I only have two eye make-up looks: one is applied in five seconds with my own fingers and the other is a high-impact smoke show, applied by a pro make-up artist—there is no in between. You see, I am truly dire at any sort of technical make-up application. Most days I simply scribble on some concealer, smudge some eyeshadow over my lids, dab a cream blusher onto my cheeks, drag some brow gel through my unruly brows, and head out. I'd like to think that, as a beauty editor who spends her days chatting with the best make-up artists in the world, I'm okay at applying my daily low-maintenance, quick make-up look. But the minute any sort of artistic skill comes into play, I'm useless.
And I have spent my adult life full of envy for one person's eye make-up in particular—Victoria Beckham's daily smokey eye is the stuff I dream of. Having a go-to, low-fuss signature eye look is something I long for—something not too in-your-face but not too bland, either. My problem? I simply have no idea where to start and am totally incapable of applying eye make-up in an intentional way. (Yes, I was the kid who couldn't keep my colouring within the lines.) So, when I was invited to sit down with Victoria's go-to make-up artist, Francesca Abrahamovitch, I jumped at the chance. My mission? To get her to school me on that iconic VB smokey eye.
