Imagine this: you’re brand new to the world of teenage angst, and your horizons are expanding more rapidly than you could’ve foreseen. Your 13-year-old self is overwhelmed by the avenues of makeup that you were previously blind to, and you don’t know where to turn.
Worst of all, you have no idea how to become a master of makeup by the end of summer. Your foundation doesn’t match at all — and does it go on before or after concealer? Your face powder leaves you with an orange glow. And eyeliner, oh the eyeliner.
Too thick, and you’re giving raccoon. Too thin, and you’d never know it was there. And why does your liner always look so different from Jenny’s in the third period? How does she get it to look so sharp and perfect?
What 13-year-old you probably didn’t know when you were taking those first stumbling steps into the new world was that everyone has a uniquely different eye shape. These eye shapes drastically affect the way that you apply and wear makeup, lashes included.
Since those days, you may have discovered your means and methods of conquering your eye-shape troubles, but there are tried and true ways of recognizing your eye shape and dressing it to impress every time.
If you’ve been struggling to secure a solid routine for dressing your unique eyes, keep scrolling and find out maybe more than you ever wanted to know.
What Are the Different Eye Shapes?
There are six distinct eye shapes: monolid eyes, upturned eyes, downturned eyes, almond eyes, rounded eyes, and hooded eyes. In this article, we’re going to be focusing on the hooded eye shape, but to understand if that’s the shape of your eyes, it’s important to know all the options out there.
Alongside the general shape of your eyes, you might also have wide-set, deep-set, asymmetrical, or varying eye sizes. These can make it so two people with round eyes, for example, could look completely different and make the approach to applying makeup or lashes to these eyes slightly different too.
Let’s dive into the details of these eye shapes to help you discover what eyes you might have.
Monolid Eyes
Monolid eyes are found commonly among Asian people. Those of Asian descent typically possess this unique eye shape, and it’s defined by the lack of a crease or eyelid fold.
With a monolid eye, it appears as if the lid extends all the way from the brow bone to the lash line with no visible fold. There are variations of this eye shape that do display a slight crease or fold, but in most cases, a surgical procedure would be required to achieve a distinct eyelid crease. We, however, think monolids are perfect the way they are.
There are a plethora of tips and tricks to creating your favorite eye looks on this eye shape. It might benefit you to play around with accenting your lower lash line since the upper lash line is left with little room to experiment. Smoking out the lower lashes and leaving the lid with a simple statement lash that plays to the fox-like eye shape could be just what you’re looking for.
Upturned Eyes
When it comes to upturned eyes, you can tell if it’s your eye shape by measuring your inner and outer corners against each other. If your inner corner dips lower than the outer corner of your eye, odds are, you have upturned eyes.
The cool part about this eye shape is that it takes very little to emphasize what your mama already gave you. To play to this eye shape’s strengths, try accenting the high points of your outer corners with a bold winged liner or siren liner to draw out your eyes in a sultry and sexy final look. Use a fanned lash that rests along this natural eye shape to kick it up a notch further.
Downturned Eyes
Downturned eyes are the inverse of upturned eyes — the inner corner of your eyes is higher than the outer corner. Prominent faces that sport this “descending eyelid” include Katie Holmes and Anne Hathaway. A staple of this eye look is the upper lid that dips down to meet the lower lash line.
To properly accentuate this soft eye shape, you want to focus on techniques to lift the outer corner to give a facelift to your final look. Make use of your shadows and liners to work towards a lifted wing or extended smokey eye to help raise that lower outer corner.
Don’t be scared of bold falsies, either. You could even try layering your fake lashes to achieve a heavier curl and higher extension.
Almond Eyes
Almond eyes are named quite aptly for their appearance. If you find that your eyes are longer or more narrow than they are tall and wide, you most likely have almond-shaped eyes. The whites of your eyes here will dip behind the upper and lower lash line, and a bit of your irises is probably covered as well.
The queen herself (we’re talking about Beyonce, of course) sports this eye shape and looks dang good doing it. To follow her example, try applying a dual color scheme to your lids. Make it lighter towards the inner corner and more intense in the outer to really accentuate that natural shape. If you’re applying liner, try emphasizing it on your lower lash line instead of the upper to help avoid crowding that prominent crease.
Round Eyes
In the same way that upturned and downturned eyes are counterparts, rounded eyes are the opposite of almond eyes. These eyes are known for being open and more rounded rather than narrow. If the whites of your eyes are visible all the way around your iris and your lash lines don’t cross over your iris in any way, odds are you’ve got rounded eyes.
You’re in the pool with people like Zooey Deschanel and Katy P. To help your eyes to look their best, try lining your waterline (ooh, scary, we know) to help decrease some of that open space and really snatch your eyes.
If you’re going for a bolder fake lash, maybe try scaling back on the volume here to allow your eyes to really shine without being overpowered by dark, rich color. Most shadows and liner looks work with this versatile eye shape, so have fun experimenting with your color scheme.
Hooded Eyes
And now for hooded eyes: the reason you clicked on this article, the reason you might be overwhelmed and confused about how to make your lashes, liners, and shadows work for you instead of against you. Worry no more, because we’ve got a few tips and tricks to help your eyelid troubles become a thing of the past.
