Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup

A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict

An Olivia Wilde-Inspired Chanel Face of the Day

by 86 Comments

I’ve been counting down the days ‘til the release of Cowboys & Aliens, and the invasion is almost here (July 29)! Just gimme a bucket of salty popcorn, a story about angry aliens and 90 uninterrupted minutes with hottie-bo-bottie Daniel Craig, and I’m good to go.

Sure, the movie looks cheesy (potentially very cheesy), but I’m keeping my fingers crossed because, after all, you never know, right? It’s high time someone pitted gunslingers against extra terrestrials, and maybe it’ll work out as well as other unusual pairings like chicken and waffles, salt and caramel, and Brigitte Nielsen and Flavor Flav. 🙂

I’m also looking forward to seeing the lovely Olivia Wilde, whom I’m currently girl crushing on BIG TIME right now.

She looked all sorts of amazing on the red carpet last weekend at the Cowboys & Aliens premiere, sporting this black lace dress with her hair in a loose updo, and for her makeup, which was pure Chanel, she went with a soft smokey eye, pink lips and pinkish nude cheeks.

I liked the look so much that today I thought I’d give something like it a try. Most of the products I used here are from Chanel, with a few bits and bobs from MAC and NARS, but you could surely do something similar with other products you might have around.

I read in a press release that Olivia’s makeup for the evening involved Chanel Illusion D’Ombre Long Wear Eyeshadow in Mirifique ($36), Chanel Inimitable Intense Mascara in Noir ($30) and Chanel Intense Eye Pencil in Noir ($28). I used the same products for my eye look, along with the others mentioned below.


Chanel Illusion D’Ombre Long Wear Eyeshadow in Mirifique, Chanel Inimitable Intense Mascara in Noir and Chanel Intense Eye Pencil in Noir


Swatches from the left with the flash: Chanel Intense Eye Pencil in Noir, Chanel Illusion D’Ombre Long Wear Eyeshadow in Mirifique and Chanel Inimitable Intense Mascara in Noir


Without the flash

Eye see you! 🙂

Olivia Wilde-inspired smokey eyes

A breakdown of my look…

EYES
CHEEKS
LIPS
FACE

My least favorite thing about smokey eyes is the time they take for blending. To get the products to flow together well as seamlessly as possible, I pretty much blend until my wrist starts to cramp (Kidding! Well, kinda…). Then, right around the time I think I’ve smoothed out every last harsh line…I blend a little more. And more. And a tad more.

I guess what I’m trying to say is I blend a lot. 🙂 If you’d like to see a more in depth tutorial, holla at me in the comments!

So I know this isn’t Chanel related but…

I had a rough afternoon today (PMS, grrr!) and was on the verge of tears until I saw these pics of two up-and-coming pet models showcasing their tubes of EvRev.


Here, Miss Kitty works her flawless profile for her assistant, Makeup Magpie


Sunshine the cockatiel, who lives with reader Jennifer, is a dude who loves gloss and isn’t afraid to show it

Thanks, ladies. You made my day 1,000% better.

Anywho, I hope you had a good one today. We did it! Well, almost. We’re just about over the hump.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Sara says

    The foundation looks amazing on you! And i love the smokey eye. I would love to try the foundation but I don’t know if there is a shade match for NC43.

    Reply

  3. Cristina says

    I love Olivia Wilde as well, and was just checking out her red carpet look! Don’t know if I’ll be checking out Cowboys & Aliens, but I might need to try this look… You look so gorgeous!

    Reply

  5. Samantha says

    I would love to see a more in depth tutorial! It’s always nice to see a little bit more… This looks like a perfect look for a semi-formal event I’ve got coming up. Just saying… Mayyyyybe you could record it? I sure do miss your YouTube videos:) but if not I think we’d all be happy with a more in depth blog tutorial! Ugh, and I’m with you on the PMSing today… I hate, hate, HATE it!

    Reply

  9. Kate & Zena says

    Olivia Wilde always has the best eye looks. I’m always trying to recreate her looks. If only my right eye were the tiniest bit less baggy; they look even, but my right eye is just the tinniest bit baggy on the top and it creates a host of problems. If only I could blend the same way; I’ve noticed I tend to go one way on my right eye and another on the other. Very frustrating.

    Karen, I wish PMS was my problem. I get to go to Dr. Mom tomorrow (that’s what we call our physician because she hounds us to eat more veggies! That and she knows everything.) I’m “sick.” I’m not physically cough-and-a-fever sick, but there’s something with me because I’ve lost almost 11 pounds in three weeks. That’s not good for me as I’m “underweight” as it is by that stupid thing called BMI. I hope your cramps let up!

    Reply

    • Karen says

      Hi Kate,

      I know what you mean about having blending look different on each eye. I have the tendency to do the same thing, so I adjust as I go along. Do you ever do the trick where you tilt your chin up during application? I do it all the time, and I think it helps for me to see the entire lid all at once.

      Hope the visit with Dr. Mom goes okay. Tabs sends kitty hugs (he knows it’s never fun to visit the doc’s office!).

