Louise McSharry: How to create a smoky halo eye in just five minutes

Our beauty expert shares her go-to favourites that will make your sockets shimmer

Rebeluna L111 Luxe Shader, €10, rebeluna.com

NYX Glitter Primer, €9.20, cultbeauty.com

Kaleidos The Futurism Eyeshadow Palette, €22.08, kaleidosmakeup.com

L'Oréal Kids Shampoo, €4.10, mccabespharmacy.com

Garnier Kids 2 in 1 Shampoo & Detangler, €6.99, boots.ie

Makeup products to create halo eyes

Rebeluna L111 Luxe Shader, €10, rebeluna.com

NYX Glitter Primer, €9.20, cultbeauty.com

Kaleidos The Futurism Eyeshadow Palette, €22.08, kaleidosmakeup.com

L'Oréal Kids Shampoo, €4.10, mccabespharmacy.com

Cloud Cream, €35, sculptedbyaimee.com

Garnier Kids 2 in 1 Shampoo & Detangler, €6.99, boots.ie

Makeup products to create halo eyes

Louise McSharry

February 02 2023 12:00 PM

It is a source of genuine sadness in my life that I don’t have much time to spend getting ready for a night out anymore. There’s a girl I follow on TikTok who regularly starts her process at around 2pm for leaving the house six hours later, and while that may seem crazy to some of you, it makes me nostalgic.

I miss the days when the getting ready process was as much fun as the night itself. I miss heading over to a friend’s house with my makeup and hair tools in tow, ready to gossip and laugh and sing along to whatever ‘best song ever’ we were into at the time. Even if I was getting ready alone, the process would be hours long, the result of careful calculation. My hair alone would be allotted 90 minutes on some nights. These days, I’m lucky to get half an hour for the whole process, so I’ve had to streamline things significantly.

Speeding up the process doesn’t mean I want to compromise on results, though. I want to feel just as good walking out the door as I would if I had hours to spend on my look. For me, that means eye makeup looks that take five minutes, but look like they took an age. My go-to in these situations is a halo eye, which is essentially a smokey eye with a shimmer in the centre of the lid. I believe everyone can achieve this look — all you need is a matte dark shadow and a light shimmer in complimentary tones.

Kaleidos The Futurism Eyeshadow Palette, €22.08, kaleidosmakeup.com

Most eyeshadow palettes will include a mix of matte and shimmer shades, so you probably have the goods already. If you don’t and fancy buying yourself something beautiful, Kaleidos The Futurism Eyeshadow Palettes are absolutely beautiful, and include impactful shimmers (€22.08 via kaleidosmakeup.com).

Rebeluna L111 Luxe Shader, €10, rebeluna.com

Start by applying the darker shadow across the lid, stopping at the crease, and under the lower lash line, including around the inner corner of the eye. Use a small brush, like Rebeluna L111 Luxe Shader (€10 via rebeluna.com) to apply and then a clean, larger blending brush, like Rebeluna L110 Luxe Blender (€10 via rebeluna.com) to blend out the edges.

Video of the Day

If you’re struggling to diffuse the colour, a little translucent powder on the brush will help. Next, use your finger to apply the shimmer to the centre of the lid. You will always get better payoff from shimmery shadows with a finger due to their almost creamy texture. A brush won’t pick up as much product and will struggle to leave it on the lid.

NYX Glitter Primer, €9.20, cultbeauty.com

If you don’t want to or can’t, a little NYX Glitter Primer (€9.20 via cultbeauty.com) on the lid will help with brush application, just keep it to the centre of the lid. I like to apply a little shimmer to the centre of the lower lash line too for the sake of symmetry, but it’s not essential. Use a brush to diffuse the edges of the shimmer, using small, short strokes so that you don’t end up with shimmer across the entire lid. Don’t get me wrong, that will look good too, but you’ll lose the striking contrast of the halo effect.

Whenever you use a dark shadow, there’s risk of experiencing ‘fallout’, or shadow falling onto the rest of your face as you apply. To avoid this, either start your makeup application with your eyes so that you can clean off any fallout without impacting the rest of your face, or tap your brush thoroughly before applying the eyeshadow to lower the chances of it speckling your cheeks.

Buying Irish

Cloud Cream, €35, sculptedbyaimee.com

It’s hard not to get excited when Sculpted by Aimee launch a new product, such is the consistently high quality of the range. The latest launch is CloudCream (€35 via sculptedbyaimee.com), a nourishing ceramide moisturiser. Ceramides are lipids essential to the skin barrier, and there’s been a huge focus on them in skincare over the last few years.

This product also includes hyaluronic acid, and it undoubtedly delivers on moisture and hydration. It’s nice and light, so sits well under makeup (unsurprising from a makeup brand) and comes in a refillable pot, ticking the sustainability box too.

Something old…

L'Oréal Kids Shampoo, €4.10, mccabespharmacy.com

Bath time in our house is always met with trepidation from the adults. The kids love the playtime and love the water, as long as it doesn’t go above their neck. That means hair washing is almost never completed without a fight. There are lots of great kids’ shampoos in the market, and there is no doubt that it being the right colour and smell, along with the bottle itself looking fun, can make a real difference when it comes to making hair wash time more appealing.

L’Oréal Kids shampoos (€4.10 via mccabespharmacy.com) have long been a staple in our house, and I actually remember them being a bathroom essential when my sisters were children 20 or so years ago. They smell great, detangle well and have a ‘no tears’ formula so it won’t cause problems if it ends up dripping into little ones’ eyes. It also comes in brightly coloured packaging which makes the whole process feel a little more cheerful.

...Something new

Garnier Kids 2 in 1 Shampoo & Detangler, €6.99, boots.ie

We’ve established that brightly coloured packaging helps when it comes to convincing your kids to co-operate with a hair wash, but nothing could have prepared me for how powerful the presence of Frozen’s Elsa and Olaf could be on a shampoo bottle. Garnier’s new Kids 2 in 1 Shampoo & Detangler (€6.99 via boots.ie) includes a range of famous cartoon characters, from Simba to Ariel. The formula was tested under paediatric and ophthalmologist control, meaning it shouldn’t irritate kids’ skin and eyes.