How to Apply Eyeliner For Different Eye Shapes

Knowing how to apply eyeliner based on your eye shape is crucial to get the desired look. One wrong stroke, one wrong movement, and a catastrophic incident will land on you. Here is a quick eyeliner guide that will show you how to apply eyeliner for different eye shapes. 

How Do I Know My Eye Shape for Eyeliner?

Before you dive deep into the details of how to wear eyeliner, it is essential to identify your eye shape. The quickest way to find your eye shape is to refer to an eye shape chart and find which shape resembles your eyes the most. Still can’t find your eye shape? Let us help you!  

 

Remove your eye makeup (if wearing any) and stand in front of a mirror (preferably in a brightly lit area). Now, take a close look at your eyes and do these three things: 

 

• Check your Crease Area: If you see minimal to no crease, you probably have a monolid. If your crease is obscured, you probably have hooded eyes. 

 

• Examine the Outer Corners: Take a look at the outer corners of your eye and note where they lie. If the outer corners of your eyes peek above the line, you have upturned eyes. If they dip beneath it, your eyes are downturned. 

 

• Analyse the Spacing:  If the distance between your eyes is narrower than the width of one eye, you have close-set eyes, and if it's greater, you have wide-set eyes.  

 

Now that you how to determine eye shape, let’s learn how to apply eyeliner for each of these shapes. 

Step-by-Step Guide to Applying Eyeliner Like a Pro

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to apply eyeliner like a pro: 

Step 1: Prep

Prime your lids with foundation or concealer to avoid smudging and create a smooth canvas. 

Step 2: Start Small & Build

Draw a thin line using your favourite eyeliner, starting from the outer eye corner to the inner corner. Thicken the line as you near reach the middle of your eyelid. Pick an eyeliner style you feel suits you the best and create the look accordingly.   

Step 3: Lower Lash Line (Optional)

Glide a soft line on your lower lash line. 

Step 4: Clean Up

Cover any eyeliner mistakes with a cotton swab soaked in foundation or concealer. 

 

Learning simply how to wear eyeliner isn’t enough, you need to identify which colors or eyeliner styles enhance your natural eye shape. Let’s find out! 

Best Eyeliner Styles for Different Eye Shapes

Here’s a list of various eyeliner styles for different eye shapes:

• Eyeliner for Big Eyes

Big eyes, like the name suggests, are bigger in proportion as compared to the other facial features like your lips and nose. Since your eyes are already a prominent feature on your face, your eyeliner should highlight your eyes without making them look too bold.  

 

Best Eyeliner Color for Big Eyes: Ditch the dramatic black, white, peach eyeliner looks and opt for brown eyeliner instead.  

 

Our recommendation – Apply Maybelline Tattoo Studio Gel Eyeliner Pencil in the shade Bold Brown

 

Eyeliner Styles for Big Eyes 

 

i) How to choose eyeliner for big eyes? Go for Foxy eye look (If you have doll-like round and big eyes, create a small wing on the outer corner or try the popular foxy eyeliner trend to elongate your eyes). 

 

ii) If you have big, round eyes you can also experiment with a lot of unique eyeliner styles like the double wing or the fishtail eyeliner if they want to go the extra mile with their eye makeup.

• Eyeliner for Small Eyes

Small eyes are often narrow and elongated and smaller than the other features on your face. When applying eyeliner for small eyes, the goal is to make them appear larger and rounder.  

 

Best Eyeliner Colors for Small Eyes: To make your eyes look bigger, try using white, peach, or beige eyeliner on your waterline. Steer clear from black eyeliners on your bottom lash line as they will make your eyes appear smaller and closed off.  

 

Our recommendation – Maybelline Colossal Liner

 

Eyeliner Styles for Small Eyes 

 

i) Wondering what is the best eyeliner for small eyes? To create the illusion of rounder eyes, apply a thicker line of eyeliner at the center of your eyelid and taper it towards the inner and outer corners. 

 

ii) How to apply eyeliner on small eyes? Use metallic or shimmery eyeliners on the top lash line to reflect the light and make your eyes look bigger and brighter. You can use gold or silver eyeliner to make your eyes look bigger. Apply it on your lash line to create a metallic smokey eye look to enhance the shape of your eyes.

