Downton Abbey’s Joanna Froggatt wears a party perfect eye

Q: I’ve seen loads of celebs wearing smokey eyes and I’d love to try it for the party season but I can never seem to blend it right. I need help!

Jayne Thompson, 39, York

A: There’s nothing I love more than a smouldering eye for evening. I’ve observed many make-up artists creating a smokey eye and have picked up a few tips along the way.

Start by applying a wash of a pale shade, like a cream or light metallic gold, across the whole eyelid. Take a slightly deeper shade and apply in the middle of the eyelid only. Next apply a dark grey, deep brown or black eyeshadow to the outer corner.

Take the colour into the eye crease but here’s how you get the smokey look just right – as you move your brush along the socket line do it with your eye open, not closed. This gives a more blended effect. I like to use a tapered brush to do this. Revlon Contour Shadow Brush, £5.99, Superdrug, is my own personal choice. I finish off by taking the colour underneath my lower lashes and blending with my fingertip.

Stephanie Maylor, Beauty Editor