#1 Never skip eye primer
This is especially important if you have oily eyelids. Even if you don’t have a defined eye crease, part of your eyelid still creases close to your lash line, which can cause lots of smudging or transferring of dark eyeliner. The result? Oily racoon eyes. Lay down a primer before you start your eye makeup, and set any cream or gel eyeliners with a complementary powdered eyeshadow to keep them from smudging easily.
#2 Keep your eyes open when applying liner or eyeshadow
To find the most flattering angle for your liner or eyeshadow, you’ll want to keep your lids open. Without a defined crease to guide you, doing so will make it easier to know where your wing should go or where your eyeshadow should stop.
#3 Change your blending technique
If you can’t get the traditional smokey eye technique to work on your lids, it might be time to ditch the standard windscreen wiper motion and try blending your eyeshadows upwards instead of side to side. Go for a more vertical gradient instead, and think of it as an ombre effect, with the darkest shade being closest to your lash line. While darker shadows too close to the inner corners can look a bit heavy on deeper-set eyes, this is a lot more flattering if you have monolids and a more shallow nose bridge.
#4 Contour your eyes
Now this is not a must, but if you want more depth around your eyes, it’s entirely possible to pull off with some makeup trickery. You can still create an illusion of depth and a higher nose bridge with some contouring around the inner corner of your eyes. If you’re already contouring your nose, all you have to do is take that contour up all the way to just beneath the start of your brows, blending it towards the inner corners of your eyes. You’ll want to use a cool or neutral-toned contour shade so it looks more like a natural shadow falling across your skin.
#5 Do your eye makeup first
If you want to attempt a more elaborate eye look that isn’t just liner and mascara, always do your eye makeup first. (This is especially pertinent when in doubt or if you’re lacking years of skill in the makeup department.) That way, you can easily clean up any stray specks and start over without ruining your foundation. It’s also going to be easier to sharpen up your eye makeup and create a soft winged-out eyeshadow effect. All you have to do is take a makeup wipe to precisely clean up the outer corner of your eyeshadow to create a wing.