You spend twenty minutes blending the perfect sunset gradient. You look straight into the mirror. It’s gone. Completely swallowed by that flap of skin known as the hood. Honestly, it’s frustrating. People with deep-set eyes or massive lid space have no idea how lucky they are. But here’s the thing: hooded eyes are actually a high-fashion staple. Look at Jennifer Lawrence or Taylor Swift. They have hooded eyes, and they always look incredible. The secret isn't some magical surgery; it’s just adjusting where you place the pigment. If you’re tired of your eyeliner looking like a jagged mess or your eyeshadow disappearing the second you blink, you’re in the right place. These makeup tricks for hooded eyes are about working with your anatomy, not fighting it.
Your eyelid isn't the canvas—your brow bone is
The biggest mistake people make is applying makeup with their eyes closed. When your eyes are shut, you have all this beautiful, flat real estate. But you don't live your life with your eyes closed. The second you open them, the hood drops down and hides the lid. To fix this, you have to apply your transition shades higher than you think. Like, way higher. You’re basically creating a "faux crease" on the orbital bone.
Take a matte medium-brown shadow. Look straight ahead into the mirror. Keep your eyes open. Don't lift your eyebrows! If you lift your brows, you’re cheating. With your eyes relaxed, blend that shadow right onto the skin that hangs over the lid. This creates the illusion of depth where there isn't any. Renowned makeup artist Wayne Goss has championed this "straight-on" technique for years because it’s the only way to ensure people can actually see your hard work. If you only apply shadow to the mobile lid (the part that moves when you blink), it’s basically a secret only you and your sink know about.
Texture matters more than color
Shimmer is a double-edged sword. If you put a high-shine, frosty shadow on the hooded part of your eye, it reflects light. What does light do? It brings things forward. You’re essentially highlighting the very thing you might be trying to recede. Stick to mattes for the "fake" crease. Save the sparkles for the very center of the lid or the inner corner. It creates a "peek-a-boo" effect. When you blink, people get a flash of glitter, but when your eyes are open, the matte shadow provides the structure and shape.
The bat-wing liner: Fixing the "hook"
Eyeliner is the final boss for hooded eyes. You try to draw a straight line, but the fold of your skin catches the tail of the flick. When you open your eye, the wing looks broken, or worse, it points downward and makes your eyes look droopy. This is where the "Bat-Wing" technique comes in.
Instead of drawing a continuous line, you’re going to draw a shape that looks like a little notch or a hockey stick when your eye is closed.
- Draw your wing with your eyes open.
- Follow the lower lash line’s natural upward curve.
- Draw the line right over the fold.
- When you close your eye, you’ll see a gap or a "step" in the line.
- Fill that gap in.
It looks weird when your eyes are closed—kinda like a geometric bat wing—but when you look at someone head-on, the line appears perfectly straight. It’s a total game-changer. Pro tip: use a felt-tip liner with a very fine point. You want precision here because there isn't much room for error before the product starts smudging into your upper lid.
Why your mascara is always smudging on your brow bone
Hooded eyes are notoriously oily. Or, even if they aren't oily, the skin-on-skin contact means your lashes are constantly rubbing against your upper lid. This is why you end up with those annoying black dots under your eyebrows by 2:00 PM.
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You need waterproof mascara. No, actually, you need tubing mascara. Unlike traditional wax-based formulas, tubing mascaras (like the ones from Thrive Causemetics or Blinc) create tiny polymer "tubes" around each lash. They don't smudge. They don't smear. They only come off with warm water and a bit of pressure. It’s the only way to keep your mascara on your lashes and off your skin.
Also, don't forget to curl your lashes. It sounds basic. It is basic. But for hooded eyes, it's vital. Lifting the lashes creates a vertical opening effect that "lifts" the hood. If your lashes go straight out, they add a shadow that makes the eye look even more closed off.
The "Tightlining" hack
If you have hooded eyes, your lid space is precious. If you draw a thick line of eyeliner on your upper lash line, you’ve just used up 90% of your visible lid. Now you just have a black block for an eye. Instead, try tightlining. This means applying eyeliner directly into the roots of your upper lashes and the upper waterline.
It defines the eye and makes your lashes look thicker without taking up a single millimeter of lid space. It’s subtle. It’s effective. Use a long-wear gel pencil for this, otherwise, it’ll migrate to your bottom waterline and give you accidental raccoon eyes.
Placement tricks for a lifted look
The "outer V" is a lie for us. Well, not a lie, but it needs to be repositioned. Usually, tutorials tell you to put dark shadow in the outer corner of your eye. For hooded eyes, if you go too low in that outer corner, you’re pulling the whole eye down.
Think "up and out."
Everything you do should have an upward diagonal trajectory. When you’re blending your outer corner color, aim for the tail of your eyebrow. This creates a lifting effect that counters the downward weight of the hood. Some people even use a bit of scotch tape as a guide to keep that line crisp and elevated. Just make sure to stick the tape to your hand a few times first so it’s not too sticky for the delicate skin around your eyes.
Prime like your life depends on it
You cannot skip primer. You just can't. Because the skin folds over itself, the natural oils on your lids are trapped. They will break down your eyeshadow in record time. You’ll end up with that awkward line of "mud" in the center of your crease within two hours.
Apply a thin layer of a high-tack primer (like Urban Decay Primer Potion or even just a bit of MAC Paint Pot). Set it with a translucent powder or a skin-toned shadow before you start your look. This creates a dry, smooth barrier that keeps everything locked in place.
Actionable steps for your next look
If you’re ready to master makeup tricks for hooded eyes, start small. Don't try a full cut-crease on day one.
- Switch to a mirror at eye level: Stop looking down into a hand mirror. You need to see your eyes exactly as others see them—straight on.
- Map your crease with a pencil: Before using shadows, take a light brown eyeliner pencil and mark where your "new" crease should be while your eyes are open.
- Invest in small brushes: Big, fluffy blending brushes are the enemy of hooded eyes. You need small, tapered brushes that can get into the small areas without spreading color everywhere.
- The "Half-Lash" secret: Instead of a full strip of false lashes (which can be heavy and push the hood down), cut a lash strip in half and apply it only to the outer corners. It gives you a cat-eye lift without the bulk.
The anatomy of your eye isn't a flaw; it's just a different blueprint. Once you stop trying to follow tutorials designed for different eye shapes and start using these specific adjustments, everything clicks. You’ll find that you can wear bold colors and sharp liner just as well as anyone else—you’re just building the architecture a little bit higher.