Warm weather glamour – sp.... Read article
Plan ahead: Best tinted m.... Read article
Find the best foundation .... Read article
Getting married? Try air.... Read article
How to gently remove make.... Read article
Home / Eyes / What’s your “eye-type?”

If your eyes are close set, create a distance between them with light shadows, like this.

What’s your “eye-type?”

May 18, 2012

You may have started wearing eyeshadow when you learned Makeup 101 from your classmates in the bathroom of your junior high. However, you probably know now that finding the perfect color and tone is a bit more complicated than dabbing on any old hue and heading out the door. Depending on the shape of your eye and where they are set on your face, there are ways to shade and highlight aspects of your eyes that will surely turn heads, while keeping you from looking like Dr. Frank-N-Furter.

Most eyeshadow palettes come with four or more coordinating shades, ranging from dark to light. For example, if you chose a shimmery neutral palette it might contain a shade of ivory for highlighting, peach and bronze for medium color and a dark bronze or brown for the shading. Where you put these colors can make your eyes stand out in different ways. Of course, the shape and placement of your eyes on your face will make a big difference, so here are some tips you can tailor to your own look.

Average

Don’t think we’re calling you plain – the term “average” eyes essentially means your eyes are not set too close together, and not too far apart. They are not set particularly deep in your face, but are also not extremely prominent. They are also a pretty typical shape – not almond shaped, not slanted downward or upward.

When you apply eyeshadow to this type of eye, you should use a medium-dark color on the outer corner, blending into the outer part of the crease. Blend an even darker shade over the outer corner and up into the lid, starting to extend it to the brow bone. Cover the center of your lid with the medium-light color, then highlight the inner corners and the brow bone with the lightest hue.

Wide-set

Wide-set eyes are more spread out on the face with a noticeably larger space between them. The best way to play up wide set eyes is to shade the inner corners almost as much as you shade the outer corners.

With the medium-dark hue in your palette, apply to the outer corner of your eyelid, angling into the crease to define the eye. Cover the rest of the eyelid with the medium shades of eyeshadow, blending to the brow bone. Then, use the darkest shade to apply to the inner corner of the eye, blending along the lashline and the crease into the rest of the lid.

Close-set

If your eyes are close-set, you can apply shadow to visually increase the distance between their inner corners. To do this, you want to apply deep shadowing to the outer corners of  your eyes but keep the color very light on the inner half of the eye. This will create the illusion of distance across the bridge of your nose.

Start by applying the darkest color shadow to the outer corners of your eyes, blending upward and outward – almost in a cat-eye like fashion. Blend up toward the brow bone but never past the center of your eyelid. Only apply the light, highlighting shades to your inner corners and blend them into the medium shade on the rest of your eyelid.

In general, if your eyes are deep set, you should apply light colors to the inner corners and the brow bone to highlight them, making them visually pop out of your head. If they are prominent to begin with, do not highlight these parts. Instead, shade the inner and outer corners heavily to make them appear deeper in your face.

You can finish any one of these looks with a generous coat of mascara or some sassy false lashes to really make your eyes pop.

About the author

Santana Jordan
Around the age of 35ish, Santana Jordan realized that most of the makeup information that was readily available was all geared towards teeny boppers. This makeup artist and esthetician specializes in makeup techniques for the over 30 crowd. You know, those of us that need to hide a wrinkle or two – or ten and don’t want to look like we’re on our way to a rave. When she’s not taking the latest makeup trends and making them grown woman friendly, she is working on the launch of a kid’s clothing line inspired by her daughter, Lana Sofiah.