The Best Eyeshadow for Hooded Eyes Tips and tricks (Full guide)

Do you have hooded eyes? If so, you know that eyeshadow can be a bit of a challenge.

The good news is that there are some tips and tricks that can help make the process a bit easier.

In this blog post, we will discuss the best ways to apply eyeshadow when you have hooded eyes. We will also provide some examples of looks that you can try.

So, whether you are just starting out with makeup or you are looking for new ideas, read on for the best eyeshadow tips and tricks for hooded eyes!

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What are Hooded eyes vs. other eye shapes?

Hooded eyes are when the skin on your eyelid droops down and covers part of the eye. This can make it difficult to see the full lid when you are looking in the mirror, which makes applying eyeshadow tricky.

Other eye shapes include Almond eyes, monolids, round eyes, downturned eyes, upturned eyes, and more or a combination of these.

How to apply eyeshadow if you have hooded eyes?

There are three main things to keep in mind when applying eyeshadow if you have hooded eyes:

1) use a primer

Using a primer will help to create a base for your eyeshadow and make the color last longer.

With our hooded eyes is especially important to wear a good eyeshadow primer to prevent any creasing throughout the day.

Since hooded eyes/ hooded eyelids have this problem of extra skin that covers the eyelid, it’s common that eyeshadow creases after 1 or 2 hours of being applied.

And if, besides hooded, you also have oily eyelids, then you should go for a waterproof and oil-free eyeshadow primer.

We recommend the Urban Decay Anti-Aging Eyeshadow Primer Potion.

The next step is choosing our colors.

For a day look, you can go for more natural tones like browns or nudes. If you want something more dramatic for a night, then feel free to experiment with darker colors or even glitter.

What are the best eyeshadow colors for Hooded eyes

The best eyeshadow colors for hooded eyes are those that highlight the eyes and make them pop. Some good options include:

– Nudes: A nude eyeshadow will help to make your eyes look wider and brighter. Try a light beige or champagne color.

– Browns: A brown eyeshadow can add dimension to our look no matter the final colors we are working with. If we want a natural look, go for a matte neutral brown. If you want something more dramatic, try a shimmery darker brown.

– Grays: A gray eyeshadow can make your eyes look smoky and sexy. Try a charcoal gray for a night out.

– Golds: A gold eyeshadow will help to make your hooded eyes look more brighter and elegant.

– Glitter: If you want to add some sparkle to your look, then try a glitter eyeshadow. Just be sure to use a primer first so that the glitter does not end up all over your face!

–Any color eyeshadows: burgundy, plum, greens, blues, purples, these are colors hooded eye approved! Check this eyeshadow guide where I go over on how to combine eyeshadow with your eye color.

Now that we know our colors let’s move on to the application technique.

2) use light colors on the lid

When applying eyeshadow to hooded eyes, it is important to use light colors on the lid.

This will help to make the eyes look wider and brighter.

In the theory of color for makeup, we can learn that light colors bring out and darker colors hide/bring back.

So, we are using this to try to balance our hooded eyes and hooded eyelids.

Try lighter, brighter colors on the center of the eyelid.

And try darker shades on the upper area of the hooded eyelids to try to hide that extra skin fallen down to our eye.

3) the crease “fake crease” technique

Another important tip is to focus on the crease when applying eyeshadow.

For this, we will go over my signature “fake crease” technique.

This is a simple way to create the illusion of a crease, even if you do not have one or are not well-defined due to the hooded eyelids.

First, use a light eyeshadow color on the entire lid. Then, take a slightly darker eyeshadow color and apply it right above your natural crease, just like if you were applying it in your crease. To create a “fake crease.”

And you will continue with your look based on your new “fake crease” trust me, this simple trick open up your eye and “reverse” some of your hooded eyelids! You have to try it.

I have an ebook where I go into more detail about this technique and more tips and tricks for hooded eyes, you can get my hooded eye ebook here.

Do you have hooded eyes, and you struggle with your eye makeup?

I highly recommend you the master makeup program, where I teach my secrets and best tips to master your eyeliner, eyeshadow, eyelashes, and the rest of the makeup with your hooded eyes and other advanced makeup techniques!

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4) Deepen the crease (the fake one!)

To deepen the crease, you can use a darker eyeshadow color in your “fake crease.” Just be sure to blend well so that there are no harsh lines.

In this simple neutral eyeshadow look, I’m gonna pick a darker brown with a neutral undertone.

NOTE: I’m crafting this hooded eyes eyeshadow tutorial in a super neutral/easy-to-do eyeshadow look, but this is just an example for this technique. You can mix and match basically ANY color based on this technique!

Get creative and try these hooded eyes tips with purples, blues, grays, gold, dark smokey eye, and more shades!

I’m a Neutrals lover, I personally LOVE how you can wear this simple look for every day, for work, or with bold lipstick. You can wear this on a special occasion.

Let’s continue with the tutorial.

5) Highlight the brow bone the right way

After deepening the crease, it is important to highlight the brow bone. But for hooded eyelids, we want to do this slightly differently than with other shapes.

Instead of applying a highlighter on ALL the brow bone area, we want to apply it in a small area right below our eyebrow.

