A perfectly executed brown smokey eye is the beauty equivalent of a white T-shirt. It suits everyone, it suits all styles, and it’s ageless, looking equally fantastic on a twenty-year-old as it does on an eighty-year-old. But, like all great style favorites, it should be adapted to suit you. By playing with shades, placement, and intensity, you can create a look that’s timeless. Here’s what you need to know.

How to do a brown smokey eye look

Step 1: Begin with eyeliner

The most foolproof brown smokey eye begins with eyeliner, not eye shadow. “Run MINERALIST Lasting Eyeliner in Topaz along your upper and lower lash lines and blend out with the smaller end of the Essential Blender Brush,” says bareMinerals Global Makeup Artist, Carly Giglio.

Step 2: Be strategic with eyeshadow

Giglio recommends choosing a deep shade of brown (such as the shade Coconut from the MINERALIST Warmth Eyeshadow Palette) and blending it over the eyeliner and upwards to just below the natural crease in your eyelids, to create an affect that complements your natural eye shape.

Step 3: Create a transition

The secret to an excellent brown smokey eye lies in transitioning from one shade to another. Focus the deeper shades of brown eyeshadow at your lash line and opt for softer shades the further out you blend to give a softly diffused finish. Apply the lighter shade just beyond the dark shade and blend the two, feathering the color out into the crease. The shade Cove in MINERALIST Warmth Eye Palette is a great option for medium to dark skin tones, while Dawn 5 from MINERALIST Ultranatural Eyeshadow Palette looks beautiful on light to medium skin tones.

Step 4: The finishing touches

Frame your brown smokey eye with two coats of glossy black mascara, such as MAXMIST Phyto-Fiber Volumizing Mascara and tidy up and define your brows with a tinted brow gel like STRENGTH & LENGTH Eyebrow Gel in either Taupe, Chestnut, or Coffee. “To intensify the look, apply your eyeliner to the inner rim of your upper and bottom eyelids,” says Giglio.