HOW TO: Smokey Eye

Nothing says sexy like the dark, smokey eye. With winter around the corner, this look adds a little bit of daring to your nighttime look. Done right, this drama demands attention, but too much black leaves you with panda eyes. Take these steps to make it perfect:

1. Start with a base that matches your skin tone. This helps smooth the surface of your eye so shadow stays put. Use either your regular liquid foundation or try MAC cosmetics “Paint.” This product goes on creamy and leaves a powdery finish, the perfect base coat.

2. Use a dark shadow (either black or dark brown) and apply to crease first. For black, try NARS “Night Clubbing.” For brown, try Bare Essentials Liner Shadow in “Bark." Use a brush like Sephora’s All Over Shadow Small Brush. Leave your eye open and place the brush in your crease and move in a half-moon motion, back and forth until the area is covered. Then fill in lid.

3. Using a contouring brush, like Sonia Kashuk’s for Target “Blending Brush,” blend the shadow above your crease, giving a faded look near the top of the eye.

4. For an extra kick, make cat eyes by extending the shadow in your crease to the outside of your eye at an angle. Fill in as you did your crease.

5. Finally, apply liner to the top and bottom of your lids. On the bottom, make sure to apply to the inner eye as well to keep the dark color balanced. Smudge with a brush sponge or Q-tip, and apply mascara. With that, you are ready to prowl the town.

HOW-TO: Coming Clean

Going green for beauty is as easy as one, two, three…

1. Covet Cruelty Free Choices

Animal testing for the sake of beauty is a definite no-no, so look for labels that advertise animal-friendly products. David Babaii’s new line for WildAid holds your style and your torch for a better world with pet-free tested products and exotic renewable ingredients. We love the Bohemian Beach Spray, a non-aerosol mist that mixes everything from Israeli sea salt to South Pacific volcanic ash. It adds texture and volume to dull winter strands, creating the perfect sun-kissed waves months before you even have to think about squeezing into a tiny bikini.

2. Skip the Trash Talk

Make an impact on the environment by collecting old makeup cases and returning them to companies that offer incentive programs. Each year more beauty companies are jump-starting programs to recycle used cases to cut down on crowded landfills. Try MAC’s bronzing powder in "golden" for a sheer coverage that highlights your features and maintains your long-lost summer glow. Once you collect six primary packaging containers, return them to your nearest MAC counter or pop them in the mail to get a free lipstick in exchange for your good deed.

3. Go Au Natural

Before you put anything on your face, consider the possible dangerous ingredients lurking in your beauty favorites. Makeup and body products can contain anything from mercury and plastic to sodium chloride and egg whites. Physician’s Formula Organic Wear is the first natural-origin makeup line in the U.S. and offers an entire line of eco-friendly choices ranging from eyeliner to tinted moisturizer. Each product is 100-percent free of synthetic preservatives and harsh chemicals, and the packaging contains 93 percent less plastic than a standard compact.

HOW-TO: Pretty in Pinks

Mark the end of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month with limited edition beauty products whose proceeds help find a cure. Now, thanks to generous donations from several beauty companies, you can fuel important research and your love for all things pink with a few purchases that give back in a big way.

1. Paint it On. Polish-junkies covet OPI, and its exclusive nail lacquer for October lives up to that lust. In addition to donating $25,000 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, OPI created a limited edition 2008 Pink of Hearts nail lacquer ($9) that offers the perfect transition pick from fall to winter. The cotton-candy colored polish boasts a light pink sheen, contains no dangerous chemicals such as DBP, or Formaldehyde, and is available at national salons and beauty stores such as Dillards, JCPenney, Regis, Trade Secret and Ulta.

2. Spritz to Save. Striving for a cure has never smelled so sweet than with Lacoste’s Touch of Pink fragrance ($52). The enticing blend of jasmine, violet, blood orange, sandalwood and vanilla offers a fresh take on feminine floral in an elegant pink bottle. This perfume is perfect fit for a flirty female on-the-go, and a portion of the proceeds from each 1.6 oz Eau de Toilette supports the Young Survivors Coalition.

3. Pamper your Pout. C.O. Bigelow the oldest apothecary in America is known for its old-school beauty product approach. The celebrity-shopping hotspot in the West Village donated $250,000 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and teamed up with cartoonist and author Marisa Acocella Marchetto to create the Cancer Vixen Mentha Lip Tint in Pink Mint ($8) available at Bath and Body Works. The gloss is part of a limited edition collection benefiting breast cancer research, and delivers with an extra pop of color and peppermint oil to sooth those chapped lips.