      Reply

      • Kate & Zena says

        Hi Karen,

        Oh yea, I tilt my chin my chin up and it still looks a wee wonky. I’m working on it. It’s just a matter of my being more right handed than left. When I actually use my left hand on my left eye, they actually come out even which is REALLY strange considering how weak that hand is. (Side note: Most peoples hands are rather equal in strength, not mine. That’s the ONE area you see my Cerebral Palsy the most. My left is much weaker. I used to have Left Hand Days when I was little to get me to use it!)

        The visit with Dr. Mom was slightly depressing. She thinks it’s just summer weight loss, but she’s running a thyroid test just to make sure nothing’s wrong with my thyroid and my iron levels and some other doctor babble I didn’t quite catch. I’m pretty good catching doctor babble, but she tends to babble a lot when she’s thinking and I don’t quite catch everything.

        Reply

  10. Heidi says

    What a beautiful look! And yes, I would love to see a tutorial. Every time I attempt a look like this with these types of shades my lack of patience gets the best of me and I end up with a whole Taylor Momsen look going on and, well, not cute!

    Reply

    • Karen says

      I hear ya. When I first started doing smokey eyes it was one of the hardest challenges to overcome. With a little bit of practice, though, you can work it! 🙂

      Reply

  21. Freidra says

    Ha! That’s funny – Olivia Wilde is on my Keira Knightly list of “Oh, I wish they’d go away…” But your makeup inspired by her is beautiful!

    Reply

  24. Kim says

    I actually like yours better – it looks a bit softer to me. It must be all the blending! Mirifique is beautiful, though on me I think it would look like someone popped me in the eye. 🙂

    I’ll definitely see Cowboys and Aliens, too. I mean, it stars Han Solo/Indiana Jones and James Bond. What’s not to love? 🙂

    Reply

    • Karen says

      Dude, you could TOTALLY do this color. It actually sheers out really well. And if you’re afraid of all the black liner you could always use a gray or a gunmetal shade.

      Reply

      • Kim says

        It’s very tempting – and thanks for the encouragement! Black eyeliner sort of makes me look like a pirate hooker, so your gray suggestion would definitely be the winner. 🙂

        Reply

    • Karen says

      Hi Stephanie,

      Yup, I’m warm-toned (NC), but I use an NW concealer.

      It’s a trick I learned from a MAC artist. When you have purplish/blue circles beneath your eyes like I do, using a pink or a peachy toned concealer helps cancel out the color. Using a yellow-based concealer, like an NC, sometimes creates a grayish tone (it has to do with the color wheel).

      Reply

  27. Kelly says

    Very nice! Love an awesome smokey eye! I’m getting very intrigued by Chanel products these days, so I think I need to make a shopping pit stop there soon 😛

    Reply

  31. BooBooNinja says

    I like your look better than Olivia’s.
    You found the ideal balance between eye size/shape with the “smoke out”.
    Please do a video tutorial! I kneel at your blending saavy!

    Reply

    • Karen says

      Hi BooBooNinja,

      Aww, thanks. Video tutorials take a while to edit… I’ll probably end up doing a photo/text one, but we’ll see how much time I have this weekend. 🙂

      And you can totally work that blending, girl! Just keep moving that wrist until you can’t no more, LOL!

      Reply

  34. snoopysteph says

    Olivia Wilde is so pretty! Her red carpet looks are always out of the park. 😀 She has a great combo of sultry & classy.

    I have one of the Illusion D’Ombre shadows (Epatant) but now I’m really considering picking up Mirifique! Makes a VERY lovely, soft smoky eye – you look fantastic, by the way!

    Reply

  40. Stephanie R says

    GORGEOUS! I’m finding my makeup case so I can try this right now! I like the VitaLumiere Aqua foundation more though…feels more like a tinted moisturizer than an actual foundation!

    Reply

  41. KAREN says

    DANG GURL!!! Miss Karen you are lookin HOT!!! OUCH OUCH! HOT! =D

    Now you have created a Chanel lemming and I am going to copy this look!! and I have yet to go find my TJ Mango Bars… They are ALWAYS gone!!! Are you having them ship them to you from LA? lololol!

    Karen =)

    Reply

  42. resa says

    Ok I officially love this blog. L-O-V-E the look and I’ll try to wear it this weekend.. if it’ll work on me. ><! Think a soft pinkish-peach colored, flowy short dress will match it?

    Reply

  45. Natalie says

    Awww Karen, I’m sorry you had a rough day! Le PMS le sux! I’ve been trying to get a pic of my EvRev with one of the kitties since I got it, but everytime I place it near one of them they either try to eat it OR try to eat the camera! Argh! I guess my kitties just don’t have Tabs’ talent. And I would love a smokey eye tutorial. It drives me nuts ‘cuz everyone is always talking about smokey eye this and smokey eye that and I have no clue how to make that happen! I iz a makeup spaz! 😀

    Reply

  53. Teresa says

    I just bought the Chanel Illusion D’Ombre in Mirifique and can’t wait to attempt this look! And I say “attempt” because despite hoarding boxes full of shadows, creams, pencils, etc. I still suck at application! So yes, I would LOVE an in-depth tutorial if you’re willing to provide one!! <3

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Copyright © 2025 Makeup and Beauty Blog. Get in touch.