A hooded eye has a fold of skin below the brow bone that rests over the crease and part of the lid when the eye is open. The lid space that shows is small, and it changes shape every time the eye opens and closes. Eyeliner drawn for a closed eye looks wrong on an open one, and eyeliner drawn thick fills the visible lid and closes the eye down.
Hooded eyes are the largest single eyeliner question online in both English and Dutch. The answers are consistent across make-up artists: map with the eye open, keep the line thin, angle the wing off the lower lash line, and choose a formula that stays where it was put (Charlotte Tilbury).
What are hooded eyes and why does liner disappear?
Hooded eyes are eyes in which a fold of upper-lid skin hangs over the crease, so that little or none of the mobile lid is visible when the eye is open. The shape is inherited and common at every age, and it also develops with age as the skin of the upper lid loses firmness.
Liner disappears for a mechanical reason. The line is drawn on the mobile lid, and when the eye opens, that skin folds under the hood. A thick line goes with it, and a wing drawn on the closed lid gets bent by the fold into a hook. Transfer is the second complaint: the hood rests on the lid, and creamy liner prints a copy of itself onto the skin above the crease.
Why should you map the line with your eyes open?
Because the eye is worn open. Charlotte Tilbury's artists advise keeping the eye open and relaxed while drawing, not stretching the lid, and using the lower lash line and the tail of the brow as guides for the wing (Charlotte Tilbury). A line placed on a stretched lid moves when the skin relaxes, and a line placed on a closed lid moves when the eye opens.
Look straight ahead into a mirror at eye level with the chin tilted up a little. Draw in short strokes and check after every two or three. Where the hood covers the line, stop; that part of the lid is not visible and does not need liner. Finish one eye before starting the other, so the second can be matched to the first with both eyes open.
How do you draw a batwing in seven steps?
The batwing is the wing shape for hooded eyes. In place of one straight flick, the wing is drawn, then a second line runs from the outer corner into the crease, and the two are joined with a backward C so the shape reads correctly when the eye is open and does not distort when it is closed (Makeup.com).
You will need
- A waterproof liquid liner with a felt or brush tip, or a gel pot with an angled brush
- A soft pencil in the same colour for sketching the shape
- An eye primer or a thin concealer, and a translucent powder
- A mirror at eye level, in daylight
- Cotton buds and micellar water for corrections
- Prime the lid and press a little translucent powder over it, so the surface is dry.
- Look straight ahead with the eye open. With the pencil, place a dot 3 to 5 mm past the outer corner, on the line that continues the lower lash line toward the brow tail.
- Draw a thin line from the dot back to the outer corner of the upper lash line.
- Still with the eye open, draw a second short line from the dot back toward the crease, following the edge of the hood. The two lines form an open V.
- Join the V into a solid shape with a backward C stroke along the hood's edge. Check with the eye open; the wing should read as one clean flick.
- Draw a hair-thin line along the upper lashes from the middle of the lid to the wing. Keep it thin; the wing gives the drama, the line only anchors it.
- Trace over the pencil shape with the waterproof liquid or gel, fill the wing, and wait 30 seconds with the eye open before blinking. Correct edges with a cotton bud.
Which liner shapes work on hooded eyes?
| Shape | How it is drawn | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Batwing | Wing plus a line into the crease, joined with a backward C, drawn with the eye open | A clean flick that shows when the eye is open |
| Puppy liner | The line follows the downward curve of the lid, wing points down and out | Softer, rounder, suits hoods that bend a cat eye |
| Thin lash-line liner | A hair-thin line pressed into the lash base only | Definition with no lid space used |
| Tightline | Pencil in the upper waterline and between the lashes | Denser lashes, no visible line, nothing to transfer |
| Smudged liner | Pencil buffed with a matching shadow along the lashes | Depth without a hard edge that the hood can bend |
| Lower lash line colour | A bold colour on the lower lash line, upper lid left thin | Pulls attention away from the hood |
Puppy liner was described as a shape made to flatter hooded eyes that do not take a traditional cat eye (Beauty Crew). The bold lower lash line is a hooded-eye trick from make-up artists in the AOL eye-shape guide (AOL).
Which formula stops transfer on a hooded lid?
Transfer is the main complaint from hooded-eye readers, and it is a formula problem before it is a technique problem. A creamy pencil never fully sets and prints onto the hood within hours. A waterproof liquid dries to a polymer film, and a gel sets once its silicones evaporate; both stay in place under a fold of skin.
Preparation doubles the wear of any formula. An eye primer or a thin concealer takes the oil off the lid, and translucent powder pressed along the lash line absorbs what is left. L'Oréal Paris also lists a pencil under liquid and a setting spray as ways to lock a line (L'Oréal Paris). If you prefer a pencil, set it with a matching powder shadow.
India Anaïs Midnight Muse is a brush-tip liquid in blue-black that was made for this problem; it is sold out, and the next edition is planned for spring 2027.
What mistakes make hooded eyes look smaller?
A thick line along the whole lash line is the first. It fills the small visible lid and reads as a closed eye. Keep the inner two-thirds hair-thin and put the weight at the outer corner only.
Black on the lower waterline is the second. It closes the eye from underneath and, on a hooded eye, has nothing above it to balance. A nude or flesh-toned pencil on the lower waterline opens the eye, and colour on the lower lash line pulls the focus down and away from the hood.
Drawing with the eye closed is the third. It produces a wing that hooks under the fold, a line that is too thick, and a shape that differs between the two eyes because the hoods are not identical.
How do you do siren eyes on hooded eyes?
Siren eyes are an elongated almond shape made with a thin, sharp wing that flicks out with a slight lift, dark shadow blended from the inner corner outward, and a defined lower lash line, often with liner extended inward at the tear duct (Revlon). On a hooded eye, the shape is built with shadow more than with liner.
Blend a deep shadow above the hood's edge with the eye open, so the crease colour shows. Keep the upper liner to a hair-thin line and a short batwing. Put the definition on the lower lash line: a smudged dark pencil on the outer two-thirds and a thin extension at the inner corner. The elongation comes from the lower line and the outer shadow, and the hood no longer decides the shape.
- Draw with the eye open and relaxed, and stop where the hood covers the lid.
- Keep the line hair-thin along the lashes and put the weight in a short wing at the outer corner.
- Shape the wing as a batwing, joined into the crease with a backward C, so it reads when the eye is open.
- Use a waterproof liquid or a set gel, on a primed and powdered lid, to stop transfer onto the hood.
- Skip black on the lower waterline; a nude pencil there and colour on the lower lash line open the eye.
Questions people ask
Why does my eyeliner transfer onto my eyelid?
The hood rests on the lid and prints creamy liner onto the skin above the crease. Prime and powder the lid, use a waterproof liquid or a gel that sets, and set any pencil with matching powder shadow.
Should hooded eyes wear winged eyeliner?
Yes, as a short batwing drawn with the eye open. The flick follows the lower lash line, and the top edge is joined into the crease so the fold does not bend it into a hook.
Is pencil or liquid eyeliner better for hooded eyes?
Liquid, because it dries to a film that does not transfer. Use a pencil to sketch the shape and to tightline, then trace the visible line with waterproof liquid.
How thick should eyeliner be on hooded eyes?
As thin as the tip allows along the lashes, thickening only in the outer third and the wing. The visible lid is small, and a thick line fills it and closes the eye.
Does tightlining work on hooded eyes?
It works well, because it adds density behind the lashes and uses no lid space. Use a sharpened waxy pencil, keep it occasional, and skip it with dry or irritated eyes.