How to apply makeup on droopy eyes

To continue my series on asymmetrical eyes, I’ve always wanted to write an article about droopy eyes (don’t confuse with droopy eyelid, here it’s the eye itself) but I couldn’t find a model with this type of eye to photograph. However, a generous reader sent me a photo of her eyes and asked for help. On this site, you get what you ask for, so here it is: makeup technique adapted to this eye shape.

Picture with no makeup.

The outer corner of this eye seems to droop downwards and can give you a sad look. The technique tells you how to lift up the eyes in the opposite direction. Here are the steps.

Eyebrows

The shape of the brows is key in corrective makeup. The brows frame the face, especially the eyes, so they shouldn’t follow the movement to be corrected. On the contrary, they should point in the opposite direction.

Look at the photo: the eyebrows are low and they point downwards, exaggerating the droopy effect. So forget the standard eyebrow shape and aim for a brow that points towards the exterior of the face, then open up the space above the eyelid as much as possible so that the upper part of the eye is emphasised, rather then the lower part.

Concealer

If you have dark circles, under-eye bags or worse, shadowy areas which follow the downward movement of the eyes, it’s really important to camouflage them with a light-reflecting concealer. This way you can diminish the droopy look by 50%. Now let’s look at the eye itself.

Eye shadow

To counterbalance the downward movement, we’ll create an upward movement with a medium to dark shadow. Apply it from the centre of the eyelid, blending outwards towards the temples. You should create an imaginary guide, a straight line from the outer corner of the eye to the point of the eyebrow and don’t go beyond this line. If the eye shadow goes too far down, you’ll increase the droopy effect.

Next you should highlight the inner corner of the eye, still the upper eyelid, with a light luminous shadow, ideally pearly, though not on a mature eye. This will balance out the whole look in a harmonious way. Then you can apply the pale shadow under the brow; from the inner corner to the centre of the lid where it will meet the dark shadow.

Eyeliner / Crayon contour

Still with the goal of lifting the eye towards the temple, you could draw a line with a pencil or eyeliner which accentuates the effect of the dark eye shadow. So begin your line in the centre of the lid, close to the lashes, and draw upwards towards the point of the eyebrow. The outer part of the line should be wider, to attract the attention upwards rather than downwards.

Mascara

Mascara should be applied in the same way as the eye shadow and eyeliner. So brush the mascara upwards, towards the outer corner of the eye. The eyelashes should point towards the temples. Or for a special evening out, you could add a few clumps of false lashes at the outer corner.

Don’t apply mascara on the lower lashes if you have droopy eyes; the same goes for eye shadow and liner. In fact, the only product you should apply here is concealer!

Before and after

Here’s the result of the corrective makeup technique for droopy eyes. And if you’re wondering, the answer is yes! Yes, it’s the same eyes, and I haven’t altered it with my software. Yes, I’ve removed little veins from the eye on the after photo but that’s just to make it look pretty for the photo. It doesn’t alter the fact that in the after photo, the eyes look a lot less droopy!