Let’s dive further into the details of this eye shape below.
The Tell-Tale Signs of Hooded Eyes
Hooded eyes feature a prominent and heavy brow bone from which the skin hangs lower, making your upper lid appear much smaller and thinner. How do you know if you have this particular eye shape?
Believe it or not, many people will actually misdiagnose this eye shape as their own when they really might have another eye shape with a prominent fold or crease. Some people might also confuse hooded eyes with droopy lids, but droopy lids differ in that this condition makes it difficult for people to even keep their eyes open fully.
Hooded eyes are a common eye shape in which the skin under your brow bone comes in excess, folding over itself to create a similar look to a “droopy” lid without it coming with the other issues. This excess skin fold can increase with time and age but is nothing to be concerned about apart from a cosmetic preference.
To tell if you have this eye shape, focus on your crease. If you can’t see the crease when your eyes are fully open, you may have hooded eyes.
While hooded lids sometimes get a bad rap for being hard to apply makeup or lashes to, others would argue that this eye shape is quite conventionally attractive. Some have even deemed hooded eyes as “bedroom” eyes. Ooh-lah-lah.
The Right Lashes for Hooded Eyes and How To Wear Them
Let’s not forget that we’re all about lashes here at Lashify® (duh), so while we give you some trusty tips on how to make your hooded lids look their best, we also have some absolutely gorgeous lash recommendations for this eye shape as well (because what is makeup without a lash to finish the look?).
Before we get into the lashes, though, let’s talk liner. With hooded lids, eyeliner application might just be the most difficult thing to do since turning 13.
When you’re applying liner with the lid stretched wide and eyebrows raised, it looks bomb, right? You’ve got that chiseled wing perfectly angled, and all is right in the world.
And then you relax your face …
Suddenly that chiseled wing disappears, and all your hard work has been reduced to a single, sharp point that is barely visible, poking out from the side of your crease. It’s literally the worst. How do you avoid this?
Winged Liner for Hooded Lids
This is a makeup trick that’s going somewhat viral as of late, and for good reason. To achieve winged liner on a hooded eye — a liner look that elongates the eye with an optical illusion rather than disappearing altogether — you’ll want to grab your trusty liner and do something you’d never dream of: rest your face.
If you pull your skin or raise your brows while trying to apply eyeliner, you’re bound to fail from the start. Instead, look straight into your mirror with a resting face and draw your first line from the point of your lower lash line up towards the edge of your brow. Then, from the outer point of your liner, draw the line back towards your crease in a straight path.
Don’t freak out as you approach your crease, and whatever you do, don’t close that eye! Instead, lift your liner once you arrive at your crease, and move it to the other side to continue the line to its finishing along your upper lash line. The outline of your liner will look unbent and completely visible because none of it was lost in the crease!
To finish this look, you’ll now want to close your eye. The lines will be off-kilter for this step, but that’s what you want. Taking your liner to the higher line of your eye, draw a line straight down, making a sort of right angle to your liner. Then you’ll do the same with the lower line but draw it straight to the side until it connects at another right angle with the rest of your liner.
In the end, you should be left with a sleek and sultry liner that looks completely sharp and intact when that eye is open and resting. It might take some practice and a video tutorial or two, but we promise this liner hack will change your hooded lid life!
Lashes for Hooded Lids
“Lash” but certainly not least, here are some of our personal recommendations for the perfect hooded lid lashes. Browse at your leisure.
Curl Gossamer Lashes
Curl is the best friend for hooded lids, especially if you can layer and fan them a bit toward the outer corner. These Curl Gossamer® Lashes are the perfect step in that direction. From our initial Gossamer collection, these fan-favorite lashes open up your eye for an added lift your eyes crave.
Fluffy Gossamer Lashes
With this cult-favorite lash set, you’ll be getting all the stackable dimension and body you didn’t know you needed. The Fluffy Gossamer Lashes were designed for a fluffy and fluttery appearance, perfect for pairing against that bold winged eye we know you’re manifesting.
Gemini Gossamer Lashes
The Gemini Gossamer Lashes are another perfect set for fanning and elongating the eye. You can break the lash bundles for added stacking and layering, making them ideal for hooded eyes. They are also a master of holding curls, so prepare for a long-lasting, voluminous experience to change your lash game.
Dress Your Hooded Eyes To Impress
We bet that the 13-year-old inside of you is screaming right now. Can you believe that after all these years, you’ve finally learned the secret to your eye shape — you’ve just learned that there aremultiple eye shapes! Who knew, right?
Well, now you do. We’re so excited to see you completely switch up your eye looks to result in a better and bolder you. Those shadows, lashes, and liners have never held so much potential for your makeup routine, but be ready for people to start noticing and asking, “How did you do that?!”
When your friends inevitably as you that question, you can tell them confidently that you understand your eye shape and all that comes with it. You can explain to them your own tips and tricks for creating a bold final look with ease because you can now do it without a second thought. And what an incredible feeling that is.
Sources:
What's My Eye Shape? (Learn How to Tell Here) | Vision Center
Which Eye Shape Do I Have? What Glasses Are Best? | MyVision
What causes deep-set eyes? Symptoms of a rare disease | FDNA
