How to Accentuate Small Eyes

Co-authored by Katya Gudaeva

Last Updated: December 29, 2022 References

Having small eyes can seem annoying and awkward. For those who want large, youthful looking eyes, accentuating them to have a magazine worthy look is not as hard as you might think. By changing your lifestyle to better care for your skin, strategically using makeup, and grooming your facial hair, you can feel confident and attractive in your own skin.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Wearing Makeup

1
Conceal under-eye circles. Although some under-eye circles can be reduced or eliminated by the lifestyle choices we make, other culprits are not so easily taken care of. Genetics, ageing, and even the color of your skin may make dark under-eye circles an unwelcome fact of life.^{[1]
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Research source} For those people who suffer from less controllable variables, solutions in the form of makeup exist.
- Apply a salmon-tone corrector to the inside corners of your eyes and blend out with a brush. Be sure to dab, not pull.
- Apply concealer to the space beneath your eye in a triangular shape, again dabbing and not pulling. ^{[2]
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- Avoid getting any concealer or corrector too close to your bottom lash line, as this may result in makeup malfunctions.^{[3]
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Expert Answer

Q

When asked, 'What's the best way to apply under-eye concealer?'

Katya Gudaeva
Professional Makeup Artist
Katya Gudaeva is a Professional Makeup Artist and the Founder of Bridal Beauty Agency based in Seattle, Washington. She has worked in the beauty industry for over 10 years and worked with companies such as Patagonia, Tommy Bahama, and Barneys New York and with clients such as Amy Schumer, Macklemore, and Train.

EXPERT ADVICE

Answer from Katya Gudaeva:

Professional makeup artist Katya Gudaeva says: "If you're using liquid concealers, which is the most common, I like to use a fluffy dual-fiber brush that has both synthetic and natural fibers. The concealer goes on in a very thin layer but it blends well. Then, I like to dab on top of that with a damp beauty sponge."
2
Apply eyeshadow. A nude shadow over the entire lid helps to even out color and can serve as a base for other colors. ^{[4]
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Research source} Use a darker shade of medium brown along the crease line to help give more definition. Highlight the area directly underneath your eyebrow and above the crease with a very light color.
- Using non-neutral, colored eyeshadow can provide extra drama for the eyes, but not all colors are considered equally appropriate for all eye colors.
- Generally speaking, your optimal eyeshadow colors will be complimentary, or opposite, to the actual color of your eyes on the color wheel. ^{[5]
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- People with green eyes should consider violets, purples, chestnuts, plums, and browns.
- Blue eyed individuals most often look best in eye shadow shades that are gray, rose, mauve, peach, orange, and bronze.
- Hazel and brown eyed people possess a neutral eye color and therefore can usually wear any color from purple to amber.
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3
Use a dark eyeliner. Using a dark, usually black but sometimes brown, eyeliner, draw a dark frame for your lashes as close to them as you can get. Try to keep the application as even as possible, but thicker on top.
4
Apply a thin line of white eyeliner along your waterline and tightline. Dark colors make spaces appear smaller, and by contrast light colors make them appear bigger, so applying a bright color to the skin nearest your eyes will help them to appear larger. Your waterline is the thin strip of flesh right along the inside of your lower lashes. The tightline is the paralleling area on your top eyelid.
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Wear neutral makeup on the rest of your face. If your cheeks or lips are drawing people's attention with bright, bold, or dark colors, your eyes will no longer be the center of their attention. This will make your eyes appear smaller in comparison to these other emphasized areas. Choose neutral colors close to your natural skin tone and avoid lip glosses to achieve this effect.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Changing Your Lifestyle

