Eye-Catching Makeup Hacks to Master Every Kind of Eye Shape

The YouTube beauty guru era might have come and gone but playing around with makeup is forever. It's easy to spend hours experimenting with shapes and color schemes. Add a bit of drama here and there with a flick of an eyeliner wand. But if you're new to the beauty game, there are some guidelines to help you get started. Learn how to make your eyes pop by identifying your eye shape and the makeup styles that complement it the most.  

Makeup Tips for Different Eye Shapes

Just like diamonds, your sparkly eyes come in different shapes — almond, oval, and round. All are fabulous, but playing around with different makeup techniques can make them seem larger, smaller, deep-set, opened wide, and more. These eye shape-specific makeup tips will help you maximize those two windows to your soul. 

Almond Eyes 

This eye shape is characterized by an upswept outer corner. Many folks with this eye shape want to increase depth and intensity. To get that, you can experiment with putting eyeliner as a bold sweep on the upper lid, neutral colors lining under the eye, and upper and lower liner in various shades.

To help almond eyes appear larger, limit liner to the outer portion of the top lid. To make almond eyes appear rounder, stop your liner before the outer corner of the eye, use a lighter shade, or smudge it out into a smoky effect. 

Round Eyes 

Big, round, saucer eyes are stunners. Affectionately called moon eyes, you can modify these peepers by playing with makeup to create an artificial elongated look. Use darker liner to slightly extend beyond the eyelid at the outer corners to create this illusion. Use a medium eyeshadow shade on the eyelid (up to the crease) and extend the shade slightly up toward the brow bone and slightly down toward the lower lid. This look will take your doe-like eyes to another level.  

Oval Eyes 

Beautiful doll-like oval eyes have lovely symmetry. To give an oval eye the illusion of more height, use liner to create a thin line at the outer corner and gradually thicken towards the middle. Continue slightly towards the inner corner, reducing again to a fine line. If your eyes are small, skip the lower liner; otherwise, draw a very fine line under the lower lashes.

Makeup Tips to Enhance Differently "Set" Eyes 

Beyond shape, our eyes have a specific "set" to them aka how they're set into our face. The most common of these settings are deep, drooping, close, and wide-set. Each eye set has a different makeup approach, and we've got all the tips and tricks to help you master yours in minutes. 

Deep-Set Eyes

There's a lot of intrigue surrounding deep-set eyes. These techniques will make your beautifully deep peepers pop.

• Lighten the inner corner and entire lid with shadow.
• Use a medium shadow above the crease and gently apply it across the bottom of the brow bone. 
• Use a darker contour shade only at the outer crease and dip slightly outward. 
• Keep any liner, especially on the upper lid, thin.

Drooping Eyes

Because of their "fresh out of the bedroom" look, drooping eyes have a certain sex appeal to them. Maximize their charisma with these makeup tips. 

• Apply a light shade in an oval shape on the lid and inner corner. 
• Follow with a medium shade that stops slightly before the edge of your eyebrow. 
• Finish with a dense patch of shadow in and slightly above the outer crease and extend it towards the brow. 
• Put eyeliner in the lower lash line, but keep the line light and stop before you reach the outer corner. 

Close-Set Eyes

Possessing a certain adolescent intensity, close-set eyes often look innocent and sweet. Add a bit of drama to close-set eyes with these tips. 

• Use a light shade eyeshadow on the inner corner and most of the lid. 
• Use a medium shade from the middle of the brow bone and sweep outward. 
• The darker contour color should extend to the outer corner and blend up and out toward the edge of your brow line. 

Wide-Set Eyes

With their otherworldly beauty, wide-set eyes have a lot of appeal. Try these makeup hacks to accentuate your wide-set shape. 

• Brush a highlight shade on the central portion of the upper lid. 
• Brush a medium shadow up to the brow bone from the inner corner outward, finishing in an inward slant. 
• With a darker color, shade the edge of the upper lid and the outer crease. 
• Apply eyeliner to focus on the center and inward corner of the eye — this gives the illusion of drawing the eye closer together. 

Related: What Color Eye Shadow Should I Wear?

Eye Makeup Tips for Unique Characteristics

Some of us have eyes that don't fit into these typical "set" categories. Rather, hooded and prominent are unique features on their own. With the power of makeup, you can accentuate these natural features using a handful of professional techniques. 

Makeup for Hooded Eyes

Hooded eyes, like droopy eyes, fall into this bedroom eye category because they create the illusion that your eyes are partially closed. To make hooded eyes pop, try to replicate these makeup applications. 

• Use a light highlight shade on the brow bone and inner corner along the lash line.
• Apply an eyeshadow shade slightly darker than the highlight shade over the entire lid and hooded area of the eye.
• Use a darker contour shade on the outer corner, sweeping up to a light peak.
• Finish with a liner to define your lash lines.

Makeup for Prominent Eyes

For prominent or convex eye shapes — eyes that pop with or without makeup — you may want to play with shadow and liner so your other features can take center stage. If you want to bring more balance to your features, give these makeup tricks a try. 

• Use a dark shade of eyeshadow near the lash line and base of the lid.
• Use a slightly lighter shade for the crease, and blend outward towards the brow bone.

All Eyes Are on You 

Eye makeup might not have any rules, but it does have a soundtrack (cue Say Anything's  "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel). Once you understand your eye shape and know the best makeup techniques for it, there's no eye makeup look you won't be able to rock with confidence. And that's something to bat your eyelashes at.