How To Apply Makeup For Mature Hooded Eyes In 8 Easy Steps

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Doing your makeup is fun and exciting at any age. And when we say at any age, we also mean to include those who are well into their 50s and beyond.

A senior woman is posing with her hands on her face while smiling in front of a mirror

Although there might be quite a struggle in putting on makeup for mature hooded eyes because of the loosening and crinkling of skin, trust us when we say all hope is not lost.

With a few helpful how-tos, dos, and don’ts, you’ll be able to find your way back to loving makeup in no time!

Not confident enough? That’s okay. We’re here to guide you on how to do makeup for mature hooded eyes in just eight easy steps.

But before that, let’s get to know your eye shape first and how it is uniquely different from the rest.

What Are Hooded Eyes?

Hooded eyes are a distinct eyelid shape. If you have hooded eyes, don’t pout because this eye shape doesn’t have any real impact on your eye health. 

Your hooded eyes are a result of genetics or graceful aging… or you can also blame gravity for having them!

The hooded eye is identified mainly by having a flap of excess skin that droops down and covers much of the eyelid, resulting in a folded appearance. 

In other words, if the skin just below your brow bone folds to your lashline or reaches close to it, you have hooded eyes or eyelids.  

Older adults often have hooded eyes. Why? This is due to the significant reduction of collagen in the skin resulting in slackness and wrinkles. 

Hooded vs Droopy Eyes: Are They the Same?

Hooded eyes are often mistaken for droopy eyes as both share certain characteristics. However, both are totally different! 

It’s high time we cut the confusion between the two. 

Although both hooded eyes and droopy eyes can create a sleepy or sometimes sultry effect, they are not the same. 

Hooded eyes are a common hereditary trait that does not cause any serious vision problems. On the other hand, droopy eyes occur because of aging, trauma, or any underlying eye or neurological condition.

When there is drooping of one or both eyelids, you may have a condition called ptosis. This condition may appear at birth or may be acquired due to the previously mentioned factors.

Droopy eyes or ptosis are different from hooded eyes. Instead of the skin under your brow bone folding down to your upper lids or close to your lash line, ptosis has the lid partially covering the eyeball, resulting in reduced vision. 

With that said, if you have extremely droopy eyes, you should seek medical intervention as soon as possible!

Makeup Tips for Mature Hooded Eyes

You may think that reaching the age of 50 is already all doom and gloom when it comes to makeup, but that’s not true at all!

However, as you age, you may notice that applying makeup on your mature hooded eyes becomes increasingly challenging. 

The good news is there is still a way to deal with age-related eyelid problems. 

If you’re young but have the same problems as other older adults, feel free to follow these helpful eye-popping makeup tips!

Invest in an Effective Eye Primer

Want to know the secret behind smudge-free and crease-free eye makeup for hooded eyelids? Own a great eye primer.

There are so many eye primers available now in the market. Although choosing one would greatly depend on your preference, we suggest going for an oil-free primer so your eyeshadow lasts all day long.

An eye primer that creates an even base while resisting oil buildup and creasing will get things off to a great start.

A Magnifying Mirror Will Make Things Easier

Our eyesight can get poorer as we age. That’s why owning a magnifying mirror will definitely help you apply your makeup. 

If your eyesight has been compromised, do yourself a favor by buying a magnifying mirror like the FCYA Tabletop Makeup Magnifying Mirror to help you see every detail of your face and allow easier makeup application. 

Select Long-Wearing, Waterproof Formulas

Another technique to avoid smudging and creasing? Use products that are waterproof and long-wearing. 

This is one of the top hacks that you should keep in mind when doing makeup for hooded mature eyes. 

Why?

The extra flap of skin in hooded eyes gives you lesser lid space, which causes makeup to smudge or transfer onto the upper lids. 

Open Your Eyes and Look Straight While Applying Makeup

We know it’s nothing like the usual, but for people who want to do their mature hooded eye makeup easily, opening the eyes wide will do the trick to making them look enhanced and less sleepy.  

When you have mature hooded eyes, there’s not enough lid space, which makes it very challenging to putting on makeup.

Opening your eyes and looking straight while applying makeup will help you see where your natural creases are. As an additional tip, keep your mirror right in front of you, not below you or above you.

Give Your Brows a Nice Lift

One of the tricks to enhance hooded eyes is to utilize as much space below the brows in order to make your eye makeup visible. 

Placing your brow arches higher will give you more space to work with. To do this, try tweezing hairs that are underneath your brows, not those on top.

This will maintain the thickness of your brows while creating some space underneath them. 

Afterward, add a touch of highlighter right below the arch to create the illusion of a larger lid space.

Don’t Use Dark Shades as Base

When doing eye makeup for older hooded eyes, avoid applying dark shades as a base on your lids. Doing so will make your eyes look heavy! 

