Eye Shapes And How To Apply Makeup For Each, According To MUAs

Ever wondered how your best friend’s eye makeup doesn’t budge an inch while yours always slides and smudges? It might have to do with your eye shapes.

In fact, customizing your makeup products and your application technique to your specific eye shape will help to keep your shadow and liner in check.

“Catering to your eye shape when you apply eyeshadow and eyeliner will definitely help you enhance your features,” says makeup artist Daniel Chinchilla. We spoke to Chinchilla and MUA Jeannia Robinette to learn the proper application tricks to make different eye shapes stand out.

Read Chincilla’s and Robinette’s tips, below.

Upturned Eyes

“If your outer corners are higher than your inner corners, you have upturned eyes,” explains Chinchilla, who loves to emphasize this shape with a thin coat of eyeliner all the way to the ends of the lids.

“I like to use a liquid liner with a nice pointy tip to help guide the application,” says Robinette, whose go-to product is the ultra inky Kevyn Aucoin The Precision Liquid Liner. “You can also add a little extra mascara on the bottom lashes. Have fun with it!”

Round Eyes

“If you can see the whites of your eyes below the iris, you have round eyes,” says Robinette. “I love to put lots of eyeliner inside the water line to create a cat eye and close up some of the space.”

Although she swears by the super pigmented, yet buildable, Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in the deepest matte black shade, she says it’s most important to ensure that you get a longwear eyeliner with a creamy finish. Or you can go for a sultry eye look.

Monolid Eyes

A monolid, or an epicanthic fold in medical terms, is an upper eyelid shape without a visible crease line. If you want to create some dimension, Robinette advises, “Use reflective shadows on lids for a lift, and apply lots of mascara. But always curl lashes or add false lashes first. I love the Shu Uemura Curler, and Ardell false lashes are inexpensive and easy to use.”

Upturned Eyes

“If your outer corners are higher than your inner corners, you have upturned eyes,” explains Chinchilla, who loves to emphasize this shape with a thin coat of eyeliner all the way to the ends of the lids.

“I like to use a liquid liner with a nice pointy tip to help guide the application,” says Robinette, whose go-to product is the ultra inky Kevyn Aucoin The Precision Liquid Liner. “You can also add a little extra mascara on the bottom lashes. Have fun with it!”

Round Eyes

“If you can see the whites of your eyes below the iris, you have round eyes,” says Robinette. “I love to put lots of eyeliner inside the water line to create a cat eye and close up some of the space.”

Although she swears by the super pigmented, yet buildable, Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in the deepest matte black shade, she says it’s most important to ensure that you get a longwear eyeliner with a creamy finish. Or you can go for a sultry eye look.

Monolid Eyes

A monolid, or an epicanthic fold in medical terms, is an upper eyelid shape without a visible crease line. If you want to create some dimension, Robinette advises, “Use reflective shadows on lids for a lift, and apply lots of mascara. But always curl lashes or add false lashes first. I love the Shu Uemura Curler, and Ardell false lashes are inexpensive and easy to use.”