The Best Eyeliner Looks For Your Eye Shape

When you're trying to execute the perfect beauty look, the right eyeliner is crucial—and how you use it is just as important. We’ve teamed up with Clinique to bring you a six-part series dedicated to mastering the art of lining the windows to your soul. Over the coming weeks, we’re going to show you how to achieve an array of styles that make your go-to cat eye look like child’s play—all with unexpected pops of color from Clinique’s new Chubby Lash Fattening Mascara and Skinny Stick Eyeliner for fall.

There are no official rules when it comes to how one sports eyeliner. If there were a rule book, we’d let it collect dust on our shelves. With that said, however, there are certain eyeliner styles that benefit your eye shape over, say, your best friend’s. It’s all about enhancing what you have—be it almond eyes or monolids. We spoke with one of New York's best makeup artists, Ashleigh Ciucci, to give her two (well, five) cents. Though, it should be noted that these are not the be-all-end-all rules. We strongly encourage experimentation. Beauty, at its most basic, is about having fun and doing what makes you feel beautiful.

Round

Folks with round eyes are often seen as wide-eyed. With that said, Ciucci stresses they "benefit from the optical illusion of extension." She advises drawing a line along the outer third of the "upper and lower lashlines." To finish it off, connect the two lines at the outside corners with a soft taper.

Clinique, Skinny Stick Eyeliner in Slim Sable, $16.50, available at clinique.com; Chubby Lash Fattening Mascara in Jumbo Jet, $17.00, available at clinique.com.

Hooded

"Sexy hooded eyes tend to lack lid space," Ciucci tells us. "So instead of losing your liner under your bedroom eyes, tightline your upper lashline for definition." To begin, Ciucci advises to look down and "glide the liner along the waterline" before wiggling between the lashes. She adds, "It tickles a little, but looks amazing!" 

Clinique, Skinny Stick Eyeliner in Olive-tini, $16.50, available at clinique.com; Chubby Lash Fattening Mascara in Jumbo Jet, $17.00, available at clinique.com.

Monolid

"Because of the unique fold to the crease, it's important to go a little thicker with your liner so it doesn't disappear when you open your eyes," Ciucci advises. Though it's a relatively non-exhaustive process, Ciucci stresses the line drawn from the inner corner outward should be "thick enough so the fold on the lower lid doesn't mask the line."

Clinique, Skinny Stick Eyeliner in Skinny Jeans, $16.50, available at clinique.com; Chubby Lash Fattening Mascara in Jumbo Jet, $17.00, available at clinique.com.

Almond

Those with almond shaped eyes have it easy; most styles work on them! However, if you want to truly enhance them, Ciucci tells us to line "the upper and lower lashlines all the way from the inner corner to the outer corner, building a little thickness at the outside edge." For a more dramatic finish, "sketch into the waterline."

Clinique, Skinny Stick Eyeliner in Demi-grape, $16.50, available at clinique.com; Chubby Lash Fattening Mascara in Jumbo Jet, $17.00, available at clinique.com.

Downturned

In order to keep downturned eyes from looking so, well, down, keep the look subtle. To lift the eye, Ciucci advises drawing "a thin line extending from the outside corner." After, take your liner and "follow the imaginary line of extension from your lower lashline up towards the end of the brow, finishing it with a subtle wing." Pro Tip: add a colored eyeliner on the lower lashline for extra oomph.

Clinique, Skinny Stick Eyeliner in Slimming Black, $16.50, available at clinique.com; Chubby Lash Fattening Mascara in Jumbo Jet, $17.00, available at clinique.com.