I’ve been told my makeup artists (shoutout to Victor !) that emphasizing the lower lash line by really dragging out/diffusing eyeshadow can help to open my eyes, and since this is something I LOVE TO DO ANYWAY, that’s something I stick to! I also find that adding more reflective/brightening shadows to the inner tearduct also helps.
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How would I go about finding out what I can do to flatter my eye shape? 🙂
You can google for diagrams of eye shapes, try to figure out what your eye shape is, and then if you google that eye shape and tips/tricks, you should get on the right path. On your own, it’s mostly about trying to figure out how you like your eyes to look – are you trying to elongate them? open? narrow? and trying techniques that play with shapes/colors/textures that might help!
My eyes are kind of small and flat, so I like to use shimmery shades in inner corner and inner/middle lids to give my eyes some dimension and make them look bigger, then a darker matte on outer lid and crease to add drama and give them a more youthful lift. I just ignore the “experts” that advise older women to stick to all matte shadows, as they seem to make my eyes look smaller, flatter, tired, and older. I think some shimmer can be very flattering and brightening, and I’ll even pop a little glitter onto the middle lid to add sparkle
I agree with you 100% about matte shadows often not flattering (my) older, textured, saggy lids. Matte-ness often seems to emphasize rather than disguise texture for me. I prefer slightly shimmery shadows where the texture is worst, because it diffuses the texture, then shimmery shadow where I want to draw attention. I agree with you about an all-matte eye look making me look more tired!
Yep, I agree with you there! Some pretty shimmer can help blur fine lines and texture on the lids. For a more mature face, I think a dewy, glowy foundation can look so much more flattering than an all-matte foundation that looks flat and dry and settles into every wrinkle, so I don’t understand why the “experts” always recommend all-matte shadows for more mature lids. It might work for some people but not me. Bring on the shimmer!
Katherine, I agree with you about matte shadows on older lids. I’m 53, and I figure if matte lipsticks make my lips look older and shriveled, it stands to reason all matte eyes don’t do me any favors either. I have some favorite mattes I use in the crease (or just above it, to be more precise), but otherwise I go with at least a satiny finish on my lids. And I have a few downright sparkly shadows I wear often.
Great point about how matte lipsticks can make lips look older ! I find glossier lipsticks and lip glosses to be more comfortable and flattering, so if we apply the same theory to lids, then maybe I should try some shiny eye gloss 😉
Agree with you comments on mattes. They seem to accentuate any eye crinkles left over after treatment and look flat. I like what you are doing. I guess I do similar in things, with slightly more restraint. Thank God I wear glasses!
Oh yes! My eye shape is almond, very hooded, and without makeup they appear smaller than they really are. So everything is applied upwards and a bit outwards especially as it goes towards my outer brow. Because of the hooded-ness, I use only matte or a matte-like satin on my browbone and as my blending/transition shades. This makes the hood less obvious by making it seem less “fatty” or puffy? Idk, but it does work! When I do my upper lid cat-eye, I first tightline the whole upper inner lashline, then ONLY do my winged part from the outside cat-eye halfway across, carefully joined to the tightline so that it appears that my liner goes all the way across, thereby making the most of my limited lid space. Let’s at least some lid color show. And I always line my lower lashline to give my eyes extra definition! (A cut crease is also my BFF!)
Nancy, I like the way you do cat-eye liner, I’m going to have to try it! I’ve got hooded lids, too, but small, round eyes. I like slightly satin shades for my browbone and blending/transition shades, too, especially MUFE satins or Kjaer Weis.
Smart.
It took me many years to understand how to work with my eye shape, and I’m still not sure that I’m doing what’s best.
My eyes are quite big and most of my eyelid remains visible when they are open because they’re protruding, so my crease is high and deep. I’ve learnt to go easy on the lower lashes, keeping the line thin, because doing too much there drags my eyes down and makes them look even bigger and rounder. I also think that a classic smokey, with the darkest color around the lash lines, works well for me. I also avoid using very dark or contrasting shadow in the crease.
I’m Chinese, so my eyes are a little hooded, with the epicanthic fold hiding my double eyelid sometimes. I’ve found that for eyeliner, it helps to keep the line thin from the inner corner to the middle before thickening it so as not to completely overshadow the double eyelid. Also, I like to keep the area that shows in the double eyelid much lighter than the rest of the eye makeup to brighten and open up the eyes.
