For years, I had spent countless hours (not to mention mascara and eyeliner tubes) practicing, but never seemed to get my eye makeup right. But the game changed when I learned that highlighting my eye shape is key.
In this article, I’ll share what I learned about how to identify your eye shape and how to find the right makeup look for the shape of your eyes.
How to Determine Your Eye Shape
My eye makeup education started with YouTube tutorials, and the glossy pages of Glamour. One very helpful tip I learned is that your eye shape dictates the type of eye makeup that suits you. If you haven’t done it yet, take a good look in the mirror to identify your eye shape. Here’s a simple test to guide you:
- Do you see any white around your iris when you look straight in the mirror? If your answer is yes, and your eyes are equal in width and height, then your eyes are definitely round.
- Do you have oval-shaped eyes and small eyelids with slightly upturned corners? Looks like you got eyes in the shape of a popular nut — almond!
- Do you have a very prominent brow bone that makes your eyes look smaller? If so, you have deep set eyes like Taylor Swift.
- Are your eyes smooth and creaseless? Your eyes transition straight to your browbone, looking like one lid. In other words, you have monolid eyes.
- If you can’t spot your natural crease easily, chances are the skin from your brow bone is hiding it. That extra fold that conceals your crease is the mark of hooded eyes.
- Do you have a natural “cat eye” look, i.e., slightly upturned corners with a lower lash line that looks longer than the upper lash line? You’ve got upturned eyes, à la Rihanna.
- Are the corners of your eyes pointing downward, with your upper lid looking bigger than the bottom lid? You have downturned eyes, just like Katy Perry.
Different Eye Shapes & Suitable Eye Makeup
Though eye shapes aren’t rigid categories, all the great makeup artists and influencers agree: choosing eye makeup is like choosing a pair of jeans. You should wear what fits you and use it to accentuate your assets. Whether you’re doing everyday eye makeup or a Euphoria-inspired look, you’ll find helpful eye makeup tips for all eye shapes below.
Round eye makeup
For babes with round eyes, the key to creating a defined look is to draw attention to the center of your eye. To achieve this, apply a medium to dark shade over the center of your lid, and then highlight your inner and outer corners with a lighter eyeshadow. A dark-to-light eyeshadow palette (like the one from The Color Workshop) will do the trick. When it comes to eyeliner, make sure to line your upper lash line in the outer corners, too. In other words, winged eyeliner is your best friend. You can also use a liquid eyeliner or a pencil eyeliner.
Almond eye makeup
Congratulations almond-eyed beauty, because you can pull off just about any makeup look! For starters, a soft winged eyeliner can elongate your eyes. Using a thin liner like the Marc Jacobs Ultra-Skinny Crayon Eyeliner can help you achieve that. Specifically, put the eyeliner on your top lash line and make sure to apply it thinly on the inside corners. In addition, to make your eyes appear bigger, use a deep eyeshadow (e.g., charcoal) on the outer corners of your eyes and a lighter color on the bottom waterline.
Eye makeup for deep set eyes
The key to highlighting your lovely, deep set eyes is to use light eyeshadow colors. That means you can experiment with bright colors (like the Aurora Lights eyeshadow palette from BH Cosmetics) or shimmers (such as this palette from Doll Squad). You can also try the ColourPop Pastel Eyeshadow Palette if you prefer a more muted look. Meanwhile, you can use dark eyeshadow on the outer corners of your lids, or even as a liner. Last but not least, don’t forget to use lots of mascara to really bring your eyes out.
Monolid eye makeup
Start with a good eye primer (e.g., J. Cat All About that Base Eye Primer) or concealer because makeup on monolid eyes is prone to smudging. Eye primer boldens the color of your eyeshadow and lengthens its lifespan. The next step is to keep dark tones and liners close to your lashes and blend up and out. Also, layer your eyeshadow colors horizontally and use dense brushes instead of fluffy ones.
Hooded eye makeup
Getting makeup on hooded eyes is tricky because the excess skin below your brow gives you a limited lid space to work on. But if you work with your eye shape instead of against it, you’re guaranteed to get good results. Particularly, you should use smudge-free eyeliner and mascara to avoid unwanted smoky eyes. Better yet, you can go for a smoky look and line inside the rim. When doing eyeshadow for hooded eyes, hold a mirror above your head and locate your natural crease. Put eyeshadow above the crease and blend up toward the brow bone.
Eye makeup for upturned eyes
Exaggerate your upper lid with smudged eyeliner for a gorgeous gaze. You can also make your eyes look bigger and brighter by using nude eyeliner on your lash line and inner corners. Also, a soft smoky eyeshadow looks fab on upturned eyes. To achieve this, use a light matte shade from the inner corner to the stop above your pupil and then use a medium matte shade for half of your eye and blend.
Eye makeup for downturned eyes
For downturned eyes, your priority should be lifting your eyes up. Hence, a fierce cat eye is perfect for this eye shape. Simply trace your upper lash line until the outer corner and then line it up and out to create a cat eye. You can achieve a subtler version of this if you use eyeshadow instead of liner. Just don’t forget to sharpen the angle with a cotton swab.
Final Words
Every eye shape is beautiful. But knowing what to do with your eye makeup will make your eyes even more dazzling. Whether your eyes are round, almond-shaped, monolid, hooded, upturned, downturned, or deep set, you can rock eye makeup. Simply find shapes, styles, and colors that enhance your looks.
