Many of my clients get confused in selecting their eye makeup when trying for self makeup. They sometimes want Smokey makeup but after applying , it looks like someone punched them in the eye. As a fellow makeup enthusiast, I don’t want more people in this dilemma, so let’s understand eye makeup along with which makeup will suit you best according to your eye shape.
Knowing your eye shape helps in applying eye shadow and liner which enhances our features. Eyes are of different size, color, shapes and thus require different makeup tricks. Eye shape is the unique bone structure between the skin and after understanding it we will get to know which makeup is needed.
How to know your Eye Shape?
Mirror Observation- Observe how much crease is showing and how much lid is showing if you look straight into the mirror. Imagine a straight line from the center of your iris and if the corners of eyes fall into that line. Do not smile or flex your eyebrows when checking it.
There are mainly 6 types of eyes, let’s understand them and the type of makeup they need.
- Mono-lid Eyes
If you don’t see any visible creases and it looks like your eyelids are never ending and go up till they touch your brow, they are mono-lid eyes. Such unique eyes are also called epicanthic fold in the medical terms
You can opt for 2 options for the eye makeup of such eyes, one you can go for a chic and clean look, using blush tones to create more light. Create arc on eyebrows to define eye shape with nude kajal on lower lash line. Highlighting on inner corner and brow bones and heavy mascara reflecting shadows. Another look you can opt for is bold Smokey look, creating your own crease. Using the dark eyeshadows on lash line and add shimmers while going upwards. Blend the eyeshadow outwards and smudge dark shadow on outer edges of lower lash line. Always avoid thick eyeliners.
- Up-turned Eyes
While checking with an imaginary line, if the outer corner of your eyes are turned upwards, they are upturned eyes. They create a natural wing and are rare to find. Your eye shape can hold most looks, making the eyes more beautiful.
The best and easiest option is creating a cat eyeliner.. Matt shade should be on the inner side of the eye and medium shade on the rest of the eye. Smudge the colors into the lashes to create a full line. Blend it all upwards and properly define the brows. Apply eyeliner on the outer part of the eye with a pointy tip to create balance and add mascara to bottom lashes.
- Down-turned Eyes
When you check your eyes in the mirror and find that the outer corner of the eye falls below the imaginary line, they are downturned eyes. The outer corners are lower than your lower corners and the outer top eyelid is dipping downwards.
Avoid heavy eyeshadow under the eyes and try to create a lifted illusion. Create a cat eye by drawing a line on the upper lash line and making a flick. Stop before you reach the outer corners when they turn down, follow the liner line in a lifted manner and don’t follow the natural line. Use light eyeshadow on inner parts and deeper on outer parts. Don’t forget to highlight the brow bone and outer corner of eyes. Uplift by applying concealer outer corner and smudge lower lash line and apply kajal on outer part of the water line. Always curl the lashes.
- Hooded Eyes
This is a type of eye in which the brow bone covers the crease and makes it difficult to see the crease. The skin from the brow bone hangs down over eyelids because of heavy bones. The skin is folded down and the eyelids are not able to show.
You have to focus on maintaining brows well. Always use waterproof and smudge-proof eyeliner and mascara. Avoid wing liner as there will be no defined eye shape visible. Eyeshadow can reach till brow bone and blend into the crease well. Use the dark colors when you see there is less natural depth and end with the darkest natural crease color and dark color in the waterline.
- Almond Eyes
It is the most common and beautiful type of eye. When the iris touches both the top and bottom of the eye and the white space is minimally shown it means you can’t see the white part of the eye above and below the iris because it’s covered from top and bottom with lids.
Try to make such eyes look larger by applying shimmery shade on center and using white kajal on waterline. You can apply thick cat eye liner in winged, smudged or ombre style. Apply heavy mascara and try to create depth of the crease using shades of brown. Use light colors on the lid to make the shape seem round. You can also use dark shades on the outer side especially for night time makeup.
- Round Eyes
It is easy to identify but also unique. Round eyes have white area shown above and below the iris. The crease will be noticeable and appear more open sometimes.
You can go for wing eyeliner and eyeshadow to create a bold look. Create the outer part in dark shades with the upper line. This is the type of eye you can experiment on with multiple ranges of colors and heavy liners. You can put a shimmery shadow on the center. You have got perfect eyelid space so go up with experimentation.
Now that it is clear, next time remember your eye type and the makeup it needs. You can also have a combination of 2 types of eye shape like having a hooded but also downturned. Then try different looks suitable for both. Observe the makeup of celebs or people with similar features and replicate them and try to learn new looks
Apart from eye makeup you should also know about your how skin type, skin prep, makeup base and nude makeup. Skin prep include CTM routine viz. Cleaning, Toner and Moisturizer and now Primer if makeup is followed. Read my other articles to know more about right foundation shade, types of makeup foundations, face contour, foundations for oily skin, highlighters and blushers.
