In Kate Middleton’s early days as a royal fiancee and then the Duchess of Cambridge, she often wore the wrong makeup for the wrong occasion. Her biggest makeup faux pas: she loved wearing really dark, heavy eye makeup constantly, especially for daytime events, almost as if she never realized that she could and should apply her makeup differently depending on the event, season or time. Eventually, she eased up on the daytime raccoon eyes, although I still think her makeup is usually too heavy and too dark for daytime events. Well, now the Mail is pointing out that Kate’s old-school smokey eye is making a comeback. She did much darker eye makeup last week, for the Nigerian state banquet.

The Princess of Wales was once so attached to her heavy kohl eyeliner that she refused a make-up artist on her wedding day so that she could stick with her signature look. In recent years, she’s toned down the heavy black rings of eyeliner that attracted criticism from fashion heavyweights Vivienne Westwood and Viktor & Rolf.

But as she welcomed the Nigerian President and First Lady to Windsor for a glitzy state banquet last week, the smoky eye make-up she favoured throughout the 2010s was back with a bang. At Paris Fashion Week last month, smudged grey eyeshadow and heavy liner was also all over the catwalk, meaning it won’t be long before we’re all queuing up at Boots for the latest smoky eye palette.

But how can you avoid Kate’s mistakes of the past – especially in midlife when sharp lines are not flattering to an ageing face?

‘Smoky eyes can look incredible at any age, it’s all about technique and choosing the right shade,’ celebrity make-up artist Joy Adenuga shared. ‘On mature skin, the biggest mistakes are going too heavy with dark liner or packing on shadow without blending, which can make eyes look smaller and emphasise fine lines. Instead, build colour gradually, focus the darkest tones on the outer corners with a brush such as the smudger brush, and swap harsh black for softer browns or charcoals, it gives definition without looking too much. Picking the right shade for your eye colour makes all the difference. For example, Princess Kate has green-blue eyes, and a hint of dark brown really makes them pop.’

[From The Daily Mail]

I’m adding a close-up of Kate’s state-banquet makeup below – she really did a heavier smokey eye for the banquet, for sure. But I have to repeat something I said last week: the inconsistent quality of Windsor Castle’s in-house photos means that the state banquet pics came out ridiculously saturated. In most of the photos, Kate looks like she’s sporting two black eyes and bruises on her face, and that’s because of the photo quality/contrast levels. That’s not on Kate – that’s on the janky system put in place for these Windsor Castle-centered state visits. But yeah, smokey eyes are making a comeback. In general. I don’t think the trend suits Kate, but whatever.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Kensington Palace.