Eyeliner does one of three jobs: it defines the lash line, lifts the outer corner, or makes the eye look more open. Your eye shape decides which job you need and, just as important, where a line will still be visible once your eye is open. The chart below gives each shape its job and placement in two steps. Hooded and downturned eyes, where most liner goes wrong, get their own sections.
Not sure of your shape yet? The eye shape chart sorts you in six questions, and most people collect two or three labels. Liner follows the eye, not the face, so the Face Shape Calculator matters for your brows and frames rather than here.
Before you draw
Draw, or at least check, with your eye open and your head straight, looking into the mirror at eye level. That is how other people see your liner. A line drawn with the eye closed or the chin lifted can look perfect, then fold away or tilt when you look straight ahead.
The second habit is to build the line thin and thicken it only where it shows. It is easy to widen a line and hard to narrow one.
The eyeliner chart
| Eye shape | What the line should do | Placement, step 1 | Placement, step 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Almond | Define | Thin line along the full upper lash line | Optional short wing following the lower lash line’s angle |
| Round | Elongate | Thin at the center of the lid | Extend past the outer corner, slightly upward |
| Hooded | Stay visible | Mark the wing end with the eye open | Connect to the outer lash line; keep the lid part thin |
| Monolid | Show above the lashes | Draw thicker than you expect, eye open to check | Tightline the upper waterline for depth |
| Upturned | Balance the tilt | Follow the natural upward line | Add soft liner to the outer third of the lower lash line |
| Downturned | Lift | Line only the outer two-thirds of the upper lid | Angle the tail up before the corner drops |
| Close-set | Pull outward | Start the line from the middle of the lid | Thicken toward the outer corner |
| Wide-set | Pull inward | Start right at the inner corner | Keep any wing short |
| Deep-set | Define without shadowing | Very thin line pressed into the lashes | Skip heavy upper liner; lighter shadow on the lid |
| Prominent | Recede the lid | Darker, slightly thicker upper line, smudged | Tightline rather than a bold lower line |
Combine rows when you have more than one label. “Almond, hooded, downturned” takes the hooded method for where the line sits and the downturned rule for where it ends.
Draw where it shows, stop where it would drag down.
Hooded eyes: the open-eye method
On a hooded eye, a fold of skin covers the part of the lid next to the crease when the eye is open. Any liner drawn there disappears, and a wing drawn with the eye closed breaks in half when it opens. The fix is to design the line on the skin that stays visible.
- Look straight ahead, eye open, face relaxed.
- Mark the wing’s end point with a small dot on the visible skin beyond the outer corner, roughly in line with the tail of your brow.
- Draw the upper edge from that dot back toward the lash line, still with the eye open, landing on the lid at about the outer third.
- Fill the gap between that edge and the lash line. Close the eye only now, to tidy it.
Closed, the wing can look kinked or oddly shaped. That is correct: it is drawn to look straight when the eye is open. Keep the line on the lid itself thin, because the fold covers most of it anyway and a thick line is what transfers.
Transfer happens because the hooded skin rests on the lid. Let the liner dry with the eye open for a minute, then press a powder shadow in the same color over it.
Downturned eyes: stop early, lift the end
A downturned eye has an outer corner that sits lower than the inner one. Liner that follows the lash line all the way out follows that drop and exaggerates it. The job is to end the line before the corner turns down.
Start the line around the middle of the upper lid, so the inner half stays clean. Thicken it gradually toward the outer third. At the point where your lash line starts curving down, leave the lash line and angle the tail upward, toward the end of the brow. Keep the lower lash line light at the outer corner, or skip it there: a dark lower line at the corner pulls the eye down again.
Monolids: thicker than you think
A monolid has no crease, so the lid folds very little but the upper lashes often cover the lash line when the eye is open. A thin line that looks bold with the eye closed may vanish when it opens. Draw, open, check, and thicken until a band shows above the lashes at the center of the lid. A short, straight wing gives definition without needing a crease to frame it.
Combining labels
Most eyes are more than one shape, so work in order: the crease labels (hooded, monolid) decide where the line can be seen, the tilt labels (upturned, downturned) decide where it ends, and spacing and depth decide where it starts and how heavy it can be. Brows frame the same area, so if the liner suddenly looks unbalanced, brow mapping is the next thing to check.