Creating a Colourful Smoky Eye with Ruby Recommends

Over the last few months, I've really started to play with colourful make-up. Over the festive period (why oh why does it feel like aeons ago?) I was fortunate to be gifted with a few bits and pieces which have given me the opportunity to have a little bit of fun.

Today I wanted to show you how I created this colourful blue smoky look utilising an eyeshadow palette by international make-up artist Ruby Hammer under her Ruby Recommends capsule line of essentials.

It's a luscious selection of 16 shadows ranging from everyday essential shades to bold bright pops of colour. The set even includes some tools to help get you started thus making it an ideal gift for any budding make-up aficionados if you spot any lying around.

To achieve my look you'll need two blue shadows, one darker than the other, a light champagne shade to use as a highlight, a blending brush, a liner brush, some mascara and some eyeliner to pull everything together.

To start, I used the lighter shade (which is actually more of a turquoise) which is in the top left corner of the palette. I applied this to my lid using a blending brush and just kept blending back and forth over the lid until I had the desired level of colour. As you're applying using a blending brush, this naturally means that the inner corners of the eye will be lighter in shade whilst the outer corners will have more colour saturation.

Then, using the electric blue, second from the top left, and using my liner brush, applied this to the lower lash line, again, going back over the area until I was happy with the colour. I then took the champagne shade which is on the far right of the second row, and patted this into the inner corner to brighten things up a little.

To finish I lined both my waterline and my tight line with a brown eye liner and finished off with lashings of mascara. Oh, and some Bareminerals Moxie Lipstick in Be Brilliant for a real shimmer punch.

I'd never tried anything from this brand before, but I've got to say, the pigmentation and longevity really do pack a punch. They're also remarkably blendable which means it's highly unlikely that you'll be able to make a mistake and not blend it out. This is a great way to play with colour and have a little bit of fun with your make-up.

Whilst it may still be winter outside, my make-up is wishing spring would hurry up already!

Have you tried anything from Ruby Recommends? Have you experimented with colourful make-up lately?