If you have hooded eyes, you know the struggle. You spend twenty minutes blending a gorgeous sunset gradient, open your eyes to check the mirror, and—poof. It’s gone. Folded away into the abyss of your upper eyelid. Honestly, it's frustrating. Most generic tutorials are filmed on people with massive amounts of lid space, which is basically useless for us. We need a specific step by step hooded eye makeup diagram strategy that actually accounts for the skin that hangs over the crease.
The secret isn't just "blending more." It's about changing your geometry.
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Most people try to follow their natural crease. That’s the first mistake. If you put your darkest shadow in the actual fold of a hooded eye, you’re just hiding the pigment. Instead, we have to "fake" a crease higher up on the brow bone. It feels weird at first. You’ll feel like you’re putting eyeshadow way too high, but once you open your eyes, the magic happens.
Why Your Current Technique is Failing
Hooded eyes aren't a "flaw." They’re just a shape. Celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence, Taylor Swift, and Blake Lively all have them. The common denominator in their red carpet looks is the "straight-on" approach.
Standard diagrams assume you're looking down while applying makeup. For us? That's a trap. When your eye is closed, the canvas is flat. When it opens, the skin folds. If you don't account for that fold, your eyeliner will look wonky and your shimmer will transfer to your brow bone. You've probably seen that "moon" of glitter that ends up near your eyebrow by noon? Yeah, that’s the hood doing its job.
We need to talk about the "Puffy Hood" vs. the "Deep Set Hood." Some people have a fleshy fold that sits heavy on the lashes. Others have a deep-set bone structure where the brow hangs over. Both require the same fix: working with eyes open.
The Step by Step Hooded Eye Makeup Diagram Breakdown
Let's get into the actual mechanics. Forget the standard "V" shape in the outer corner for a second. We’re going to build a shape that stays visible.
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1. The Mapping Phase
First, look directly into the mirror. Do not tilt your head back. Keep your eyes relaxed. Take a medium transition shade—something like a soft taupe or warm tan—and mark a dot right above where your skin folds. This is your "new" crease.
Now, connect that dot in a slight arc toward the inner corner, but keep it high. This is the foundation of our step by step hooded eye makeup diagram. By placing the pigment on the orbital bone rather than in the socket, the color stays visible when your eyes are open.
2. The Faux Crease
Use a smaller, tapered brush with a slightly darker shade. You want to define that new line you just made. Blend it upward toward the brow, never downward toward the lash line. We want to create the illusion of depth where there isn't any.
Think of it like contouring your eyelid. You're receding the "puffy" part of the hood by using matte shadows. Matte is your best friend here. Shimmer reflects light, which makes things look more prominent. If you put shimmer on the hooded part of your eye, you’re essentially highlighting the very thing you’re trying to push back. Keep the hood matte.
3. The "Straight-Across" Eyeliner
This is where most people give up. The dreaded winged liner.
If you draw a traditional wing, the fold of your eye will "break" the line, making it look like a little hook or a lightning bolt. To fix this, use the "Batwing" technique.
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With your eyes open, draw your wing starting from the lower lash line and extending out. Then, draw a line back toward your lid, crossing right over the fold of skin. When you close your eye, there will be a weird little notch or "batwing" shape missing from the liner. That’s fine. Fill it in. When your eye is open, it will look like a perfectly straight, sharp wing.
4. Strategic Shimmer Placement
You can still wear glitter. I promise. But you have to be precise.
Apply your shimmer only to the center of the actual eyelid—the part that's visible when you're looking down or blinking. To prevent it from transferring to the hood, use a glitter primer or a "tacky" base. NYX Professional Makeup makes a solid one that's cheap and works like a charm.
Pro tip: Keep the shimmer away from the outer third of the eye. Keeping the outer corner matte helps "lift" the eye, whereas shimmer out there can make the hood look heavier and more droopy.
Common Misconceptions About Hooded Eyes
I hear people say all the time that they "can't" wear dark eyeshadow. That’s total nonsense. You can wear a smoky eye; you just have to blend it higher than a "standard" eye shape would.
Another big one? "Don't use highlight on the brow bone." Actually, you should use it, but keep it very thin and right under the arch of the brow. If you bring a frosty highlight too far down onto the hooded skin, you’re just going to emphasize the fold. It's all about light placement.
Then there’s the "inner corner" myth. People think a bright inner corner highlight is the universal fix for small or hooded eyes. While it helps brighten, if you have a prominent "epicanthic fold" (where the upper lid covers the inner corner), a huge blob of white shimmer can actually look a bit messy. Stick to a fine, champagne-toned sheen right at the tear duct.
Tools of the Trade
You can't do this with those giant, fluffy brushes that come in "beginner" kits. Those are for people with lids the size of a billboard.
- Micro-Blending Brushes: You need tiny, precise brushes to place color exactly where you want it.
- Waterproof Everything: Because the lid folds onto itself, friction happens. Friction leads to smudging. Waterproof mascara and long-wear gel liners are non-negotiable.
- Primer is King: If you skip primer, your makeup will be gone in two hours. Use a dry-finish primer like the Urban Decay Primer Potion or MAC Paint Pot.
The "Lash Lift" Secret
If you really want to make your step by step hooded eye makeup diagram pop, you have to focus on the lashes. Hooded eyes often make lashes look shorter because the skin of the hood pushes them down.
- Curl them like your life depends on it. Use a heated curler if you have to.
- Focus on the outer corners. Use "half lashes" or "flick" lashes on the outer third of your eye. This creates a cat-eye effect that pulls the entire face upward.
- Tightline. Instead of putting thick liner on top of your lashes (which takes up valuable lid space), apply your liner to the upper waterline. This defines the eye without "eating" the eyelid.
Practical Next Steps for Success
To truly master this, you need to practice "The Ghost Crease." Tonight, before you wash your face, take a dark brown shadow and try to draw a crease half an inch above your real one while looking straight into the mirror. Don't worry about it being perfect. Just see how the shape changes when you open and close your eye.
Once you get the hang of where your "new" crease should live, invest in a high-quality matte palette. The Viseart Neutral Mattes or the Natasha Denona Biba palette are industry standards for a reason—the pigment is compressed enough that it won't fly all over your hood.
Start with a thin wing and a high transition shade tomorrow morning. You'll notice that people actually start complimenting your eyeshadow because, for the first time, they can actually see it. No more disappearing acts. Just a sharp, lifted look that stays put all day.