Bringing the crease shadow more above my natural crease, since I have hooded eyes. Not using eyeliner on my lashline, only on my upper (and sometimes lower) waterline, to not take up more space from my already hardly visible lid.
I never researched tricks for my eye shape specifically, I just tried different applications until I liked one. Shadow on the lower lash line or on the lower waterline is something I rarely do, as i feel it doesn’t look good on me.
I have close-set eyes and I need to lift my outer corners because they seem to look saggy. So applying eyeliner on the upper lashline plus a wing do the trick. I also avoid going all the way my lower lash line.
Christine, please don’t ban me from your page for what I am about to say. To answer your question, with my eye look, I just…
…wing it. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
I enjoy a good pun 😉
In some respects, I wish I could go back to not knowing how to deal with my hooded eyes. I was blissfully ignorant. Now the perfectionist in me has a tough time letting them just hang out in all their gory.
Over the past year I have learned how creating a faux crease on my hood and using visual cues to get a proper angle for a swept up look can make my eyes look considerably larger. All of this courtesy of numerous beauty vloggers with considerable help coming from Alissa Ashley who for some reason just clicks with me and makes it all make perfect sense.
Wwendy, it sounds like I do some of the same things you do, but I just sort of muddled my own way through to it, mostly. But sometimes I don’t want to take the time, just want to slap some color on my lids, and now it never looks quite right to me when I do that!
Argh Fran, I’m so with you on your comment it just doesn’t look right.
We just had to go and make things hard for ourselves, right? 😉
I’m the exact opposite on the lower lash line, Christine! I have really round eyes so if I apply too much or blend too low, it doesn’t do much but accentuate my eye bags and give me a sort of Gollum-esque appearance. “Blending brush…my precioussss!” is not exactly the goal lol. I prefer halo eyes with a color on the inner third darker than that on the center, even just by a little. It really helps draw to my eye shape under my glasses without looking muddled or over-the-top.
Also for glasses, I find that a lot of lid work can disappear easily under my frames. One of the easiest ways to draw attention to my eyes is to smoke out the upper lash line but add color on the lower lash line. Much easier to see!
Baahaha I feel the exact same way about lining my lower lash line! Whenever I try it I’m like “well…. that was a mistake”. My under eyes are dark enough, they do not need any help lol!
I go dark on the outer corner but light-handed on the crease since my eyes are fairly deep-set. Then plenty of highlight in the inner tear duct, always dark eyeliner on the top lashline, and ample mascara! I feel like this helps accentuate an almond shape that I really like.
I like to work my eyeshadow up and outwards in the outer corner of my eyes to lift my eyes.
I have a lot of excess skin on my lids, so I always contour them before I put any color on. It
I have partially hooded/heavy eyelids so I never use anything other than a matte for the crease. I extend the crease slightly above the natural fold and bring the shadow out vertically with a slight arch in the center. If I’m going for a cat eye, I create the look by extended upward and outward both the top and bottom lashlines. I also use the brightener trick in the inner corners but have to be careful how far it’s extended. I tend to work my shades from,lightest to darkest moving outward. For liners, I tend to go with a skinny or tightline on the upper lashes until I reach about halfway out where I thicken the line. I rarely line the bottom waterline as it makes my eyes look even smaller. For bottom lining, I usually go just under the lashes and use a light shade on the inner portion with a darker shade on the outer section or go over an all across dark shade with a light one on the inside 1/3.
My eyes are almond-shaped, but somewhat hooded, and deep set. Little to none of my mobile eyelid shows with my eye open. I concentrate on lifting the eye. The tape trick for creating a sharp line is my favorite method, as well as darkening the outer corners a bit. Highlighting the inner corner helps counteract the dark shadows I get from having deep set eyes. Application methods such as Wayne Goss’ straight line technique works great, as well and gives a similar effect.
I’m careful about lining my top lid. Often I don’t wear liner there, and I just go with lots of mascara, making sure I get the roots. If I do line the top lid, it’s usually either a winged liner, a very thin line close to the lashes, or tightlined. (So far, the only thing that works on my tightline is UD Perversion; everything else makes my eyes water non-stop).
Rachel, for tightlining I try to make sure I’m putting the liner in the lashline from underneath, rather than on the waterline. I like to use a gel liner with a soft but firm brush: Make Up For Ever #172 Precision Corrector Brush works well for me, as do Inglot and IT Cosmetics gel liners and NARS Eye Paints.
