Lupita Nyong’o, photographed by Philippe Salomon for Essence, March 2014.

Lupita Nyong’o, photographed by Philippe Salomon for Essence, March 2014.

I love the bold monochromatic looks the makeup artist Matin created for Lupita Nyong’o, above, in Essence magazine a few months ago. I wanted to try to re-create them on my own face, and show you how to do the same. Get out your makeup brushes, and let’s go!

XKeo8

What you’ll need:

I tried this look with three different main colors: green, purple, and orange.

I tried this look with three different main colors: green, purple, and orange.

• An eye shadow primer to ensure that your colors will look vibrant and last throughout the day.
• Three eye shadows in different shades of the same color: dark, medium, and light.
• A medium-size eye shadow brush.
• Optional: eyeliner and mascara.
• Optional: a lipstick in the same color family as your shadows (or not!).

How to do it:

Step One: Apply your primer.
vBeu3Step Two: Use a brush to apply the medium shade to your lids, leaving the inner and outer corners bare.
w2eYUStep Three: Now take your darkest color and sweep it from the center of your eyelid crease (if you have one), or the indentation right below your brow bone to the outer corner of each lid. Blend the two colors you’ve got going on so there’s no visible line between them.
Uvda1Step Four: Use the lightest color to fill in the inner corners of your lids and the swath between your brow bone and your eyebrow. I blended a tiny bit of the medium color into this highlighting shade to soften the look a little.
uYKQAStep Five (optional): I like to add eyeliner and mascara (and sometimes false lashes!) to this look, but you don’t hafta.
Step Six (also optional): Apply matching (or mismatched if you like) lip color. Here are my finished looks!
d2cAalfe4yc3RPr

Knock ’em dead, superstar. ♦