Eyeliner for Hooded Eyes: Line the Eye That Is Open, Not the Lid That Is Closed

You draw the wing on a closed lid, it looks perfect, and then you open your eyes and it is gone. The fold has swallowed it. A hooded eye is a fold of skin below the brow bone that covers the crease and sits directly over the lash line when the eye is open, and every standard eyeliner tutorial is drawn for a lid that stays visible. The fix is placement, not a heavier line, and it starts with opening your eyes.

Line the eye that is open

The core rule, repeated by every artist who works with hooded eyes, is to line what the open eye shows, not what the closed lid offers. Look straight into a mirror with your chin level and draw along the lash line exactly where it is visible above the fold. Keep the line thin. A hooded eye rarely needs more than a tight, defined lash line, because the fold itself adds depth. Thick or heavy eyeliner closes the eye down, says Jessica Kohn, a makeup artist and education manager at Laura Mercier, and a thick band of black across the upper lid consumes whatever visible space you have, making the lid look heavy. Keep liner away from the inner corners. Taking it all the way across makes the eye appear smaller and more closed, so focus the colour on the outer two thirds of the eye and keep it close to the lashes, extending outward rather than inward. And do not pull the skin tight while you draw. Katie Jane Hughes told Who What Wear that pulling changes the shape of the eye, so the line lands wrong when you let go, and the Charlotte Tilbury hooded eye guide warns against it for the same reason. Draw on relaxed skin, even if it feels less controlled.

The pencil matters more than the liquid here. Pencils are best for tightlining and for a lived in, smudged look, and a smudgy wing done with an eye pencil is forgiving around the fold in a way a liquid line is not. Liquid is for the mapped wing, after the shape is set. Start with a pencil sketch, open your eyes fully, adjust the angle, and only then commit with liquid or gel.

Tightlining is the anchor

Tightlining is the single most dependable technique for a hooded eye, because it adds definition at the roots without taking up any visible lid. Lift the upper lashes with a finger and use small strokes to apply liner underneath, directly onto the waterline or at the base of the lashes, concentrating the liner between the roots. Ruby Hammer, who has done makeup for hooded eye icons like Helen Mirren and Kate Moss, puts it plainly: tightlining gives the illusion of thick, voluminous lashes and defines the eye without taking up a single millimetre of lid space. Clarins makeup artist Katrin Rees says the same thing from the other side: lining the upper waterline accentuates the shape without taking up any more space. If you do nothing else, tightline. It is the one technique that cannot disappear into the fold, because it sits under the lashes, not on the lid.

The wing, mapped with the eye open

Wings are possible on a hooded eye. They just need a different roadmap. Draw the wing with the eye open, angling it up and outward along the path of the lower lash line, and stop before the tip disappears into the fold when you look straight ahead. Shorter, more upward wings work better than long dramatic flicks, because a long tail folds into the crease and smudges. Many artists use a baby wing, a short flick rather than a long one, because it stays clear of the crease and still lifts the eye. For deeper hooding, the bat wing technique accounts for the fold directly instead of trying to avoid it. Makeup artist Katie Jane Hughes went viral with it: look straight ahead and place a small dot just above the socket line to indicate where the flick will extend, draw a fine line up towards that dot, then draw another line from the dot across the crease towards the lash line on the outer corner to create the triangle of the wing. Do not be afraid to draw over the fold. Your eyeliner will naturally hop over it, creating a stepped gap that looks straight when the eye is open. Fill in the wing, then continue lining along the top lash line towards the centre of the eye. The stepped gap looks wrong on a closed lid and right on an open one, which is the whole point: the eye that matters is the open one.

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Frequently asked questions

Why does my eyeliner disappear when I open my eyes?

Because the fold of a hooded eye covers the crease and sits over the lash line when the eye is open. Liner drawn on the closed lid sits on skin the fold hides. The fix is to draw with the eye open, so you line exactly the part of the lid that stays visible.

What is tightlining, and why does it suit hooded eyes?

Tightlining means applying liner underneath the upper lashes, onto the waterline or at the base of the lash roots, in small strokes. It gives the illusion of thick, voluminous lashes and defines the eye without taking up a single millimetre of lid space, which is exactly what a hooded eye is short of.

What is bat wing eyeliner?

Bat wing is a technique for hooded eyes where you draw the wing over the fold instead of avoiding it. You place a dot above the socket line, draw up to it, then draw back across the crease to the outer corner, creating a triangle that looks straight when the eye is open and stepped when it is closed.

Should I pull my eyelid tight to draw liner?

No. Pulling the skin changes the shape of the eye, so the line you draw on stretched skin lands in the wrong place when you let go. Makeup artist Katie Jane Hughes and the Charlotte Tilbury hooded eye guide both warn against it. Draw with the eye open and the skin relaxed, even if the line feels less controlled at first.