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How to Change Your Eye Shape

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Cornell chapter.

Ever wanted to change your eye shape? Here’s how to do it, using makeup you already have!

1. Making Eyes Look Bigger
The key to making your eyes look bigger is to primarily use light shadow. Sweep a pearly tan or off white over your entire lid up the eyebrow. Add a contour shade to give your eyes depth: use a medium brown in the crease, concentrating on the outer crease area and barely applying any in the inner crease area. For a more open-eyed look, add a thin line of shimmery off-white right under the eyebrow. Use minimal eyeliner on the top and none on the bottom, and finish with a lengthening mascara (curling the eyelashes is optional).

2. Making Eyes Look Smaller
The deeper the shade of eye shadow, the smaller your eyes can appear. So try a medium/dark brown or plum across the entire lid. Make it only slightly lighter near the corner of your top lid so that you don’t risk a raccoon-like appearance. Eyeliner also makes the eyes appear smaller, so don’t be afraid to use a black eyeliner on the top and brown on the bottom. Any mascara will do here, but I recommend a non-curling one.

Use eyeliner and dark shadow to make eyes look narrower.

3. Making Eyes Appear Wider
To make eyes appear more open and wider, use a gradient of color. Starting with a light color (tan, beige, lavender, etc), sweep this across the entire eyelid and up to the brow. Then apply a medium color, such as brown, across the outside half of your eyelid. Work this color into the crease, concentrating near the outside corner, and barely applying any in the inside corner. Next, pick a dark color: deep plum, brown, or even black. Apply this color to a small area—the crease of your eye near the outer corner and the very outer corner of your eyelid near the lashes. This dark color should be applied on an area shaped like a sideways “V”. Be sure to blend this dark color a bit so there are no hard lines separating it from the medium color you used. Swipe a thin line of shimmering white or tan in your crease near the inner eye. Apply eyeliner to get gradually thicker near the outer corner and finish with curling mascara. Bottom eyeliner is optional, and if used, apply so it is thickest on the outer corner of the eye.
 

Elisabeth Rosen is a College Scholar at Cornell University with concentrations in anthropology, social psychology and creative writing. She is currently the co-editor of Her Campus Cornell. She has interned at The Weinstein Company and Small Farms Quarterly and worked as a hostess at a Japanese restaurant.