how to get the perfect "smokey eye"

I love to get all dressed up when I go out at night. Sometimes, I have more fun getting ready than I actually do being at the event I got ready for. But my outfit never feels complete unless my makeup is up to par. Here's a simple way I like to make my eyes pop and stand out, known as the "smokey eye."

These colors do work for all eye colors, but you may want to make some alterations depending on what looks best on you. I have dark brown eyes so I tend to wear darker shades of eye shadows. If you have blue or green eyes, you can definitely wear dark colors, just go a bit lighter to make your beautiful eye color stand out.

I usually put on all of my foundation and blush to begin with.

Step 1: Apply some eye liner on your upper and lower lid. For the upper lid, make a thin line by staying as close to the eyelashes as possible. To make your eye appear slightly bigger, extend the eyeliner beyond your eye and give it a slight curve upward. For underneath the eye, I like to pull my lid down and put the liner on the inside.

Step 2: Use a gray or silver color for the inner and lower part of your lid. I also put some on the bottom, inner part of my eye. Always use a lighter color for this section of your eye when doing your eyeshadow to create a more "awake" look.

Step 3: Use a neutral color for your eyelid above the crease and brush from the inside outward. Also brush up into your eyebrow.

Step 4: Here comes the fun part to create the dramatic look! Using a black or dark gray eyeshadow, brush along your crease, from where your eyeliner ends into the middle of your eyelid. Go ahead and put some black shadow along your eyeliner if your feeling sassy! Continue to put some eyeshadow on the lower part of your eye, starting from the outside of the lid, working inwards.

Step 5: At this point, chances are your black eyeshadow looks a little messy so this is where we blend to bring the look together. Using a gray, or pale purple, Blend above your crease and outside of all the areas where you placed your black. Continue to blend along the bottom part of your eye.

Step 6: Put on your mascara. Some like to put it on before, but in my case, eyeshadow gets in my lashes so I save the mascara for last. And, I know it looks like I just have a black eye, BUT this is just one eye.

Step 7: Voila! Seeeee, no black eye! Continue steps 1-6 on your other eye for a rockin, ready to party makeup look!

Here is what I use.. nothing too fancy.

1. Maybelline "Define-A-Line" soft black: $5-6

2. I don't know the brand, but I picked it up from Wal-Mart. "Shimmer Strips, Smoky Brown Eyes:" $5-7

3. Maybelline "Expert Wear" Chai Latte: $4-5

4. Mac "Black Tied" and "Flirty Number:" $13-15 each

5. Maybelline "Define-A-Lash" Very Black: $5-6

And, just in case you're wondering about my foundation and blush.. and lipgloss.

1. Bare Minerals "Medium Beige and Warmth:" together around $45

2. Clinique "Assorted Blushes:" $20

3. Revlon "Peach Petal:" $7

If you're not comfortable with wearing a lot of make-up, don't! The amount you put on can be altered and still have the same effect. And, of course, if you want a more dramatic look then put on more. I hope that this was some help and I'd love to hear some feedback! Especially for those of you with different colored eyes than brown; what colors would you recommend? Do any of you use a special technique? Share! We'd all love to hear it!

viewer discretion advised

 the scab is where the melanoma was found

 all numbed up and ready to go

 this is them explaining to me the procedure.. i kept my arm over my eyes after this

 these two are the greatest dermatologists, i wish they were in boise!

and now i'm warning you..

turn away if you don't want to see the chunk they took.

you ready??

and now i have a frankenstein leg. the procedure went well. i love my doctors! they kept me laughing and helped keep my mind on other things. crystal was there to hold my hand. she isn't as wussy as me and was able to watch. she would say an occasional, "oh, wow... ooooh wow." her eyes would get big and then she would pat my hand and say everything was going great. i'm sooo grateful she was there. they put me on some pain killers which didn't sit well with me today. i felt queasy all day and very lightheaded. not the funnest day, but i've been pampered with ice cream, oreos, and root beer floats. i get to go back in for a full body check tomorrow morning to keep tabs on my other silly moles. and hopefully they will have the report of whether this has spread or not. the doctors were pretty confident that it hadn't so i'm grateful for that. i feel like i've been dragging this melanoma thing out in my posts, but this is a big deal for me. it's something i always have worried about, but truly didn't think it would happen. i even joked about it all the time saying lighthearted things like, "i know i have cancer. i'm going to die from it someday." 

jokes on me.

thanks chan!

i took these from my friend chantelle's blog. she says we are the world's cutest couple.. and i couldn't agree more haha. check her blog out for some of the best fashion! it really is my favorite clothing blog. she has awesome taste and creativity! well, i'm off to utah to get my silly mole thing taken care of.. my first mole to not scar, is now going to be my worse scar... oh life.

it was fun fun fun!

i think crystal did pretty awesome for her first time EVER snowboarding. she's always wanted to try it but it was kind of my fault she never had until now. my dad bought her a whole set up a few years ago.... but i broke my collar bone while snowboarding so my dad took all of her stuff back before she even got to use it. she had a lot of potential with sports and he didn't want her to chance it by getting hurt riding. she was a natural and it was so fun watching her!