Fran, thanks for the tips! I’ve often used powder in the lashline, using a push liner brush. I haven’t tried gel liner that way. I’ll give it go.
Good luck with it!
Ug, we have almost the same problem!
You are not alone in your boat 🙂 Goss’ straight line works for me too, but I sweep up the outside edges up a touch towards my brow tails for a bit more lift.
I find a shimmery eyeliner is very friendly to my upper lashline. Marc Jacobs pencils are fantastic or a shimmery liquid liner gives my eyes a nice pop. I absolutely have to tightline..LOL I have fat upper waterlines. Winged liner has to be quite thin on me as well.
It’s rather nice to read other comments dealing with same issues.
It’s great that we can all help each other with different ideas. Sometimes, even the smallest tweaks can make a huge difference.
A whole bunch of us here dealing with da hood! My tightlining technique is yet something else, I go up from underneath with a sharpened, super black, waterproof pencil. Then set it with MAC Nehru e/s, because yep, Nyx Slide-On pencil are great, but later in the day: black eye boogers! So, having read Fran’s weapon of tightlining choice, Gel, I may give that a go next.
My eyes are small, round, and quite saggy and hooded at this point, but I’ve developed a color placement system that gets me compliments.
1. a good, strong primer from lashline to browline (my favorite is NARS Eye Paint in Porto Venere, because I find that matte bases tend to emphasize the texture on my eyelid skin)
2. tightline, by which I mean pushing liner into the lashline (not on the upper waterline) from underneath; there’s really no room for eyeliner above my lashes
3. apply a base color from crease to brow — a slightly satin, or matte, beige-ish color a bit lighter than my own skin
4. apply a mid-tone neutral taupish color to the hood — from the deepest part of the crease up onto the saggy part of the lid — in an upward-lifting, cat-eye kind of shape, kind of a curved, long, skinny triangle lying in its side with its point in the crease near my nose, flaring outward toward the end of my eye and the end of my brow — also slightly satinish, or matte — this shouldn’t be very noticeable unless you’re doing dramatic or evening makeup, it’s more to make the ‘hood’ recede a bit and do something with a lifting effect, since there’s really no room for eyeliner
5. apply a light, bright, shimmery shade to the inner 2/3 of the mobile lid
6. apply a coordinating darker, possibly less shimmery shade to the outer 1/3 of the mobile lid; depending on the color and the look desired, bring it up into the crease color a bit like you were doing an ‘outer V’ shape
7. blend carefully — you don’t want a sharp distinction between the base and crease colors, but you don’t want things to get muddy, either
8. add a light, shiny shade to the inner corner near (almost on) the nose if there’s not enough light in the inner corner (not on the tear duct, too many fine lines there at this point)
9. apply a line of #5 under the lower lashes from outer corner to where the eyelashes end
10. apply some #6 over that on the outer 1/3 of that line, and make sure it’s connected with the color on the upper lid, then smudge and soften both lower lid colors so you don’t get fallout later (eye pencil can be used instead, but most are too dark for the effect I want — they tend to ‘close off’ my eye and make it look smaller)
A slight variation is to use a medium shimmery shade on the inner 1/3 of the mobile lid, a light shade in the middle, and a dark shade on the outer 1/3, but I don’t usually do that because my eyes are so round and it just makes them look even rounder.
Because of the shape of my eyes, you see only a hint of the bright colors on my lid until I blink or close my eyes for a second — so I can use really bright, vivid colors without my eye makeup screaming *bright green*! from a block away.
watching youtube videos has totally changed my life when it comes to eyeshadow application. i have hooded eyes and while i dont think i was doing too terrible of a job, learning about using a contour shade above my crease and upwards at the outer corners has totally changed the look of my face with makeup (for the better). I also learned from a makeup artist to wing hooded eyes you need to go strait out from the outer corner, which has really saved me from the dreaded disappearing wing!
I have almond-shaped, extremely hooded eyes, and about a finger’s width of space to work with when my eyes are open. (My mobile lid completely disappears when I look straight ahead, so anything I put there is only visible when I blink or look down.)
-I use a darker, matte neutral (my favorite is UD Secret Service) to fake a natural crease. I tend to use matte or nearly-matte brow highlight. The matte shades make my eyes look less puffy. Shimmery highlights are reserved for the tear duct area.
