was perfection.

According to this source, Kristen's makeup artist used Dior's eyeshadow palette in Stylish Move, which is a combo of a dark-grape purple, mauve and pink. He used mainly the deep purple shades and lots of black eyeliner, including the water line (the inner rim).

I've been told by Sephora experts that Dior eyeshadows don't concentrate a lot of pigment so I've always been hesitant to spend nearly $60 on a combo of eyeshadows that won't exceed my expectations. Personally I love Makeup Forever and Urban Decay. They are highly pigmented and have an incredible lasting power. Too Faced duos are also great.

More recently, Kristen showed up for one of the Eclipse premiere's sporting an even better purple-pink smoky look that I am totally bonkers about. It's less understated than her 2009 VMA's look but no less gorgeous.

This time around, they added more black and shimmer to her look, making it more glam all around. Notice the bronze highlighted brow bone, shimmery black eyeshadow on the crease and a pinkish-purple hue dominating the inner corner of her eyes.

Her dress had purple undertones that were visible when it hit the light at certain spots, so the color choice was genius. Somebody knew what they were doing!

To recreate her look I did some research, coming across Lauren Luke's Youtube Channel. She's a Brit makeup guru who now has her own makeup line at Sephora!

After following her 10+ minute video tutorial (which deserves its own post to follow), I was able to create a smoky purple look that I was very happy with. It's a little too glam for daytime (and even night time, depending where you're going) but I've been downplaying this look on several occasions lately, using L'Oreal HIP Eyeshadow Duo in Sculpted, which is a shimmery combo of very dark burgundy and a pinkish mauve. Paired with either burgundy or black eyeliner (or both), those are colors that really compliment green, gray and blue eyes. It's a contrasting combo, so brown eyes benefit the play of of colors just as well.

Also loving Drew Barrymore's makeup on the Covergirl ads for the Smoky ShadowBlast. Featured in both Purple Plum (below, first) and Silver Sky (below, second), those are both gorgeous looks on her that seem easy enough to recreate. Haven't bought the tool yet; I'm personally not a big fan of eyeshadow sticks but I'm willing to give it a shot. For under 8 bucks at Target, it might be worth the sacrifice. ;)

For daytime or work, I like to stick to neutral shades of brown and caramel eyeshadow, using Makeup Forever Aqua Eyes eyeliner in 2L (golden brown sheen) for lower lids and deep purple eyeliner (like ELF liner in Plum or Jordana Easyliner in Eggplant) smudged lightly on upper lids. When it comes to colors, I like to invest more money on shades I wear often and will never go out of style, such as black and brown. For more interesting color choices such as purples, blues and turquoises, I don't mind going the drugstore or even the Dollar store route. It's a good way to try out a new shades guilt and commitment-free.

If you're very tan, I would recommend playing up the shimmery, brighter tones of purple and plum, contrasting with pink and black. If you're pale like moi, try deeper shades of burgundy and mauve with hints of brown and go from there.

For more inspiration, this site has lots of celebrity pics rocking purple eye makeup.