I’m often asked, “How can I make my hooded eyes look bigger, brighter and just plain better?” Since the eyes are usually the first thing we notice about another person, it’s not surprising that we need to learn some new techniques to highlight them as changes occur. So today I’ll guide you through the best makeup tips that can once again shine a light on our beautiful eyes.
Some of us are born with hooded eyes, and others develop them over time due to aging or changes in the structure of our face. While hooded eyes are completely normal, they can become problematic when they interfere with vision, makeup application, or overall facial harmony. Fortunately, there are makeup techniques we can use that make an astonishing difference in helping our hooded eyes look larger, brighter and more defined.
Tip #1: Take Care of Sparse Brows
The first thing we need to do is fill in our brows since they play a crucial role in framing and defining our features. Well-shaped eyebrows create harmony between our facial features, they help accentuate the bone structure of our face to add dimension, and they draw attention to our eyes. In the video I’ll share photos to demonstrate what an amazing role our brows play in helping us look our best.
Because filling in our brows can become more challenging as we get older, here are several videos I’ve done in the past that focus specifically on tips, techniques and tested products that can once again help our brows look beautifully defined.
Tip #2: Prime Your Eyelids
Because of the folds in our eyelids, it’s important to apply an eye primer all over our lids so we prevent eyeshadow from creasing. Eye primer keeps the oil on our eyelids from breaking through the eyeshadow which is what causes smudging or creasing.
Using an eye primer is also important because it brightens our eye area and covers up any discoloration on our eyelids. In the video I’ll just apply it on my right eye. After I apply the cream eye primer, I’ll add powder all over the eyelid. Applying powder over the cream will mean that the eyeshadow we’re going to put on our eyelid next will glide on far more easily without any skipping or tugging.
We will need to use three different eyeshadow colors: a light color for our eyelids, a midtone color for the crease above and a darker color for the outer part of the crease and eyelid. Here are some of my favorite recommended great neutral eyeshadow palettes that have these light, medium and dark shades and which will work wonderfully well: Elf’s “I Love You a Latte” palette, Natasha Denona’s “Mini Eye Sculpt” palette, the NYX “Ultimate Warm Neutrals” palette, The Doll 10 “My True Beauty” palette and the Juvia’s Place “Warrior Two” palette.
Tip #3: Choose Appropriate Eyeshadow Color
We want to apply a light-colored eyeshadow over the entire eyelid area. If you have darker skin than mine, then use a color which is a half to one shade lighter than your skin tone color. We want to use a light color because light colors make things come forward and therefore look bigger. Dark matte colors, on the other hand, make things recede in perspective, which makes them look smaller.
For my light shade, I’ll use a light vanilla color from the Doll 10 My True Beauty eyeshadow palette. I’ll use a flat, dense brush which helps me apply a larger amount of product more quickly over the entire eyelid surface.
Go to our list of 10 Top-Rated Makeup Brushes.
Be sure to check out Elise’s YouTube channel which specifically focuses on makeup tips, techniques, and product reviews for those of us 50+. Don’t forget to subscribe!
Tip #4: What Shade Goes Where
Since many of us with hooded eyes either lose our crease area because of skin coming down lower on our eyelid or the crease area becomes smaller – we’re going to create a brand new crease with a medium shade eyeshadow. This will create more depth and dimension in our eye area.
And here’s the most important part. After we apply the medium shade crease color, we want to look straight ahead into a mirror without lifting our eyebrows. It’s important that we can see that crease color. If we can’t see the color, we need to bring that color up higher until we can see it.
Next, we want to bring that color all the way across our eye area. But instead of following our eye area down, we want to go straight across which will help lift our eye area and then bring it down to meet the edge of the eye. We’re creating a “backward 7” pattern. In the video, I’ll demonstrate this technique.
The next step is to use a slightly darker color on the outer area of the crease we’ve created and along the outer lash line and then join those two areas together by patting on or stamping on the darker color with a smaller brush which gives us more control of the placement of the eyeshadow.
Next, we need to do a good job of blending those colors. Because we may have texture or crepiness in this area – as I certainly do – we may need to lift our brows and very gently stretch that outer area so we can make sure to get the color on all the skin throughout this whole area.
Tip #5: Knowing How to Do Eyeliner Is Important
I suggest applying eyeliner along the lower lash line first, using a lighter color than the one we’ll be using along the top lash line. Then apply it only along the outer 1/3 of the bottom lash line. In the video, I’ll use eyeshadow and a small, firm, angled eyebrow brush to create a softer look.
The reason I like to apply the bottom eyeliner first is so I can create an upward pattern at the end of my eye for the eyeliner I’ll be applying above my lashes. By following this natural curve at the bottom of the eye up beyond the eye, we lift the eye area. But we want to do this very lightly and tap out the upward end of the line so it looks very natural.
Now let’s talk about the eyeliner above the lash line. Most of us with hooded eyes don’t have much space where we can apply eyeliner above the lash line since the hooded area comes down over our eyelid. Thus, we have several different options.
The first option is to tightline. That means applying a waterproof eyeliner along the waterline under the top eyelid. However, since tightlining is not recommended by most eye doctors, I don’t feel comfortable recommending it either.
A second option is to place the eyeliner as close as possible to the lash line or between our lashes.
For many of us, it’s easier – and far more forgiving – to apply eyeshadow as eyeliner using a small, firm, angled eyebrow brush or a flat top brush. Using a brush creates a softer look and we don’t have to apply it perfectly since we can use the brush to blend everything together so it looks perfect.
Tip #6: Curling and Mascara
Curling our lashes and applying mascara makes our eyes look bigger! We can either use an eyelash curler, or we can use our finger. When we use an eyelash curler, we want to start by curling the base of our lashes, lift our arm so it’s horizontal to get the best curl and hold the curler in place for five seconds. Then keep stair stepping up and holding our lashes in place for five seconds each time until we can’t go further.
Another option is to simply place our index finger horizontally across our lashes when the mascara is still wet and hold our finger there until the lashes are dry.
Navigating makeup for hooded eyes involves a bit of a learning curve, but armed with the right techniques, tools, and a little practice, you can master it in no time.
Let’s Have a Conversation:
Were you born with hooded eyes or did you develop them later? Which of these tips might work best for you?
