Bobbi Brown on Eye Shapes and Makeup

Professional makeup artist Bobbi Brown made her mark with a makeup style that embraces your natural look: “Makeup should not be a mask. Makeup should not change the way you look. Makeup should enhance who you are.” Authenticity was the foundation of Bobbi Brown Essentials—the makeup line that Bobbi launched with ten lipsticks at Bergdorf Goodman in 1991—and remains the touchstone of Bobbi’s career. At a time when bold, colorful, and over-the-top beauty trends commanded the industry, Bobbi followed her instincts and worked to enhance people’s features.

“I think makeup is an individual way of making yourself feel better about how you look. I don’t believe in following the exact same rules for everyone. Everyone’s different. . . I really do love helping people, and makeup is a really powerful tool.” — Bobbi Brown

“Probably the No. 1 question I get is how to play up your eyes,” Bobbi says. What makes eye makeup tricky is that your application and placement may change depending on your eye shape, so learning how to work with what you’ve got is key.”

A defining feature of almond eyes is that the iris touches the bottom and top of the eyelid when open. Almond eyes are wider toward the outer corners of your eyes and narrow toward the inner corner of the eye.

Round eyes appear evenly wide at the inner and outer corners of the eye. The iris touches the top eyelid but not the bottom. If you have round or almond-shaped eyes, you’ll find most eye makeup looks work for your eye shape.

If you have a prominent brow bone, your eyes may look deeply set in their sockets. “I have deep-set eyes,” Bobbi says. Because the brow bone can cast a shadow over the eyes, she opts for a lighter eye shadow. “I make sure that my eye shadow is lighter, so it gives more brightness to the face.”

Deep-set eyes have a strong brow bone that may hide your eye makeup underneath it, so adjust your eye shadow placement or try creating a thicker line with eyeliner, so it’s visible when you look at your reflection straight-on.

You have hooded eyes if you can’t see your upper eyelids when your eyes are open because the brow bone covers them. Hooded eyes are similar to deep-set eyes, but you can see more skin over the brow bone. This can create a bit of a slope or overhang that further obscures your natural crease and eyelid. Focusing your shadow placement on your lid as opposed to in your crease is best if your eyes are this shape.

When applying eyeliner for hooded eyes, Bobbi recommends you start where you can see the eyeliner rather than using the lash line as a guide: “If you line their eyes, and when they open their eyes, if you can’t see [the eyeliner], then you have to make it a little thicker.”

You have monolid eyes if you have a smooth eyelid as the brow comes down to the lash line without a visible crease. Shadow placement looks best above your crease, so you can see it when your eyes are open. Apply eyeliner very close to the lash line or “tightline” it (apply directly between the eyelashes).

Black mascara and curling your lashes can create more definition at the upper lash line. “My trick is: After you’ve done mascara, when it’s drying, you literally hold the lashes [up with a finger], and that will curl the lashes,” Bobbi says. “Honestly, that’s how I do it on myself and on models. ’Cause I find it very difficult to curl the lashes [using an eyelash curler].”

“Mascara makes all the difference.” — Bobbi Brown

No matter your eye shape, “almost all [people] have eyes that are different sizes,” Bobbi says. “Especially as we get older, things change. And for some reason, one [eye] might drop sooner than the other. You can adjust. You can make the liner on the smaller eye a little thicker. And that usually balances out.”

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