Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Lawrence, and Ava Gardner — these are just three class beauties who all had or have hooded eyes. Even though hooded eyes — categorized by a more dominant hood that shields part or all of the eye’s lid — are often spoken about as a feature that has to be corrected, nothing could be further from the truth. Hooded eyes are beautiful and mysterious, and they are just as fun to make up with eyeshadows and eyeliner, but the application rules that apply will be a bit different than for other eye shapes.
Instead of following eye makeup techniques created for almond eyes, It’s time to take back your power and use it wisely when applying makeup to hooded eyes. These tips for hooded eye makeup “can create the illusion of a lift” and give you an “awakened look.” They don’t require more professional makeup skills, either — just a change in how you’ve been applying your shadows and liners for all of this time.
1. Contour Your Eyes
Contouring is an art that creates shadows and light so that you can bring certain areas of your face into focus, while allowing others to retreat more into the distance. If you have hooded eyes, this technique can really brighten your eyes and make them look more awake. Use a neutral shade like a medium brown or beige that’s slightly darker than the skin on your eyelid and apply the shadow to the crease line between your lower and upper lids. It’s important to open your eyes on occasion and make sure this line is hitting where you want it too — with hooded eyes, you may need to place the line higher than feels natural at first. Use a brush to blend this contour shade in before applying a lighter eyeshadow shade to your lower lid so that it becomes more pronounced.
2. Try the “Banana” Technique
According to Beauty Expert Sunica Du of SunicaDesign.com, the “banana” technique is a popular one for making up hooded eyes. “It involves applying a matte, light-colored eyeshadow to the center of your eyelid and blending it up towards the brow bone. Then, use a darker shade to the outer corner of the eye and blend it into the crease. This creates the illusion of a lifted, more open eye,” Du says.
You can also try adding a pop of shimmery light shadow to your inner eye corner for a refreshing burst of brightness.
3. Keep Eyeliner Close to the Lash Line
Some hooded eye beauties assume winged liner and gel eyeliner in general is closed to them because creating thick lined on the upper lid just closes the eye too much. This isn’t exactly untrue, but it also doesn’t mean you have to reject eyeliner completely. The happy medium is applying a thinner line of eyeliner closer to your upper lashline, As you reach the outer corner of your eye you will have more freedom to extend your wing upward for an uplifted look.
4. Choose Light, Matte Colors
There’s a time and place for a little shimmer (as we mentioned, placing a small dot of shimmery shadow on the inner corners of your eyes can be a gorgeous look). Generally speaking, lighter eyeshadows in matte colors will be most flattering on hooded eyes. These shades open up the lid and reflect light to create a more doe-eyed look.
With that said, there’s no rule that says you can’t completely embrace the shape of your eyes, forget everything you’ve been told, and rock that thicker liner like there’s no tomorrow. Sometimes the best looks come about when we stop following makeup rules.