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Avoid alcohol. Along with the hangover that too much drinking can bring, alcohol dehydrates your body. Although we don't commonly think of it as such, alcohol is a toxin, and its ingredients result in your skin looking pale and pasty instead of fresh and plump.^{[6]
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Research source} If you do drink alcohol, be sure to rehydrate yourself properly.
2
Avoid too much much sun. Although sunlight can give you a healthy looking tan, it is also very damaging for your skin. This can lead to skin discoloration over time. If you have to be in the sun for very long, wear protective sun screen and large sunglasses to help protect the skin under your eyes.
3
Avoid too much salt. Salt makes your body retain water.^{[7]
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Research source} This can lead to swelling. Because the skin around your eyes is thin and fragile, it's particularly vulnerable to swelling.
4
Do not rub your eyes. The skin underneath your eyes is especially fragile and thin, and the blood vessels underneath there are very close to the surface. Harsh rubbing can irritate these areas, increasing the dark look underneath your eyes, as well as making the skin swell, which will make your eyes appear recessed by comparison.
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Drink plenty of water. Your body is roughly 60% water. Your cells need water in order to be full and healthy, properly regenerate, and to get rid of waste products amongst other things.^{[8]
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Research source} Drinking more water will give your skin a natural, healthy glow and better texture.
6
Properly moisturize the skin underneath your eyes. Do this with retinol creams or lotions available at your local pharmacy, grocery store, or beauty supply shop. Moisturizing should happen at least once, if not twice, a day after properly cleansing your skin. Restoring moisture to your skin helps it to retain its youthful appearance.
- Avoid using hemorrhoid creams around your eyes. These creams contain ingredients which may irritate the delicate skin around your eyes.^{[9]
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Get plenty of sleep at night. Sleep is when your body, especially your skin, regenerates. Without proper sleep, your blood vessels are more likely to dilate, or expand.^{[10]
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Research source} As mentioned before, the blood vessels under your eyes are very close to the surface, making them very visible: the larger they get, the darker your skin will appear.
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Use a cold compress as part of your daily skin care routine. Think of your skin as a canvas: you want it to be as smooth and even as possible before you ever even advance to make-up application. This means minimizing and getting rid of any extra bumps that do not belong. Apply adhesive eye pads or a cold compress to the under-eye area to get rid of any puffiness or swelling.
- If you are strapped for cash, chilled spoons, cucumber slices, or even tea bags can be used instead.^{[11]
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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Grooming Your Facial Hair

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Shape and thicken your eyelashes. Although individuals with lighter colored hair, or those who have eyelashes that grow straight naturally, will benefit the most from this step, even people with naturally dark or curly lashes should notice an immediate difference. Thick, dark lashes create a more dramatic frame for your eyes. This is because it creates a naturally greater contrast between both your skin and the whites of your eyes.
- Clamp an eyelash curler tightly to the upper lashes of each eye, as close to the eyelid as possible without pinching your skin, for about 10 seconds.
- Apply 2-3 coats of lengthening and defining mascara to your upper eyelashes as well as at least one coat to the bottom lashes as well.
2
Maintain your eyebrows. Eyebrows act as frames for your eyes. By accentuating your eyes, brows naturally make them appear larger. Improving the shape of eyebrows will make your eyes stand out even more. At the same time, you do not want them to be so unruly that they distract people from your eyes themselves.
- Use a spool-style brow comb to brush your eyebrow hair upward into their natural curve. ^{[12]
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- Use a pair of tweezers to pluck any stray hairs above, below, or between your eyebrows, but be sure not to over pluck: eyebrows that are too thin or start further than the corners of your eyes may look unnatural.
- Use a small pair of scissors to trim any hairs that are needed to retain your brows' fullness but are too long.
- Fill in any gaps in your eyebrows with an eyebrow pencil using small, short strokes going in the same direction as your actual hair to mimic your natural hair. ^{[13]
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- After brushing your eyebrows again with the spool-style brush, use a colored gel to set your hairs in place. ^{[14]
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Trim beards and mustaches. Facial features like large beards and mustaches draw attention away from the eyes. Either keep beards and mustaches trimmed to a minimal size or do away with them entirely.

Community Q&A

Question

How do I make Asian eyes look bigger?

Cecilia Flores

Top Answerer

Here's how to make any eyes look bigger: Curl your lashes and apply one or two light coats of brown or black mascara to your top lashes only. Line your waterline with a white eyeliner (avoid lining the eyes with black liner because it makes eyes look smaller). Take a shimmery or matte (not glitter) white eye shadow and place white shadow on the inner corner of your eye and on your brow bone. This process can literally take two to five minutes to complete, and works so well on all eye shapes. It also only requires three things: mascara, eyeliner, and one eye shadow.
Question

What eye drop will make pupils smaller?

Community Answer

Try Systane. There's a trick you can do with black eyeliner as well.
Question

I’m monolid; is there a way I can get permanent double lids?

Sylghouls

Top Answerer

You can achieve that with surgery, but often the cost can be prohibitively expensive, and it takes several weeks afterwards to heal. For a more temporary and inexpensive way of going from monolids to double lids, try eyelid tape.