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10 Genius Makeup Tips for Hooded Eyes

Open up drowsy-looking lids with these techniques (and don't worry, no eye makeup trend is off limits)
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For Smoldering Smoky Eyes
Smoky eyes are tough to execute for most mortals, and they can be especially tricky for people with hooded eyes. Hooded lids eat up shadow, so you'll need to apply it slightly above the lid to create a crease where there isn't one naturally. Top off the look with some falsies like Catherine Zeta-Jones did to open your eyes way up.

How: Blend a medium-toned brown shade like M.A.C. Eye Shadow in Sable, $16, onto your lid, and look straight ahead into a mirror. With your eyes open, you'll be able to see when the shadow starts to become visible. Blend the brown shade up past your socket, towards your brow bone. Don't worry -- you've got plenty of room up there. This shadow technique contours your socket into looking like a crease, lending a sultry, defined vibe to your look.

Next, blend the same shadow along your bottom lash line. Rim your water line and upper lash line with a deep grey liner, and use a light champagne shadow to highlight just the inner corners of your eyes to keep them from looking closed-in.

Finish the look with a volumizing mascara on your top and bottom lashes. Add a set of medium-length false lashes (Ardell Lashlites, $3.99) to make your eyes appear even bigger.

Photo: Getty Images

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For a Natural Daytime Look
Sparkle-lovers, rejoice: For most women, shimmery shadow can be aging, but on hooded eyes, it has the opposite effect. Gleaming eye makeup wakes up this eye shape by creating the illusion of light where there is usually darkness. Jennifer Anniston's subtle glimmer and thin liner create a pretty, refreshed effect, perfect for work or low-key days.

How: Select a shade like BareMinerals EyeColors in Vanilla Sugar, $14, and blend it across the lid and above the socket. Dust a tiny bit into the inner corners of your eyes to catch the light, and add a little below the tail of your brow to lift your eye.

Next, use a felt-tip liner to draw the thinnest line you can across the upper lash line, thickening it a bit towards the outer corner of your eye. Brush a lengthening mascara through your lashes, leaving your bottom lash line completely bare.

Photo: Getty Images

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For Vibrant Eyes
Boosting your eye color with shadow is a smart move for anyone, but on piercing, hooded eyes, it's especially striking. The secret to making this technique work is elongating the shadow to open your eyes with the color. If you have blue eyes like Taylor Swift, pick a silvery navy or bronze. Brown-eyed girls should try cranberry, green-eyed ladies should use plum and hazel eyes look great adorned in warm brown.

How: Take a colored shadow of your choice (to emulate Swift's look, use Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Evidence, $18), and blend it across your lids and towards your sockets with a clean blending brush.

The key to adding drama when you don't have much lid space is making the most of your lower lash line. Blend the shadow along your lower lashes, thickening your shading up towards the outer corner of your eyes. Blend the shade slightly past your eye, towards the tail of your brow. Finish with several coats of thickening mascara like Maybelline Great Lash Washable Mascara in Blackest Black, $6.40 for fluttery lashes.

Photo: Getty Images

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For Subtle Cat Eyes
A neutral cat eye lets you rock this trend without rocking the boat too much. Rashida Jones nails this technique with her subtle feline shape. You can line all around your eyes if they're hooded, as long as you extend the wing slightly beyond your lashes to keep them looking open.

How: Take a long-wearing pencil liner like Cargo Swimmables Eyeliner Pencil in Black Sea, , $18, and trace around your upper and lower lash lines, keeping the line thinner towards the inner corner.

Extend the upper line into a slight wing, just a couple millimeters past your eye. Connect the wing to the lower lash liner. Next, line your waterlines with the pencil, top and bottom. Finish with a coat of lengthening mascara. Add a touch of highlighter to the inner corners of your eyes to brighten them up.

Photo: Getty Images

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For Old-Hollywood Glamour
Emma Stone's classic red-carpet look feels fresh because of her simple eye makeup. With hooded eyes that are wide already, less is more. Stone's eyes naturally have a strong feline shape, so forgoing winged eyeliner and makeup on the lower lash line makes her appear alert and enhances her eye shape without overwhelming it.

How: Brighten your eyes by blending a shimmery champagne eye shadow across the lid and up towards the brow bone, taking it into the inner corner of the eye. Take a bit along the inner third of your lower lash line to add even more light.

A black felt-tip liner like Stila's Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner in Midnight, $20, will give you control as you draw a fine line from the inner upper corner of the eyes across the lash line, ending at the outer corner of your eye. Finish the look with mascara on your upper lashes only.

Photo: Getty Images

BY KELLY SEARLE | MAY 11, 2015 | SHARES
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