Applying the best makeup techniques for your eye shape can enhance your natural features. Check out our tips for eye makeup for every eye shape!
Eye makeup is some of the hardest to perfect, but it is crucial to any makeup look. There are different eye makeup techniques for every eye shape that will help to accentuate your natural features. When you know your own eye shape and the makeup techniques best for it, you can elevate your eye makeup game to rival celebrity red carpet looks.
If you see a visible crease in your eyelid and your iris touches both the top and bottom eyelids, you have almond eyes! Almond eyes lend themselves perfectly to dramatic makeup looks, including graphic liner and sharp cut creases. Make your almond eyes appear larger and more awake when you apply a light-colored eyeshadow underneath your lower lash line.
Round eyes have a visible crease and a more circular appearance, without any tapering in the outer and inner corners of the eyes. The whites of the eyes are also visible on either the top or the bottom of the iris. When applying makeup on round eyes, place the most vivid colors on the top lash line and outer corners, while keeping the bottom lash line makeup to a minimum. As round eyes generally read as cute, using a darker eyeshadow can give a more serious and sexy look.
You can identify monolid eyes if there’s no visible crease between the eyelid and the brow bone. While you can carve out a crease using a matte pigment, applying a shimmery shadow on a gradient defines the natural shape and adds some brightness to the eye area. Monolid eyes also make it easier to design intricate graphic liner art because there is no need to work around a crease!
Protruding eyes give the appearance that the eyeball is bulging outward from the eye socket. The best makeup for protruding eyes will help to define their shape and provide some balance! Keep the makeup on the lower lash line to a minimum so the natural eye bag isn’t accentuated. Contour the rounder edges of the outer corner with darker eyeshadow and highlight the inner corner with lighter eyeshadow for a less protruding look.
If your eyes taper downward at the outer corner and have the appearance of a slight drop toward the cheekbone, you have downturned eyes. This eye shape leaves more room on the upper lid for you to play around with makeup! Try using three shades of eyeshadow to add dimension and depth to your eyes. Adding soft eyeliner on the upper lash line ensures your eyes don’t look weighed down, while applying a bright and nude eyeliner on the waterline opens up the eyes even more.
The opposite of downturned eyes, upturned eyes are similar to almond eyes, but there’s a slight lift at the outer corner. It’s easy to identify this eye shape as the lower eyelid looks much longer than the upper eyelid. If you have upturned eyes, lean into the cat-eye nature and go for a winged eyeliner look! Adding a shimmer eyeshadow to the inner corner will also help to balance definition with the outer corner.
Technically, this term refers to where the eyes are placed on the face, rather than their shape, but the placement also impacts how makeup interacts with your look. Eyes are considered close-set when the distance between them is shorter than the width of a single eye. When applying makeup on close-set eyes, refrain from using too much eyeliner on the inner halves of the eyes, as it creates the appearance of being smaller. Blend three or four coordinating colors, light to dark, from the inner corner to the outer corner to visually widen the eyes.
The opposite of close-set eyes, wide set eyes have a greater distance between each other than the width of a single eye. As such, the best makeup techniques for wide set eyes are the exact opposite of those for close-set eyes! Apply eyeliner to the inner half of the eyes, press dark eyeshadows into the lid and inner corner, and highlight the outer corner with lighter eyeshadows.
If your eyes are located further back in the skull and the brow bone appears extra prominent when viewed from the side, you likely have deep set eyes. When applying makeup on deep set eyes, use a light shadow on the lid and a slightly deeper shade in the crease, spending extra time blending to remove all harsh lines — this will brighten your eyes! Add shimmer to the look if you want to bring your eyes forward even more.
Hooded eyes refer to when an extra layer of skin hangs over the crease. This eye type makes it difficult to find the crease when the eyes are closed, so keep your eyes open and look forward when applying makeup. Creating a cut crease allows you to carve your own crease that’s easier to find and will add definition to the look.
Now that you’ve determined your own eye shape and the best eye makeup application technique, you’re ready to impress everyone with your custom looks! Remember that all makeup looks can be used with any eye shape, so continue experimenting and figure out which looks best on you.
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