How to Apply Pageant Eye Shadow For Your Eye Shape

Miss Oklahoma USA 2013 Makenzie Muse

There are endless possibilities for eye makeup, which can be both exciting and a little nerve-wracking. The trick to finding the eye makeup look that’s best for you out of all the possibilities is discovering which makeup tricks look best with your unique eye shape.

Round

Round eyes are already wide and open, so you want to make sure that you accent these features without weighing them down with your eye makeup. Beauty editor, Megan Cahn suggests applying eyeliner starting from the inner corners of your eyes and drawing a straight line to the outer corner. For eyeshadow, apply a medium color to the outer corner and blend it in to accent your shape and add more dimension.

Close set

If your eyes fall close together, you want to add the illusion that they are more spread out. Megan suggests “use a medium color and shade a little farther out than the width of the eye.” This technique will help widen your eyes, and even help make them appear a little larger. For eyeliner, instead of starting at the inner corner of your eyes, start in the center and extend the line slightly past the outer corner to match your eyeshadow. Use this technique with a smokey eye for a flawless look!

Wide set

Surprise, surprise, with wide set eyes you want to do just about the opposite of close set eyes. Rather than extending out your eyeshadow, keep it short and sweet and end it at the outer corner of your eyes. If you are going for the smokey eye look you want to be cautious as to not go to drastic because this eye shadow look could make your eyes appear even wider.

Almond

With your symmetrical eyes you can easily rock almost any look. I have almond eyes, and find that eyeliner is best applied starting with a thin line at the inner corner and thicker as it extends out slightly past the outer corner. Also, add a thin line under your bottom lashes. For eyeshadow, using a highlight in the center and continuing with a smokey eye helps to accent your eye shape.

Hooded

This eye shape can be a little tricky to perfect. Professional makeup artist Stephanie Lange created this great video to explain the do’s and don’ts for eye makeup with hooded lids. The key tips to remember are to extend the shadow up onto the hood of your lid, and use matte colors to absorb light into your eyes, instead of shimmer or satin shadows which reflect light and will accent the hood. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDHsv6Fgies

Downturned

The best way to accent your eyes is with winged eyeliner. Like close set eyes, start your eyeliner at the center of your eyes for best results. Megan suggests curving your eyeliner slightly upward at the outer corner, to you give your eyes the lift that they need. Adding a highlight under your eyes will also help to lift them up.

An example of makeup for downturned eyes.

Once you have done your eyeliner and shadow to match your eye shape, finish with your favorite mascara and fill in your eyebrows to complete your perfect eye look. Everyone’s eyes are unique, so play around with the tips here to find the exact eye look that works for your unique eyes. Good luck!