Hooded Eyes vs. Non-Hooded Eyes – What’s the Difference?
It’s important to know your eye shape to make flattering choices for your makeup. Your eye shape is determined by several factors: the iris’s proximity to the eyelids, the visibility of the crease, and the angle of the outer corners. You might also have wide-set, deep-set, asymmetrical, large, or small eyes.
Most people have a combination of shapes and don’t fit neatly into one shape or another, and that’s okay! Everyone’s eyes are different, and the strategies below are just suggestions to help flatter your unique features.
Let’s focus on the hooded eye shape. Whether an eye is hooded or not depends on the visibility of the crease and the tissue between the brow bone and eyelid. People with hooded eyes often feel like they have droopy eyes, but this isn’t always the case!
We’ll walk you through how to assess your eye shape and style your makeup and lashes for hooded eyes!
What Are Hooded Eyes?
Hooded eyes sometimes get a bad rap. Some argue that this eye shape makes it difficult to apply makeup or lash extensions, yet others argue that these are the most conventionally attractive eye shapes because of their natural inclination toward “bedroom eyes.”
The most notable feature of hooded eyelids is a prominent brow bone. From the brow bone, one might find, to varying degrees, loose or puffy skin that forms a hood over the top eyelid.
This skin may cover the whole of the upper eyelid, or it may just conceal a fraction of it. Either way, those with hooded eyes functionally have less visible lid space to work with when styling their eye makeup looks.
Hooded eyes entail having excessive skin under the brow bone that comes to a fold, or a hood, over your eyelid. Look at your crease to quickly assess if you have this eye shape. You likely have hooded eyes if you can not see your crease when your eyes open. You may also notice that you have a proportionately smaller upper eyelid and a prominent brow bone.
Hooded eyes are a super common eye shape for people of all ages. Like most parts of your appearance, it’s genetics. If your close relatives have hooded eyes, you likely do too. With age, most people’s eyes become naturally more hooded.
The skin across your body loses elasticity with age, and your eyes are no different. As elasticity decreases, the skin becomes looser, and more hooding occurs. This is nothing to be worried about; some people choose treatments to minimize hooding with age, but it’s hardly necessary unless it’s beginning to impact your vision.
Everyone has skin above their eyelid (it’d be pretty spooky if we didn’t), so you might not have hooded eyes. Having a prominent crease in your eyelid doesn’t mean you have hooded eyes; you might just have deep-set eyes or drooping eyelids.
Droopy eyelids are not an eye shape; they’re actually a medical condition that makes it difficult to keep your eyes fully open. Some people choose to treat their hooded eyes for medical and aesthetic reasons.
Some treat with basic home remedies, like creams and lotions, while others treat with more invasive tactics like Botox or Blepharoplasty. Blepharoplasty is an invasive cosmetic surgery that may include excision of drooping eyelid skin, repair of the muscle that opens the eyes, and removal of excess tissue from the area.
But medical treatment, like eye lifts, dermal fillers, or eyelid surgery, is hardly necessary, especially since we have a handful of makeup techniques and lash tips right here to help you accentuate the best features of your hooded eyes.
Here are some quick tips:
- If you find applying sharp eyeliner difficult (and keeping it un-smudged even harder), then this is the tip for you: Angle the eyeliner down at the crease such that when your eyes are open, it looks like a seamless line, and when your eyes are closed it will create a light curve like a bat wing liner look.
- Smokey eye looks are actually your friend because of the intentional smudging. Blend your eyeshadow up and out from the edge of your eye to give the illusion of lift across your eyelid.
- For your lashes, opt for something a bit straighter, like our Amplify Gossamers, to avoid getting the lashes caught in the hood. Fluffy, voluminous looks are actually your best friend, so try Fluffy Gossamers for your next look.
Want more tips for hooded eyes? Check out our guide to lashes and makeup looks for hooded eyes.
What Are Non-Hooded Eyes?
Monolids are non-hooded eyes. Monolids are an eye shape with no apparent crease, rather just a single flat lid from lash line to brow bone. They have one (mono) part rather than two distinct sections: above and below the hollow. The eye sits flush with the browbone, which makes a crease unnecessary.