 

• Eyeliner for Hooded Eyes

Hooded eyes are those where a part of the eyelid folds and hangs over the natural crease of the eyes, making it difficult to see the crease when your eyes are open.

 

Best Eyeliner Colors for Hooded Eyes: Choose a waterproof and smudge-proof liquid eyeliner, gel eyeliner, sketch pen eyeliner formula to keep your eye makeup in place. Blue, deep green, metallic bronze, etc. hues can accentuate hooded eyes. 

 

Our recommendation – Maybelline Tattoo Liner 48H Liquid Eyeliner

 

Eyeliner Styles for Hooded Eyes 

 

i) You can try winged eyeliner for hooded eyes. Create thick and bold lines very close to the lash line to make it visible. 

 

ii) People with hooded eyes can also tight-line the upper lash line.

• Eyeliner for Almond eyes

When looking straight ahead, if the top and bottom edges of your irises are slightly covered by your eyelids, you have almond-shaped eyes. Often confused with round eyes, almond eyes tend to be narrower towards the inner corner. If you have almond-shaped eyes, you are in luck since just about every eyeliner style will flatter them! 

 

Best Eyeliner Colors for Almond Eyes: Classic Black, brown: deep navy, earthy green, shimmery bronze or gold complement almond eyes. 

 

Our recommendation - Maybelline Colossal Bold Liner

 

Eyeliner Styles for Almond Eyes 

 

Put an end to your search for eyeliner for almond eyes. Feline flick or winged eyeliner suits almond eyes. Create a very thin line along your lash line. Start along the inner corner and gradually increase the thickness as you move towards the outer corner. Once you reach the outer edge, create a tiny upward flick for a subtle look. You can also intensify the eyeliner by creating a bold wing at the end. 

 

Even though most almond eyes are turned upwards, some almond eyes also have a downward tilt at the outer corner. This makes your upper eyelid appear longer and gives you a brooding, intense look.  

 

When applying eyeliner for downturned eyes, your aim is to give your eyes a lift and make them appear open and bright. Highlight the inner corner of your eyes with a shimmery pencil or a highlighter. Create an upwards flick along your top lash line to fake a lifted eye shape and keep the lower lash line bare. Use an intense black liner like the Maybelline New York Line Tattoo High Impact Liner that will last longer and give your eyes a lifted appearance all day. 

How to Make Eyeliner Stay All Day?

How to use eyeliner to make it long-lasting? Let’s find out!  

 

• Choose waterproof & smudge-proof formula: Use waterproof and smudge-proof eyeliner that can resist humidity and sweat 

 

• Set it With Eyeshadow: Take a small amount of matching eyeshadow on top of your eyeliner to make it transfer-proof and increase its longevity 

 

• Prime Time: Apply an eyeshadow primer to your eyelids to give them a smudge-proof, smooth base 

 

• Less is More: When it comes to makeup, less is more! Avoid multiple coats or heavy lines as these can smudge more easily. Instead, gradually build up the intensity. 

 

• Apply Powder on Oily Lids: Dust translucent powder lightly over your oily eyelids to soak up the excess oil 

 

Now that you know how to apply eyeliner, how to use eyeliner to avoid smudging, go ahead and pick up your favourite eyeliner, and let your eyes do the talking! Not sure which eyeliner will work best for you? You can use the Maybelline Virtual Try-On tool to test out the different types of eyeliners and eye makeup products in real time with zero commitment.  

 

Use this tool to play around with different face makeup and lip makeup products to create an entire makeup look that suits your eye shape.  

 

Nothing beats the charm of exploring your style with makeup. Sure, it might seem daunting at first, but the right techniques help you pull off just about any look. Master these skills with the makeup blogs by Maybelline India. Be it face makeup, lip, or eye makeup, the blogs take you through the trade secrets of acing any look with ease. From getting sharp, winged eyes to a seamlessly blended face, a good makeup look comes from attention to detail. Know everything there is to achieve a flawless face and start exploring your makeup style with the guides by Maybelline. Here are some of our essential tips for makeup rookies –  

 

• Use this essential makeup list to unveil a flawless look  

• A flawless base: here’s how to avoid cakey makeup 

• How to get bigger eyes using makeup 

• Smokey eye makeup is all the rage! Check out this tutorial 

• 7 Easy Steps for a Stunning Evening Makeup Look