How To Apply Eyeliner To Hooded Eyes

Forget what you know about hooded eyes because while you may have never believed you could nail a dramatic cat eye a la Nicki Minaj or a thin, Adele-like liner, the truth is you can. If you've ever wondered how to apply eyeliner to hooded eyes, I'm here to break down how simple and 100 percent doable it is.

Hooded eyes are characterized by an extra layer of skin that tends to droop over the crease, causing your eyes to look smaller. Your goal in eye makeup should be to define your water line and crease, and lift the eye upward. Whether you have a slightly hooded lid or a dramatic hooded lid — either way, you can still rock a winged or dramatic eyeliner.

Before I get into eyeliner, here are some simple makeup tips for hooded eyes: To uplift the eye, try to tightline your top waterline. It's also a good idea to highlight the lash line (which can sometimes disappear with your eye shape). These are tricks you can use every day to create more bright-eyed looks, but if you want to amp it up with eyeliner, here's how to do it.

To begin, it's important to know that you can wear whatever the hell you want — there's not one style you should limit yourself to. But if you're looking to learn how to highlight your natural shape better, here's how to do it.

1. Always Tightline Your Upper Lashes

You always want to tightline your upper lashes, whether that's with gel liner or dark eyeshadow. This will make your eyelashes look darker and bolder, and lift the lid.

2. Stay Away From Your Bottom Lid

Don't heavily line your bottom lid, and if you can stand it, keep it bare. A dark lower lash line can make your eyes appear droopy. While you don't have a ton of lid room to work with, that's where you should be working.

3. Use A Straight Line Technique

Find the highest point of your eye (right above your pupil) and dot it. That should serve as your guide for where your eyeliner should go straight to your wing. This will make your eye look as wide and lifted as possible.

4. Don't Continue Your Lower Lash Line

Almost every winged liner technique suggests using your lower lash line as a guide for where to begin your wing. This doesn't always work for hooded or downturned eyes, as it will make them look even droopier. Instead, bring your eyeliner out straight to avoid highlighting your folds.

5. Go Full

The folds of your hooded eyes will eat up some of your liner, so go extra full to make your liner really show up.

6. Use A Fine Brush

The tinier, the better when it comes to eyeliner brushes and pens.

7. Apply A White Liner At The Middle, Highest Point

Use a white, creamy pencil liner to add a dab of white at the middle of the lowest lash line and your top waterline to create a more wide-eyed look.

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Images: Stephanie Lange/YouTube