Eye Makeup Rules For Your Eye Shape

Rules are a fact of life, even in the world of makeup, and for good reason. Makeup is after all a product used by clowns, and unless you're popping by a kid's birthday party on a scooter later today, clownmakeup is definitely not advisable. Of course, makeup trends will come and go, some a little more clownish than others, but while continuing my little series on eye makeup that will truly enhance the eyes, I thought I'd give a little tutorial on eye makeup rules for individual eye shape.

You can find all kinds of articles on giving the illusion of a bigger eye, a less wide-set eye or even more or less eyelid. Really, is having too much eyelid so disastrous? I believe God has given everyone a beautiful window to the soul, but if you have things you would like minimized, go ahead. You should feel good about yourself when you walk out the door in the morning, and makeup can definitely help you feel ready to meet the world.

Rule 1: Areas that you want to enhance should be covered in a light shadow. If your lids fade behind a hooded crease, apply a light shadow to the lids. If you want to accentuate your brow bone or the inner corners of your eye (which you should), use even a shimmery white tone shadow here.  Keep in mind, there's always an exception to the rule, and mature eyes are the exception to the rule here as they should never ever wear any kind of shimmery shadow or eyeliner.

Rule 2: The opposite is true for areas you'd like to minimize. For example, if your eyes protrude a bit, stick to darker, matte shadows on the lid up to the crease.

Rule 3: You can keep it simple with a single application of a light or dark color, depending upon whether or not you want to enhance or minimize parts of your eye, which is what often happens when I just need to run out the door in a hurry. As a guide for how far beyond the eye you should extend shadow, try this: Hold a thin makeup brush against the outside edge of your nose and tilt it diagonally until it touches the outer corner of your eye. Where the brush lands is how far out you should apply your eye makeup.

But if you would like to play it up a bit, it takes less than a minute more to apply two color-coordinated eye shadows in light and dark shades. If you are into color coordination, go for it, but if you are a little shy about trying two coordinated shadows, stick with simple a lighter and darker tone of the same color like this Dior shadow compact.

Rule 4: Whether you have hooded eyes, almond eyes or eagle eyes (just kidding), curling your eyelashes and applying a super light highlight color such as this to the brow bone will do wonders for opening up the eye area. If those two things were all you had time for in the morning, that would be enough to get you through the day.

Now here are some specific rules for eye shape:

Deep set eyes: Wear light and pearly shadows to bring out the eyes. Apply the light shadow to the eyelid, from the inner corner to just a tad bit further, and don't forget to apply it on the bottom inner corner of the eye and on the brow bone. A darker color should be applied on the outer corner of the eye and just above the socket line. Again, don't forget to apply the darker color on the outer edge of the bottom lashes. You can then blend this darker shade up and out . You can add liner starting at the center of the upper and lower lash lines, extending to the outer corner, but you can skip this step if you need to run out the door really quickly.

Close set eyes: If you think your eyes are too close together, like if they are narrower than one eye width, use an eyeliner to draw a thin line along the upper eyelashes that becomes thicker near the outer corner of the eye. Apply a layer of light eye shadow from inner corner to the middle of eyelid. Use your darker shade from the middle to the outer corner and blend in the middle. Use more mascara on the outer corner to draw attention more to the outer corners of your eye.

Mature eyes: Eyes look best with a light base eyeshadow all over the eyelid, and a soft highlighter under the eyebrow. Lift your eyes by applying color strictly above your upper eyelid, keeping the sides and lower lid free of base eyeshadow. Use brown or grey mascara instead of black.

Downturned eyes: Make sure you tweeze or wax an arched brow to create lift above the eye, and make sure to curl your eyelashes. Those tricks alone will bring lift to the eyes. Then apply a light shade of eyeshadow from the lash line to the brow and use a medium shade in and above the crease, extending it outward and upward on the lid.

Hooded eyes: Use black liner to define the lash line and then apply a light highlight shade on the brow bone and inner corner of eyes. Use a little bit darker shade over the entire lid and the hooded area and your darkest shade only on the outer corner and sweep up to a peak. Using a three-color compact such as these will look great. Specifically for asian eyes, bright hues look great and distract from a heavy eyelid.

Also remember, eye makeup should be fun, stress-free and simple. Start with light applications that will rub off easily with a Q-tip if you make a mistake. Remember, it's not permanent, so you can always rub off any mistakes.