-When I want to use a lighter shimmer or glitter bomb of a color, I use the halo technique (darker color on the outer and inner corners, spot of shimmer/glitter in the middle).
-I smudge black or brown liner at the very base of my top lashes (as it would disappear and smudge anyway if done traditionally). I do use liner of any color smudged under my lower lashes. Usually people say this is a no-no because it makes your eyes look smaller or droopy, but as long as the rest of my eye look on top is fully done, it works for me!
-Curling my lashes and using a great mascara is a must. My lashes are naturally long and dark, but the weight of my hood pushes them out straight, and they tend to get lost otherwise.
Credit goes to Stephanie Lange for a lot of these tricks!
Took me a while to discover that very same trick. Also extending the lower lash out past the corner of the eye and up, and then dragging the excess into the outer V of the upper lash, kind of like creating a cat eye from the bottom. This is now my preferred method for a smokey look after years of not quite being able to nail it.
It’s not my technique but I tend to use Wayne Goss’s technique for hooded eyes if I’m doing something smokey or colorful. My eyes aren’t totally hooded but it looks better this way on me.
Having deep set eyes I usually put something light and shimmery all over or 2/3 of the lid/corner and something to add definition to the outer corner thats darker and less shimmery. Just about everyone does this but it adds dimension to my eye shape. My eyes are also almond shapes too.
My eyes are on the small side, are closely-spaced, and have a slight downward tilt that has become more pronounced as I get older. So I do a few things:
1. I never, ever put dark liner in my inner rims. That only makes them look smaller, and “piggish.” The only thing that ever goes there is a pale nude pencil, to help open up my eyes and brighten my look.
2. Both liner and shadow are lifted upward at the outer edges, to help offset the downward tilt so my eyes don’t look quite so droopy.
3, The inner third of my lid is reserved for lighter shadows, with the deepest shades on the outer third. And pencil liner starts very light on the inner third (if any is there at all), and intensified as I move outward. This helps my eyes look not quite so close-set.
4. After years of trying, I’ve finally admitted that no matter how expertly it’s applied, liquid liner doesn’t do anything for me but make my eyes look smaller. The closest I ever come is a fine tight-line right at the base of my lashes for definition. But that’s it. Otherwise, it’s smudgy pencil liner all the way, top and bottom.
5. Something pale and satiny blended in the shadowy spaces between my lids and the bridge of my nose can do wonders for making me look more awake.
Your technique sounds perfect!
I have found out how to best use eyeshadows on my hooded, almond shaped eyes (thank you Robyn from EA): use darker eyeshadow at the lower third of my eyes and then use two lighter shadows for the rest. By adding a little eyeshadow around the lower corners of my eyes helps also. If I put eye shadow all the way under my eyes, like you do Christine, it would actually make my eyes look smaller. So I have learnt not to do this.
Christine, I am an Indian with typical almond shaped, brown eyes; not hooded. I find that for my eyes, if i apply an eyeliner, i do so only on upper lid; and forgo with any other kohl. If I am not in a mood for eyeliner; thrn I just tightline my eyes with any smooth nice brownor colored kohls( i found black kohl to be a bit harsh for my eyes). For daytime wear; I just put on some neutral eyeshadow or often keep it bare; and for nightime party look… Heck… I like to experiment with colors. Find aubergine, browns/ neutrals, goldens, khaki greens to be my favorite shades for the shadows.
Although my eyes are large they are a bit close set, more brow bone than lid shows so I guess you’d call the deep set also.
Putting a bright shade like MAC Nylon on the inner corners of my eyes really opens them up & makes them look less close set.
Winged eyeliner draws my eyes apart a bit too.
Applying a soft shimmer or satin shadow lash line to brow bone in a “barely there” nude or pastel shade makes my eyes look less deep set.
I love to applay and smoke a brown mate shadow on inferior lashes, instead of only applay black eyeliner. It comes my eyes langer than whithout makeup.
I have uneven eyes- one monolid and one with double eyelids, so I’ve resigned myself to having either really thick liner or shading the entire area with a deeper colour to even them out. I usually wing out my shadow or liner even just a tiny bit too, so my eyes don’t look downturned at the outer corners!
I have two tricks.
