How to: Mischa's smoky eye

It’s the most coveted look of all time but one that us girls have the biggest problem with. Not to fear, bh got make-up legend Nicola Burford to spill the beans on how to get the look that Miss Barton rocked so well at Elie Saab in Paris.

“The most perfect smoky eye can easily be achieved by following these simple steps. And remember, it’s not all about the black, colours such as charcoal grey, navy, bottle green or plum also look great as a smoky eye application.”

1. Prime the eye area with a little foundation or concealer, and set with a small amount of colourless loose powder (this will stop your eye colours ‘grabbing’).

2. Take a kohl eye liner pencil and apply all around the circumference of the eye, blending the edges with a pencil-shaped brush. On the lid and lower rim, make the application heavier and go in the roots of the eyelashes.

3. Using a flatter applicator brush apply an eyeshadow in the same or similar colour over the pencil, blending outwards onto the eye lid and lower rim in the same manner as the pencil.

4. Using a fluffy socket brush blend a little more of the eyeshadow on the lid and socket line, working the colour outwards toward the temple. A great trick, if you’ve made a blending boo-boo, is to take a little of your colourless face powder on a clean eyeshadow brush and soften any hard edges by buffing gently.

5. To make the eye even more alluring, apply a black kohl eyeliner pencil around the inner waterline of the eye.