You spend twenty minutes blending. The transition shade is perfect, the shimmer is popping, and the winged liner is sharp enough to cut glass. Then, you open your eyes. Suddenly, all that hard work is gone, swallowed by a fold of skin that refuses to cooperate. It’s frustrating. Honestly, it’s enough to make you want to give up on makeup entirely. But learning how to do eyeshadow hooded eyes isn't actually about changing your face; it’s about changing your perspective. Most makeup tutorials you see on Instagram or TikTok feature creators with massive, flat eyelid real estate. If you try to copy them stroke-for-stroke, you're going to fail. That's because their "crease" is visible, and yours is hidden.
Hooded eyes are incredibly common. Look at Jennifer Lawrence, Taylor Swift, or Blake Lively. They all have them. The "hood" is simply a bit of extra skin that drops down from the brow bone to the lash line. Sometimes it’s genetic. Sometimes it’s just age. Either way, the standard rules of makeup don't apply here. If you apply shadow only to your mobile lid—the part that moves when you blink—it will vanish the second you look someone in the eye. We have to stop painting for the closed eye and start painting for the open one.
The Straight-Ahead Secret
This is the most important thing you will ever learn about your face. Seriously. When you learn how to do eyeshadow hooded eyes, you must keep your eyes open and look directly into a mirror. Most of us have a habit of tilting our heads back or pulling our lids taut when we apply shadow. Stop doing that. When you tilt your head, the skin smooths out, and you think you’re placing color in the right spot. But as soon as you level your head, that skin folds back down and hides your work.
Instead, look straight ahead. Relax your forehead—don't lift your eyebrows! Take a medium-toned transition shade on a fluffy brush. Now, find where your hood naturally falls. You want to apply your "crease" color above your actual crease. You’re basically faking a new crease on the brow bone itself. By placing the color higher, it remains visible even when your eyes are wide open. This creates the illusion of depth and makes your eyes look much larger than they actually are. It feels wrong at first. You’ll feel like you’re taking the shadow too high, almost to the brow. But trust the process.
Texture is your best friend (and your worst enemy)
We need to talk about shimmer. There’s a persistent myth that people with hooded eyes can’t wear shimmer. That’s nonsense. You can wear whatever you want. However, there is a strategic way to do it. Shimmer reflects light. If you put a high-shine, frosty shadow all over the hooded part of your eye, you’re going to highlight the very thing you’re trying to recede. It makes the hood look heavier and more prominent.
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Keep your mattes for the "fake" crease you just built. Matte shades absorb light and create shadows, which is exactly what we need to push that hood back. Then, take your shimmers and metallics and place them strictly on the mobile lid and the inner corner. This creates a "peek-a-boo" effect. When you blink, people see the sparkle. When your eyes are open, the matte shadow does the heavy lifting of shaping the eye.
Also, primer isn't optional here. Hooded eyes are prone to oiliness because the skin is constantly rubbing against itself. That friction breaks down makeup faster than anything else. You need a dry-down primer. Some people swear by the Urban Decay Primer Potion, while others prefer something tackier like the MAC Paint Pot. Personally, I think a thin layer of concealer set with a translucent powder works just fine for most people, but if you have "oily lids," go for a dedicated eye primer.
The Bat-Wing Liner Trick
Liquid liner is the final boss for anyone figuring out how to do eyeshadow hooded eyes. If you draw a straight line from your outer corner, the hood will catch it. When you open your eye, that "straight" line suddenly looks like a hockey stick or a jagged bolt of lightning. It’s depressing.
Enter the "Bat-Wing" technique. This was popularized by makeup artists like Katie Jane Hughes, who is a literal wizard with hooded lids.
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- Look straight into the mirror with your eyes open.
- Draw your wing's tail from the outer corner towards the end of your eyebrow.
- Connect that tail back toward your lash line, but keep your eye open.
- You will notice that as you draw over the fold, the line looks broken when you close your eye.
- Fill in that gap.
When your eye is closed, the liner will have a little "notch" or a shape that looks like a bat wing. It looks weird when you're looking down at your phone, but when you’re looking at people, the line appears perfectly straight. It’s a literal optical illusion. If you find liquid liner too frustrating, try a smudged pencil or a dark eyeshadow. Use a flat definer brush to push a dark brown or black shadow into the lash line. It defines the eye without the harsh, unforgiving lines of a liquid pen.
Why Placement Matters More Than Color
You can use the most expensive Chanel palette in the world, but if the placement is off, it won't matter. For hooded eyes, the goal is often "lifting." We want to pull everything upward and outward.
Avoid bringing dark colors too far into the inner third of your eye. This can make hooded eyes look "closed in" or sleepy. Instead, keep the darkest shades on the outer "V" of the eye. Think of it as a triangle pointing toward your temple. Blend it out and up. If you find that your shadow is drooping down and making you look tired, take a makeup wipe or a bit of concealer on a flat brush and "cut" a line from your lower lash line upward. This instantly lifts the entire face.
Let's talk about the lower lash line for a second. Many people with hooded eyes ignore the bottom because they’re so focused on the top. Don't do that! Bringing a bit of that transition shade under the lower lashes balances the weight of the look. Just don't go too heavy, or you'll end up with raccoon eyes. Keep the color tight to the lashes and blend, blend, blend.
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Practical Steps for Tomorrow Morning
Stop trying to follow "standard" tutorials. They will only frustrate you. Your eye shape is unique, and it requires a unique approach. Tomorrow morning, try this:
- Skip the magnifying mirror. It distorts your perspective. Use a regular mirror at arm's length so you can see your whole face.
- The "Two-Finger" Rule. Don't bring your eyeshadow further down than the end of your nose and the corner of your eye. Anything lower than that line will drag your face down.
- Invest in small brushes. Most eyeshadow brushes are too big for hooded eyes. If the brush covers your entire lid, you can't be precise. Look for "tapered blending brushes" or "pencil brushes." They give you the control to place color exactly where you need it—above the fold.
- Use a transition shade that is only two shades darker than your skin. This makes blending much easier. If you start with a super dark color, it's going to get messy fast.
- Practice the "invisible" liner. Apply your eyeliner to the upper waterline (tightlining) instead of on top of the lashes. This defines the eye without taking up any of the precious lid space you have.
The most important thing to remember is that makeup is just pigment. It washes off. If you mess up the wing or the blend is patchy, just wipe it away and try again. Hooded eyes offer a beautiful, sultry look that people with deep-set or protruding eyes can't easily replicate. Embrace the fold. Once you stop fighting it and start working with it, you'll find that how to do eyeshadow hooded eyes isn't a chore—it’s just a different set of skills.
Start by focusing on your brow bone today. Try placing your shadow just a few millimeters higher than usual. You’ll be surprised at how much of a difference it makes when you finally look yourself in the eye.