Almost black smoky eyes with theBalm N*de'Tude

Really dark, almost black smoky eye makeup is something I doubt I can pull off, given that my eye colour is almost black. But I am perfectly willing to try new things, just as I tried yellow eyeshadow. So I decided to go in for a light-handed dark look with a blackish-brown eyeshadow.
I also realised that none of my eye looks so far was from theBalm's N*de'Tude eyeshadow palette, which is my favourite neutral palette ever. Perhaps the size of the eyeshadow pans is responsible for this - I do not want to ever hit pan on these pretties! Not to mention the gorgeous packaging. Incidentally, it also contains the most versatile neutrals, with which you can do soft as well as dramatic smoky eye looks.
As usual, I accentuated just the one eyeshadow for this look, although I lightened it out with a couple of paler shades on the inner lid.

Here is a light-handed, almost black smoky eye makeup look with theBalm's N*de'Tude eyeshadow palette.

First, a quick look at N*de'Tude. You will have to forgive the asterisk; I am not taking any risks with "adult" language, as Google puts it. I won a palette of my choice in a giveaway last year and chose this. I have the "naughty" version of the palette, which means the design is more risque than the "nice" version of the palette. The names of all shades in this palette begin with "s".
For this look, I chose Sleek, a matte blackish-brown eyeshadow, for the major part of the lid and the crease, with a light hand. Sleek is a super-pigmented and very dark shade, so I only used a smattering of shadow.
On the inner one-thirds of the lid, I layered Sleek over Selfish, which is a shimmery medium taupe, in order to soften the colour a bit. I used Snobby, a pale gold, in the very inner corners. So the star eyeshadow here is Sleek.

For this look, I used the Kat von D High Voltage Eye Primer. I kept eyeliner to a minimum, for obvious reasons - I did not want this look any darker! I applied the thinnest line I could with the Bourjois Erasable Eyeliner on the upper lid, and Lancome Crayon Khol on the lower lashline. I finished with one coat of Benefit They're Real Mascara. 
All photographs are in natural light. The reason the lighting is uneven is that all these were taken in the car, with me on the passenger seat. The photos were taken at the end of the day, so do ignore the oily pores.

I would probably not go in for a darker eye makeup look than this, at least for now. But you never know when the mood to experiment will strike!
Isn't this palette absolutely wow? I love it more than Urban Decay N@ked 1 and 2, even though I cannot bring myself to use it up. I may be travelling again in July, so I hope to pick up some nice neutral palettes with versatile, pigmented shades. I already have UD 1, 2 and 3, this palette and Too Faced Chocolate Bar. Suggestions welcomed!