We want to create the illusion of a smaller brow bone area, and to shorten this area, we need to add a slim line of highlighter instead of a big, thick line.

5) Highlight the inner corner

For the next step, we will highlight the inner corner of the eye. This will help to make the eyes look wider and brighter. You can use any light color of eyeshadow for this step.

For hooded eyes, I recommend adding highlighter to the inner corners of the eyes because we want to bring as much light as possible to our looks to enhance our eyes.

6) Eyeliner for Hooded eyes

Another important step in eye makeup for hooded eyes is eyeliner.

For hooded eyes, it is important to keep the eyeliner thin and close to the lash line.

I also recommend using waterproof eyeliner because it will help to prevent any smudging or transfer throughout the day. We know our hooded eyes tend to make our eyeliner smear and the solution to this is waterproof eyeliner.

Eyeliner for hooded eyes is an extensive topic that deserves its own article and tutorial on this, so I crafted this eyeliner for hooded eyes article.

Go read it and then get back to this tutorial.

One of my favorite eyeliners for hooded eyes is this one by NYX.

The main tips to keep in mind when doing eyeliner on hooded eyes are:

Keep eyeliner thin and close to the lash line
Use a waterproof eyeliner for smudging prevention
Eyeliner is an important step in makeup for hooded eyes, but you can skip it if you want it
Avoid thick bottom eyeliner
try a winged eyeliner to lift your hooded eyes

It’s also important to mention that eyeliner is NOT essential for hooded eyes.

So I’m gonna continue this eyeshadow tutorial without eyeliner to show you that.

(Do you prefer eyeliner? Remember that you can read more about eyeliner for hooded eyes in this guide)

7) Mascara for hooded eyes

For mascara, we want to focus on lengthening the lashes and not necessarily on adding volume.

I recommend using a lengthening mascara because it will help to open up the eyes and make them look bigger.

If you prefer, you can also use a volumizing mascara, but I would still focus on length rather than volume. We want to show our eyelid as much as possible, to reverse the illusion of little to not eyelid.

If we add volume, for example with a dramatic false eyelashes we are hiding and making it less noticeable our eyelid and that’s exactly what we want to avoid to enhance our hooded eyes.

If you are interested in knowing more about false eyelashes, check my updated guide on the best false eyelashes for beginners with a step by step tutorial.

I recommend a natural pair of false eyelashes like these ones with a thin transparent strip that while adding length to our natural lashes, won’t hide our eyelid.

BUY IT ON AMAZON

8) Brighten your under eyes

For the next step, we want to brighten our under eyes with concealer.

This will help to make us look more awake and rested, and it’s beneficial to make our hooded eyes pop.

Eye makeup is more than only eyeshadow and eyeliner. Concealer under the eyes is also an essential step to enhance our hooded eyes.

Choose a concealer that is one or two shades lighter than your skin tone and apply it with a beauty blender or concealer brush.

Brighten this area, brings light to our eye makeup and add a beautiful final touch.

Even when I do my face makeup first (face primer, foundation, concealer), I love to add a fresh coat of concealer under the eyes once I finish with the eye makeup to get a flawless and clean look.

As you can see in the picture above, even when I have my eyes open, you still can see a little bit of my eyelid.

Showing the eyelid with our eyes open helps to balance hooded eyes.

When we do thick eyeliner and wear thick false eyelashes, we hide our eyelids and make our eyes look more hooded.

You can also see how the darker shades on the upper area of my eyelids hide a little bit of this extra skin fallen down on my eyelid.

And the wing I made with the eyeshadows in the outer corner of the eye makes my eyes look more lifted.

Best Eyeshadow for Mature Hooded eyes

finally, if you have hooded eyes and you are over 40 years old, I would recommend using one of the best eyeshadow techniques for mature hooded eyes.

Mature hooded eyelids tend to also have loose skin, and is especially difficult to work eyeliner and other techniques. That’s why I recommend using this technique:

1st- Prep your eyelids with an eyeshadow primer to avoid creasing and help the eyeshadows to last longer.

2nd- Apply a light matte shade all over the lid as a base; this will help other shades to look more vibrant.

3rd-an, use a medium shade on the crease to define it. I recommend using a matte shade for this

4th- In the outer corner, do a transition effect. This is perfect for those with loose skin.

Check the full mature hooded eyes guide + best antiaging makeup tips here.

Final Eyeshadow tips for Hooded eyes

Well, this hooded eyes eyeshadow guide has covered the essential steps to enhance hooded eyelids, and these are the main takeaways of this article:

-The eyeliner is not essential for hooded eyes. Keep this in mind when doing your makeup. If you want to do it, go ahead but don’t feel bad if you decide to skip it.

-Also, avoid thick false eyelashes and focus on lengthening your lashes with a good lengthening mascara instead.

-Use concealer under your eyes to brighten this area.

-And most importantly, use lighter eyeshadows to create the illusion of a bigger and more open eye.

More Eyeshadow looks to try for Hooded eyes:

I hope you enjoyed reading this hooded eye makeup guide. If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments below!

And don’t forget to get your Hooded eyes Makeup checklist by completing the quick form below!