(Click any image to enlarge)

I was looking through my drawer of goodies to review, and realized that I had not posted anything about the Bare Escentuals Tutorials: Lesson 1 - the Smokey Eye.  This kit includes two eyeshadows and a double ended eyeshadow brush to assist in making a smokey eye as easy as possible.

The double ended brush is quite unique.  The *style* of brush is the same on both ends, it's just the size that differs.  Basically, the brush reminds me of a standard tapered eyeshadow brush that has been cut into a wedge - one side is big so you get a lot of coverage at once, and the other side is nice and small, allowing smudging, and precision application where needed.  The bristles are very soft, but the hairs are dense, giving you a lot of power in one swipe.

The first eyeshadow is Celestine.  This is by far one of the most universal shades I own from BE.  The color has so much depth, it's one of those that is very difficult to capture on the computer.  It looks to be a basic pale champagne, but there are shimmers of taupe, pinks, blues and golds.  This truly takes on the colors of those other shadows used around it.  I know this is something that can be purchased outside of this kit, and I would highly recommend you add it to your collection.  It's great for every skin tone, and can be used as a crease shade, highlight, or in the case of this kit, as a smokey eye look.

The dark color in this collection is a matte called Skyline.  This is a deep slate color - it is much darker in person than the picture below, but not so dark that it is black.  At first, I couldn't quite figure out how pairing a matte with such an iridescent color like Celestine wouldn't work, but it actually does quite well.  I have found that mattes tend to fall in my line and look *crepey*, but I was pleasantly surprised by BE's matte shadows (this was my first)!   I found that they blend easily and are almost creamy.  I also found that Skyline works really well as an eyeliner when used wet, although I didn't use it this way in the pictures below - that was an experiment I tried after I took these pictures.  

See how nicely these blended together?  I couldn't believe it - and this truly was an easy smokey eye to create.  This was the first of my experience with BE's Tutorial line, but seeing as this came with a brush and two shadows, I'd say they are worth every penny!  Even better, what a great gift idea, since we are coming upon the gift-giving season?

Have you tried any of the Tutorials before?

You can purchase the Tutorials Lesson 1: Smokey Eyes from Sephora for $32.  Besides the Smokey Eyes, look at all the other Tutorials available!