juicing

these photos were taken when i was in utah. my family had easter dinner on monday so i could be there. i treated myself to whatever i wanted to eat that week because i knew that i would be starting a juice "cleanse" with tanner when i got home. so about this juice cleanse, my brother and sister in law, brooks and cristi, told us about the documentary "fat, sick, and nearly dead." one night we decided to watch it. it is soooooo motivating! there were two guys who did a 60 day juice fast (one went longer!) and not only did they lose a TON of weight, their health issues were practically gone and they had all the energy in the world. they have a 10 day challenge that they ask the viewers to try. so try we did. we bought a juicer, stocked our fridge with fruits and veggies, and juiced 3 times a day for our meals. today is our 8th day, and tanner is still going strong.. i am not. i pooped out last night. i'm glad to say i made it 7 days though! i feel accomplished. alllll i could think about was food! it was ridiculous! i pinned everything i wanted to eat all throughout the day, just so i could eat it when i was done. the first 3 days were fine. i was dying on the 4th. and the 6th. and the 7th. then i called it quits. i wasn't feeling energized, although i wasn't sleepy. i just didn't have the strength or motivation to do normal things. (i even had to stop during..... play time.... and apologize to tanner that i needed a quick break) i WOULD recommend it as a cleanse though. my body feels good. not to mention it is a very quick and healthy way to shed a few pounds. tan and i have each lost 10 pounds so far. and yes, i will consider that a brag. now it just trying to maintain this weight, which will be hard since i really want to make all those meals i pinned. anyways, give it a shot. haha

i am

i saw this on my friend, alyses, blog and since it's sunday, with not much to do.. i wanted to fill one out :) alyse does this yearly and i thought i'd be fun to see how life changes. 

 

i am  darlene leanne dame

i think about our future home and family

i am happy when i'm with tanner and with good food

i have cravings for pasta almost daily
i miss living in midway

i fear of tanner dying before me

i feel super hungry

i smell my fresh picked blossoms :)

i usually have food on my mind

i search for ways to get people to my video website

i wonder if i can finish the last three days of this juice fast

i regret not being focused my first two years of college

i love a lot

i care a lot

i tell tanner my dreams every morning and i know he doesn't care

i worry about my skin

i am not daring

i remember moments when i was alone and watching sunsets while just.. thinking

i believe in the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints

i sing to myself

i don’t always have the energy i wish i had

i don’t like juicing vegetables

i write mainly in my blog

i win when i can be a help to someone

i lose when i'm selfish

i dance NEVER

i wish i was better at writing "thank you" notes and showing my appreciation for others

i never will like to play nintendo, wii, xbox.. ect. 

i listen to pandora non stop

i don't understand why some people feel inclined to state their negative opinions

i can usually be found content at home

i need to paint my nails

i forget how much work having a yard is

 

 

tanner and i have been on a 10 day juice fast/cleanse. today is our seventh day and in case you haven't noticed.. i'm really hungry. i almost threw in the towel yesterday and quit but tanner somehow kept me going although i caved a little and ate a tootsie roll.  i've been pinning a lot of recipes that i can't wait to make once were done, but looking at all the food makes me miss it a lot haha. this cleanse has been harder than i thought it would be.

watch yo' self

i had a mole removed last week on my shin and i really didn't think too much of it. i watched it appear, and grow over the last year and thought it was time to get rid of it. it's a good thing i did because on monday i got a call from my dermatologist telling me it was melanoma skin cancer. well first, i got a voicemail from my dad saying he received a call from my dermatologist and all he knew it that it wasn't good news. i immediately started to cry and panic a little. tanner calmed me down and said i didn't really know what was going on so i should just wait to hear from the doctor. i kept myself busy in the kitchen that morning but i guess tanner knew i was extremely bothered because he hugged me and i broke down. i cried really really hard. he had to leave for work so i jumped in the shower to give me something to do. i heard my phone ring so i jumped right back out and it was the doctor. he told me the bad news is that the mole was melanoma but the good news is that it was in situ. soooo what is situ? it's stage 0 cancer, meaning, the cancer hasn't spread and it most likely won't. i have to get a minor surgery this wednesday that will take out the surrounding skin and it's supposed to be 95% effective. that get's biopsied to make sure it hasn't spread. 

melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer and the leading cause of death from skin disease.

the only thing that really scares me know is that i am prone to moles. i have a lot of them and who knows what other ones could be cancer? it freaks me out. also, once you have melenoma, it can come back. so i have to go in for regular check ups to make sure there aren't any changes in the ones i have. 

anyways, all i can ask is for people to keep an eye on their skin. skin cancer is being diagnosed in young people more and more these days, thanks to tanning beds and our wanting to be tan. it doesn't help that i have red in my hair and my natural skin color is pretty fair so i burn easily, but either way, it's not worth it! 

be careful my friends.

blindsided

this song is hitting home right now.. i can't get enough of it. and it may have made me cry.. really hard.

the three amigas

i was on a walk with my mom in utah and i was telling her all about boise. right then and there she decided she would go back with me so she could see everything in person. my sister also came along and i loved it! definitely made the drive a lot better :) tanner couldn't make it to mccall with us so the three girls had a slumber party and then breakfast at the pancake house. my mom was in heaven in the pancakes house "christmas and antique room." we had dinner that night in hyde park with the hubby. i had pretty much been away from tanner the whole week so it was nice to spend some time with him :)