***Firstly, my crease. My eye’s without makeup on are very almond shaped yet rounder vertically. So if i were to lay down my eyeshadow into my crease and quite literally follow the entire ‘natural’ contour of my eye, even if I diffuse my eyeshadow upwards to give the appearance of larger eye’s; my eye’s always end up looking beady and just not too my liking. So what I’ve gotten adapted to doing over the years is instead of focusing on diffusing my eyeshadow from the crease upwards to make them appear larger; I’ve instead focus on bringing the outer edges of my crease color, and I instead elongate my eye horizontally. This gives my eye an even more oblong almond shape as opposed to a very circular almond shape.
***Secondly, my winged-liner. When I first started doing my makeup years ago, I would always copy the girls on youtube. WRONG! Almost every makeup guru on youtube has at least one winged-liner tutorial and of course almost every one has a trick or two on how to angle there wing for the sharpest look, with half the effort. It wasn’t until various trials and errors that I finally decided to create my own type of wing. My trick? DONT ANGLE YOUR LINER! If your eyes are not naturally upturned, or downturned their is absolutely no reason as to why you should angle your liner. My eye’s are naturally/perfectly horizontal so I choose just to paint on my wing just like a hyphen or underscore “–straight–” This also helps elongate my eye horizontally and again helps my eyes just look so much larger and just more cat-like.
My eyes are fairly hooded and quite flat, so cut crease and exciting eyeliner doesn’t really work without major trial and error. However a fool proof way for shadow is lightest in the inner corner and getting darker until the outter corner where I smudge it outward making sure it’s not too low (hard to explain but the shape should be a bit like a parallelogram with the lower point at the inner corner). Mostly can do any colour and textures with this method but I need to push the shadow high enough so it will show. I find that I can get away with nice deep colours and smokey black quite easily, but I love pastels and eyeshape will not get in my way of playing around with different looks. If my upper lid has heavy enough makeup then I cam do more on the bottom too, if not it is easy to go too much on the lower lash line. Lots of mascara and false lashes when I can be bothered makes so much difference.
Thanks, guys. Have been neglecting WG. Think it’s because he’s bookmarked on the computer, and not as much on the radar with the iPad. Have to think this through. No browbone is one of my issues. At my age, I’m lucky the sparse, thyroidy brows aren’t obscuring the crease! Glasses, as long as they don’t magnify your eyes, can cover a host of misplacements.
One trick that I have used is to place a light eyeshadow, almost a magic dot in the middle of my lids. It puts the focus on my eyes rather than moving the focus to the outer corners.
I don’t really have much of a “crease” area, my upper eye is pretty flat with no real protruding brow bone, so I have to create my own. I use transition shades to help create the brow bone, and darker shades to help give the impression of a crease. I prefer using the darker shades in the “crease” and keeping a lighter (not necessarily light, but just lighter) shade on the lid – if I try and do dark shades all over my lid, I lose the definition and depth. I have to be careful though, because if I bring the “crease” up too high, I compromise room for highlight under the brow. It’s all a delicate balancing act – #TheStruggleIsReal. I am a huge fan of smoked out shadow on the lower lash line to help balance the shape of the eye I’ve created, and since I have big eyes I always line my lower water line – I don’t think my makeup looks complete without it. I am not Asian, but I have a bit of a double eyelid – my lids fold over on themselves almost completely when my eyes are open. Because of the location of the physical crease in my eyelid, it can be difficult for me to wear winged liner. What looks like a straight line when my eye is closed during application looks completely different when my eye is open and the liner folds up into my lid. So while I love winged liner, it’s not always the best look for me. I like to use the MAC Pro Longwear liners, they allow a pretty precise line and can also be smoked out a bit to fade into the “crease” color.
So glad to see so many ladies are going against ‘experts’. They go w/trends-try to push what’s ‘new’. Usually it’s a recycle of past decades. Matte doesn’t look good on most women-depends on texture of skin, not age. I’ve seen many younger girls that can’t pull it off. I always lift my line up a bit to compensate for my eyes tilt down. Looks more awake.
I have hooded eyes, so I always have to create my own crease and bring my es all the way to my tear duct in the process. Winged eyeliner is outta the question. =(
I am an older person and I use the up and out application of eyeliner and shadow to lift my eyelids. I also use a slightly darker color in the upper end of my crease to lift my eyes. I do my eyes first and the swipe a cotton pad with cleansing water to clean it all up before I apply my foundation and concealer.