Tips Applying Eyeliner on Monolids and Hooded Eyelids

Hi Shine and Sparkle Report Readers!

I have 3 huge challenges when it comes to eyeliner:

1) Monolids:  This means I have no upper crease to my eyes.  This also means my eyelids are much more flush with the rest of my skin and get more oily than usual (eyeshadow primer is a must).

2) Hooded eyelids:  This means that not only do I have no crease, but when my eyes are open, there is extra skin that covers my upper lash line so if I just put eyeliner on my upper lash line, it will "disappear" when I open my eyes. Le Sigh.

3) High round cheeks: To top off the other 2 eyeliner challenges, when I laugh and smile, my cheeks tend to push against the skin under my lower lash line.  This leads to lots of smudging and raccoon-eque smudges under my eye.  Not cute...unless you are trying to catch a raccoon.

I struggled for years and years of crappy looking/non-existent eye make-up.  Nobody really seemed to know how to make my eyes look cute.  Still to this day, nobody "professional" has gotten them to look great.  I think it is because I have all 3 of theses issues.  Make-up artists can usually handle 1-2 but 3?  Disaster.  For those of you who need a visual, here is is:

Now that some of you are thinking "duh" and others are thinking "woah, never even thought about that before."  So how do I apply my eyeliner so it actually does what it is supposed to (make eyes look more defined and larger).  A picture is worth a thousand words:

Magic right?!  Some extra information:

• What eyeliners do I use that absolutely do NOT smudge, budge, or attract racoons?  Check out my post on "Best Long Wearing Eyeliner for Monolids/Hooded Eyes".
• I did this whole eyeshadow look using the "Naked" eyeshadow pallet by Urban Decay.*  The lid is the color "Sin".  I smoked out the very thick black liner with "Gunmetal".  The outer corner and crease color is "Toasted" with a tiny bit of "Hustle" right in the darkest part of the crease.  The inner corner and brow bone are "Virgin".  And I blended it using a bit of "Naked".  WOAH!  Did that just sound like a foreign language?  Well, it's pretty much a full eye look.  To me, this means using all the tricks in the book.  You can totally just swipe on one color for a classic eye.  However, using different colors in different areas of your eye gives you many more options and can really add dimension.  This look uses all areas.  Let me know if you are interested in a post detailing different eyeshadow techniques!
• My stick straight and wimpy lashes need a lot of help.  I curl them using the Shiseido Eyelash Curler.  Then I do a coat of water proof mascara only on the top lashes to hold the curl.  Then I use a volumizing mascara over the top lashes and on my bottom lashes to really give them oomph (a very technical term).  Let me know if you want more detail on this too!

* I am not paid or contacted by any of the companies mentioned in this post.  These are my honest feelings and opinions. 

Shine & Sparkle!