One of my favourite things to do as a makeup artist is solve a perceived problem. Over the years, I’ve lost count of the amount of people who have despairingly told me that eyeshadow isn’t for them because they have hooded eyes. In fact, it was one of the many things I wrote down in my beauty question notebook, as discussed in my last column. But I promise you, this isn’t true.
I think a lot of this confusion comes from preconceptions about where eyeshadow is best placed. Yes, it looks great when placed through the socket of the eye. But if that’s an area that isn’t as prominent for you, why focus on it? We have so much space to utilise around the eyes. By switching up our placement areas, I promise we’re going to have your hooded eye shape looking and feeling much more striking in an instant.
How to wear eyeshadow with hooded eyes
Let’s think about where we see the most colour. If you find when you look straight on you lose the visibility of your socket colour, let’s place a pop of colour somewhere that won’t move: the lower-lash line.
The Nudestix Magnetic Luminous Eye Colours, £20, BeautyBay are such a perfect tool for this placement. Rich in pigment and easy to blend, these are creamy in texture (until they dry to a budge-free finish), so they won’t accentuate any lines. To really make an impact, Google a colour wheel and use a lower-lash colour in the opposite shade to your iris. For example, cranberry will really make green eyes pop, as red and green are opposites.
While looking straight on, if your eyeshadow is disappearing in the crease, colour outside of the lines! Take your crease shadow higher and look forward while applying it so that you can see what your finished makeup will look like.
To nail this artistry hack, we need to go to the artistry mecca: MAC Cosmetics. I’ve had the same MAC 239S Eye Shader Brush, £21, Boots, MAC 217S Blending Brush, £21 and MAC 219S Pencil Brush, £21, both John Lewis for over 10 years; the hooded eye trifecta. The brand’s matte eyeshadow shades, such as the MAC Small Eyeshadow in Soft Brown, £16, Boots are also perfect for creating more depth in the eye socket.
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As we’ve come this far, it would be a real shame to fall at the last hurdle — and that hurdle is mascara. If your lashes sit quite closely to your hooded lids, we want to prevent any mascara smudging.
Euphoria’s department head and makeup lead Donni Davy recently launched her very own brand, Half Magic Beauty, and the line includes the very unique Wing Magician, £10, Half Magic Beauty; a reusable silicone tool. As an eyeshadow and wing tool this is incredible for helping you to achieve makeup symmetry (we’ll touch on this again, I think!). However, it also doubles up as a fantastic lash guard — ideal in this case.
Place the tool close to your lash line before applying mascara; it will catch any spills, leaving your eyeshadow pristine. I also recommend a tubing mascara for a smudge-proof finish all day. Clinique’s High Impact Zero Gravity Mascara, £22, Boots is the most volumising of the many tubing mascaras I’ve tried.
One more thing: make sure you follow people on social media with your eye shape for the ultimate eye makeup inspo. Two of my favourites are Shay Mitchell (shout out to my fellow PLL stans) and Blake Lively (for the Gossip Girl enthusiasts among us).
They both wear such stunning makeup looks, and you’re too busy thinking how great they look to even notice their eye shape.
What can I help you with next time in my fortnightly makeup column? Let me know on Instagram @RoseGallagher.
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