Double eyelids, aka partially hooded eyes, have a visible crease or a small fold over the hollow of the eye, but it’s so minor that it doesn’t truly cover any part of the lid. It’s as if the crease is creasing in-then-out-then-in in quick succession at the hollow instead of just creasing inward. Double eyelids are likely to become hooded eyes over time.
Find Your Eye Shape
Did you know that now we can find your eye shape for you? Check out the Lashify AI! Just scan your face, and our AI can tell you your eye shape, your face shape, and which lashes would look best on you. We live in the future of lashes, and it is amazing!
Do you want to assess your eye shape yourself? Here’s what to look for:
Eyelid Crease
If you look calmy straight ahead into a mirror, do you have a crease in your eyelid where the eyeball meets the brow bone? If yes, how deep is the crease? If you have no crease, you have monolid eyes.
If you have a crease, but it’s very shallow, you have neither monolid nor hooded eyes. People with eyes like this often have round eyes, but not always. You have hooded eyes if you can see the crease, and it’s deep enough to “disappear” under the brow bone.
Iris Placement
You likely have almond eyes if the iris touches the top and bottom eyelid. You have round eyes if it doesn’t touch, and you have some visible white between the iris and lid. You could have eyes that are hooded and round or hooded and almond.
Outer Corner Angles
The outer corners may turn up or down, resulting in upturned or downturned eyes. Fairly straightforward. If the angle seems pretty level, you may just have neither, and that’s an option too!
Who Has Hooded Eyes?
There are many glamorous icons with hooded eyes just like you. Take a look:
- Blake Lively
- Emma Stone
- Tayor Swift
- Jennifer Lawrence
- Arianna Grande
- Lucy Liu
- Kristen Stewart
- Eva Mendez
- Cara Delevingne
- Oprah Winfrey
The next time you need some makeup inspo, look to these glamorous ladies for an eye makeup style that suits your eye shape.
Lash Looks for Hooded Eyes
Here are our recommendations for the perfect lashes for hooded eyes. We’ve got lash looks for every day and for those bold and fabulous occasions.
Curl Gossamer Lashes
Curl Gossamers are the chameleon of lashes. This style is great for everyone, no matter your eye shape. If you’re not sure of your shape, or you find yourself on the cusp of several, Curl Gossamers are the lash for you. Curl Gossamers play nicely with most Volume styles, so they’re perfect for lash stacking.
Fluffy Gossamer Lashes
Fluffy Gossamers are a fan favorite for a reason. They were designed for a fluffy and fluttery appearance to give your eyes a dreamy dimension. They’re perfect for pairing with winged eyeliner and cat-eye lash looks.
Gemini Gossamer Lashes
The Gemini Gossamers are perfect for elongating the eye with their piecey texture. They’re excellent for layering and lash stacking, making them ideal for hooded eyes. They also hold a curl like crazy, thanks to their thicker-than-normal lash fibers. If you like the thickness of Bold Gossamers, you’ll love Geminis.
Starburst Gossamer Lashes
Starburst Gossamers are our super-popular multi-length, multi-layered lash. They can be worn solo all the way across the lash line or layered with subtle core lashes like Curls to create a more understated everyday look.
These lashes are especially perfect for those with hooded eyes because you don’t need to worry about the lashes folding against your crease; the variation in length and the built-in lash spikes help you dodge this common irritation for hooded lids. No more awkward crease-catching, just gorgeous volume and texture!
Extreme Gossamer Lashes
Extreme Gossamers offer everything you love about the Russian volume look but without any of the potential damage. They feature alternating odd and even lengths within a single lash cluster to get you extreme volume with a natural-inspired texture. Extreme Gossamers are great for lash stacking with Curl Gossamers.
Drama Gossamer Lashes
Drama Gossamers have thicker, 2-ply fibers that hold a strong curl, like Bold and Gemini Gossamers. Drama lashes feature our signature cross-weave design for extra volume and high impact. We recommend layering these lashes with Bold Gossamers to create the perfect flexible movement.
Sources:
Hooded Eyes: What Are They? How Do I Know If I Have Them? | MyVision.org
Celebrities With Hooded Eyes | Ranker
What causes deep-set eyes? | FDNA Health
Understanding Different Eye Shapes: Which Do You Have? | N Vision Centers
