Eyeliner for Hooded Eyes
I just want to start by saying this is a comparison of the “bold, black winged” look and a “lighter eyeliner” look on Asian eyes, but I have seen Asain women and men who beautifully rock the bold eyeliner. If you’re like me and can’t seem to get a clean line, struggle with the eyeliner transferring in your crease, and sometimes just give up and wipe it all off, give this a try before you throw out all your eyeliner!
It has been over 10 years and I have yet to get that heavy liner extreme wing to work for me. On top of all the other things, it seems like no matter how angled I make the wing, I open my eyes and the wing is pointing down. Even with trying my earlier tip about keeping my eye open when I applied the wing, I still think the bold look makes my eyes look smaller and overpowers my face.
Here’s what the bold look vs. my eye with no products looks like:
Left: Original (no makeup) eye - Right: Bold black winged liner
and Here’s the difference between the “bold wing “ look and the “light eyeliner” look that I’ll explain below:
Left: Bold black winged liner - Right: Light, brown Eyeliner (Both KVD Tattoo Eyeliner)
See how it enhances my eyes while keep it open and looking natural? This is with no mascara applied as well - and even though there is barely any product, it makes a huge difference.
Now, I’ll admit this “natural“ look may be old news, but I swear I discovered this for myself in early 2020 after many tries - and even then it’s probably old news! I’m sticking with my theme on this: If I didn’t know this until my late 20s, then many other Korean adoptees are probably out there in the same boat. So much of Korean beauty is about natural looks, but I couldn’t tell you how long it’s been that way. Since I got into makeup, I’ve only been following American beauty looks and struggling to make them work. Adoptees, struggle no more! Here’s exactly how I made this look:
Use brown eyeliner! - I don’t know why, but besides that one time Maybelline was having a sale and I accidentally bought a bunch of dark gray liner and then I had to use it for months, I was always super opposed to using anything but black. My lashes are black, so it would be weird if I used brown - or so I thought. I’ve heard so many times that brown is softer, and that’s true even if you have black lashes. I use KVD Tattoo Eyeliner in Brown.
(use #3 along with this) Start in between the middle of the eyelid, and the inner corner and move the liner brush outward (inner corner is closer to nose and outer corner is closer to ear) - you can always bring the liner in a far as you want to later, but I don’t bring my line all the way to the inner corner. When I go back in to bring the line closer to the inner corner, I still use the same direction (nose to ear) and because of the brush shape on the liner, I can that way taper the edge of the liner on the inside so that it can gradually end the line instead of having a blunt stop.
Put the liner/brush right on the eyelashes - while you’re doing step 2, try to draw the liner right where your eyelashes meet your lid. I even put a little pressure on my eyelashes. This will give you a very thin and consistent line.
Either don’t wing the liner or just give the end an extra little flick of liner- Some K Beauty tutorials say to flick the liner straight out (remember to keep the eye open while doing this), but maybe since I’m so used to American beauty, if I have a little flicked wing, I want it to be angled up a tiny bit. I encourage you to try all options and see what you like! I still am not great at doing an angle, so in all honesty, I sometimes try my best and just smear it upwards with my finger because I’m unhinged.
Sometimes this is all I do, and I think it is my most important makeup step, but here’s the final look - what it looks like with liner and mascara vs no makeup:
Left: Original (no makeup) eye Right: light Eyeliner and Mascara
Have you tried this tip? Let me know @AdoptedBeauty on Instagram!