If you want a smokey effect on your eyes, you may swipe dark shades like brown or plum near your lash line and make sure to blend them outward. 

The darkest shades are best used nearest the lash line, not all over the lid as a base.

Can you use black instead of dark browns or grays on your natural crease though? Apparently, we don’t recommend it as it is too harsh of a color for the crease. 

However, you can use a little dark eyeshadow for faux creases once you know how to do them.

Apply Eyeshadow Above the Hoods

An older woman is holding eyeshadow brush near her eye and eyeshadow palette on other hand while looking at the camera

When applying eyeshadow, swipe it way above the natural crease instead of on the crease so the color of your makeup can be seen when your eyes are open. 

Otherwise, your eyeshadow will just hide under those hoods. In that case, your eye makeup will only be rendered moot!

Only Draw Thin Lines With Eyeliner

The eye makeup for mature hooded eyes requires a distinct makeup routine. When applying your eyeliner, make sure to only draw a thin line near your eyelashes to make them look fuller

Thick and heavy lines highlight your hoods, take up all your lid space, and create an unnatural, sharp-looking cut on the eyeliner. Totally the exact opposite of what we want to do!

Avoid The Hoods When Drawing Your Eyeliner Wing

If you wish to create a winged eyeliner, it’s best to draw the wing outward rather than upward in order to avoid the hooded part of your lids. 

For starters, draw a dot at the end of your natural crease or hood. This dot is basically a mark for you to know that you shouldn’t extend your wing any further than that.

If you apply eyeliner past that dot, it will only get swallowed up by your hoods. 

Quick Tip

After applying the dot at the end of your natural crease, trace the liner back onto the eye while looking at and following your bottom lash line.

This way, you can create a wing with a better-looking curve.

Create a Well-Defined Fold with Eyelid Tape 

Want a more open-eyed look? An eyelid tape can do the trick!

An eyelid tape is a medical-grade cosmetic adhesive that can temporarily lift the skin on your eyelids and help you create a fake crease.

One of the easiest ways to do that is to just look for your natural crease and apply the tape right over it. 

See your well-defined eyelid folds now? Applying eyelid tapes on your mature hooded eyes is totally the instant fix you need!

How To Apply Makeup for Mature Hooded Eyes?

An infographic featuring how to apply makeup for mature hooded eyes in 8 steps

Your peepers can still shine even if you’re already in your 50s. 

How do you do that? All it takes is a few tweaks in your routine. 

Check out our step-by-step guide to applying makeup for aging hooded eyes. These simple makeup techniques are sure to enhance and flatter your features!

Step 1: Apply Primer Onto Your Lids

We can’t stress this enough. Anyone who wants to keep their eye makeup from smudging, transferring, and fading should care to apply primer first before doing the rest of their routine. 

The LORAC Behind the Scenes Eye Primer is a great primer product that glides easily on the lids while keeping eyeshadow colors from fading. 

You may dab the eye primer using your clean fingers or do a light coat on the lid using a brush, the choice is totally up to you. Just make sure that you’re covering the entire lid up until your brow bone. 

Step 2: Enhance Your Eyebrows

Fuller and fluffy-looking brows provide an excellent frame that will instantly make your sleepy, hooded eyes appear brighter and more lifted. 

Start by shaping and defining your brows using your preferred eyebrow product.

Make sure to avoid bringing the eyebrow “tail” too low because this could make your eyes even more droopy. 

Quick Tip

You can use your pencil or brush as a ruler to see where your eyebrow tail should end! Just hold it from your nose up to your lower lash line, then connect it to the end of the brow.

This marks the perfect placement for your brow’s tail, making it symmetrical.

Then fill in the gaps or sparse spots. Avoid darkening the inner parts of your brows as this creates a very harsh brow look. 

Step 3: Blend a Light Eyeshadow on Your Lids

The next step to applying eye makeup for wrinkled hooded eyes is to take an eyeshadow that’s slightly lighter than your natural skin tone, like a cream shade. 

Using a flat eyeshadow brush, apply your light-colored matte eyeshadow all over your lids just until it reaches your brow bone. Leave the color of your brow bone as is. 

Why are we doing this? To make your lids pop! 

Considering an artist’s strategy, the lighter the color, the more it pops or protrudes, and the darker the color, the more it sinks or recedes. Playing between both colors will help us create a different eye look. 

Step 4: Fake a Lid Crease

Next, create a larger lid by faking a crease.

All you need to do is take a matte eyeshadow color that’s two shades darker than your skin and apply it above the crease using a pointed crease brush.

Remember to keep your eyes open while doing this to make sure you’re applying it in the right spot.

This particular technique in eye makeup for mature droopy lids creates the illusion where the excess skin now has a medium crease height, and therefore your lid space is now larger than normal, making your eyes look bigger and more lifted. 

Be careful though not to bring your fake crease to your inner brow so it doesn’t clash with the color of your brows. 

