Those with hooded eyes will know how it feels when tens of minutes are spent labouring over a statement and stunning eye look, that suddenly does a disappearing act once the eye is completely open.
One minute it’s expertly applied and the next it’s nowhere to be seen. Luckily, with just a few application tips and tricks the days of disappearing eyeshadow will be long behind you.
Makeup artist Tre Dallas spoke to marie claire Australia to share some of their expert tips on how to work with an eye shape that many find daunting.
“Hooded eyes are when you have excess skin folding down from the brow bone to the lash line,” Tre explains.
“More people than you might think have hooded eyes, whether they were born with them or they are a result of ageing. They can make your eyes appear smaller and some find it hard to achieve the makeup look they desire because of them.”
According to Tre, the first step is to prime the lids to help prevent creasing and to keep the makeup in place all-day. After priming, lay down a neutral eyeshadow base, one shade lighter than your skin tone. “This will be your blank canvas and lock your primer in place,” Tre says. Then, you want to place a mid-tone neutral shade in the socket and blend this out.
But what is Tre’s top tip? Well, it’s all about keeping your eyes open. “Make sure your eyes are open when doing this to so you can see where your natural socket is,” he explains. “Blend this out past the outer corner of the eye slightly to elongate the eyes.”
Next, he suggests you continue on with a slightly darker shade in order to add more depth to the crease. Followed by connecting the outer edge of your lash line to your socket by blending in a vertical V shape. “This will give the illusion of a deeper socket, opening up your eyes.”
Another trick is adding eyeliner to the root of your lashes at your upper waterline, because those genetically blessed with hooded eyes already have less lid space. In fact, Tre doesn’t recommend adding liner above the lashes as it can often make eyes appear smaller.
“Lashes play a big part, always curl your lashes and add mascara top and bottom,” Tre says. “False lashes also help to open up the eyes—be sure to use natural separated lashes so you can see the eye shape you’ve just created.”
“I find matte eyeshadows always work best. Once you’ve mastered the technique of using the three neutral shades you can be more daring with different colour combinations!”
Well, there you have it. For those of us blessed with hooded eyelids, fret not since there is a myriad of ways to make sure your makeup pops, sans the stress.
