Getting the right eyeliner shape for your eyes has always been something of an advanced beauty class. And unfortunately, not many of us have access to an experienced make-up artist to teach us! Lots of women wear the wrong eye-liner shape to flatter their eyes, so let’s find out how to identify your personal eye-shape. And then how to apply the best eye-liner shape!
1. How to lengthen round eyes
These are probably the easiest to identify, as you can see the white all around the colored iris. As with hairstyles, the goal of eye-makeup is to create an ‘improved’ version of your natural features. So in order to make your eye seem more oval, you need to make your eye seem longer.
So don’t follow your natural eye shape around and down to the corner, before you add the cat –flip. Instead you need to draw the line so it stops between the center point and the corner. And then continue the eye-liner out in a straighter line ending in a tapered tip.
2. Flatter your almond eyes
Almond shaped eyes are oval with a little upturn at the outer edge. And as oval eyes are the most symmetrical and attractive shape, you can wear any shape or width of eye-line!
One trendy look for right now is to draw a thin eye-line from the inner section. Then make it thicker as you get to the outer edge of the eyelid. This makes the outer section of the eye seem wider.
3. Open-up your hooded eyes
Hooded eyes can be the result of the aging process or just be eyes with a naturally narrow eyelid. The skin from above your eyes tends to cover up your eyelid, so you won’t be able to wear fancy eye-makeup designs with contrasting eye-shadow shades.
The most popular and attractive look for hooded eyes right now is a fairly natural look that features a thick, black, out-swept wing eye-line. Or for a subtle daytime look, use an eye-makeup brush to ‘push’ dark-brown or black eye-shadow into the base of your eyelashes. This adds density to your eyelash line, without covering your narrow eye-lid!
4. Lift-up your downturned eyes
Downturned eye have a noticeable downward tilt at the outside edge. So the aim here is to lift and lengthen your natural eye-shape. One clever trick to achieve this is to take your eye-liner over the top of the eye-center and down to a spot just between the center and the actual bottom corner.
Then sweep the line out in a straight line before giving the end an upward flip. This is a similar technique to the one used to lengthen round eyes. For a dramatic effect you can ‘fill-in’ the end of the eye-liner down to the natural outer edge. This produces a strong upward line!
5. Add symmetry to upturned eyes
Most people around the world have upturned eyes, which is oval like an almond but with a more pronounced upward shape at the outside corner. The lower lid often appears longer than the top lid.
So you can easily make this eye-shape look very symmetrical by drawing a thin eye-line around the top and bottom lash-lines. And then add extra style with a thicker eye-line at the bottom outer edge!
6. Add width & length to small eyes
Small eyes are also called deep-set eyes and have smaller lids. It’s not the end of the world to have small eyes, as I know myself! If you don’t have sensitive eyes, you can add ‘size’ by drawing a white or nude eye-line along the water-line next to your bottom eye-lashes.
As a brunette, who now has slightly hooded eyes, I’ve found that a medium-thick, black eyeliner really helps to emphasize my eyes in a flattering way. And you can use a cute cat-flip, or a long winged line to add length. And I always wear a subtle, smudged black line along the bottom eye-line!