Another pro tip to fake a lid crease is to apply an eyelid tape, but make sure to make it less noticeable by applying eye makeup evenly on the lids. Just follow our tip above to apply them correctly!

Step 5: Enhance the Outer Edge of Your Eye

A senior woman is putting eyeshadow on her eyes while smiling and looking at the camera

To further define your crease and the outer edge of your eye, take a darker eyeshadow color than the one you used for the fake crease and apply it to the outer corner of your eyes, then blend it out toward your crease. 

Apply it using upward sweeping motions to make sure that the color is well blended.  

Step 6: Tightline Your Upper Lid With Gel Eyeliner

To create an illusion of bigger, more alive eyes, take a gel eyeliner and a slanted applicator brush then tightline your upper waterline. Do this by drawing thin and short-dashed lines in between your upper eyelashes

Then blend it using a blending brush to soften the lines and create a soft smokey look. This technique makes your lashes look fuller and your eyes appear less droopy.

Step 7: Add Sparkle to Your Eyes’ Inner Corners

Adding this technique to your makeup for droopy hooded eyes will instantly perk them up.

Using a small brush or your clean pinky finger, apply a shimmery, bright eyeshadow color or highlighter to the inner corners of your eyes to give them an added pop. 

Step 8: Define Your Lashes With Mascara

Curling your lashes and coating them from the roots to the tips with mascara will give your eyes a more lifted, perked-up look. Definitely one of the antidote tricks against aging down-turned eyes. 

Make sure it’s waterproof though so your upper lashes do not smear or smudge onto your hoods!

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Know if You Have Hooded Eyes?

To tell if you have hooded eyes, start by looking in the mirror. If the crease of your upper eyelid is not visible, that’s usually a sign you have them. 

Furthermore, if you apply eye makeup and it barely shows up when you open your eyes or it smudges quickly on your upper lid, this is also likely a sign that you have hooded eyes. 

Being aware of these signs can immensely help when selecting makeup looks that enhance your natural beauty and make your eyes look their best!

Can You Wear Shimmery Eyeshadow on Mature Hooded Eyes?

Yes, absolutely! 

Wearing shimmery eyeshadow makeup for hooded eyes over 50 is a great way to achieve a younger and fresher look. It can help brighten up your face and make you look more youthful. 

Just be sure not to go overboard. Use a light hand and opt for softer shimmery shades to avoid looking garish or unnatural.  

Additionally, don’t go for overly bright and metallic colors; subtle shimmers in neutral tones such as browns, pinks, or beiges look much more flattering.

Try using shimmer as an accent, like a dab of it on the inner corner of your eyes for a subtle hint of sparkle. Also, you can apply a little bit of shimmery eyeshadow on your eyelids to add some pop to your eye makeup look. 

With the right amount, this type of makeup can add a touch of glamour and sophistication to any look. No matter what your age is, shimmery eyeshadow is definitely worth trying!

Should People With Hooded Eyes Wear Mascara?

Mascara is a great way to enhance your eyes by creating fuller, volumized lashes. 

It’s especially perfect for those with hooded eyes as it can help make them look more open and lifted. 

Mascara should be applied from the roots of your lashes all the way up to the tips. For hooded eyes, you want to focus on adding volume and length with mascara rather than creating an overly dramatic look. 

Make sure to choose a waterproof formulation to avoid smudging them onto your upper eyelids. When this happens, the smears can be very difficult to wipe off!

Your Best Years Are Not Over!

A woman with gray hair is posing on a white background.

The magic of makeup is transforming and all-loving. That’s why there is no age limit when it comes to enjoying them.

Even if your eyes have turned wrinkly, hooded, and down-turned, there are makeup tricks and techniques that you can do to bring back life to your beautiful peepers. 

Your prime years may be over, but your golden days are not. A beauty like you who has aged gracefully can still benefit from makeup. 

Just keep on doing what you feel and think makes you confident and beautiful. 

Do You Have Your Own Eye Makeup Products?

If not, you may be able to find yours in these articles:

Authors

  • Janille Gultiano

    Jan, a distinguished freelance makeup artist, also boasts a BA in Mass Communication, laying the foundation for her diverse talents. For over four years, she's carved a niche as a captivating content writer, with her articles resonating in various spheres. Beyond writing, her expertise extends to crafting robust Public Relations and Corporate Communications strategies. Each endeavor reflects Jan's unique blend of creativity and precision

  • Rebecca Green

    With ten years in the beauty industry, Rebecca Green has mastered the art of makeup. Trained by celebrity makeup artist Debra Macki, she's worked from Macy's to Bobbi Brown, freelanced for high-profile clients, and even launched her own brand, BeccaPink Makeup. Her versatility spans from everyday looks to editorial shoots, and her work has been featured in Greek Cosmopolitan.

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