Everybody who’s ever worn makeup has been there: you see a new idea or trend floating around, and you decide you want to give it a try. It looks gorgeous in the demonstration, and you follow all the steps carefully and correctly. Then you look in the mirror— and it looks AWFUL. What gives?!

No, it’s not that you need to practice your skills more, and it’s definitely not that there’s something wrong with your face! As we keep learning over and over, different makeup looks work differently on different faces. Whether it’s your eye color or you skin tone, there’s a style that’ll work for you that won’t work for somebody else, and vice versa. The key is finding your right one!

Today, we’re focusing on eye makeup for a particular eye shape: a hooded eye! How do you know if you have a hooded eye? They’re sometimes also called “bedroom eyes,” and all it means is that your crease isn’t visible beneath your upper lid and/or your brown bone. It can be slight or extreme, but the if you look into the mirror and can’t see where your lower lid (or your “mobile lid”) meets your upper, your eyes are probably hooded.

So what makeup look works for this lovely eye shape? Here to show us is makeup expert Stephanie Lange, demonstrating the Do’s and Don’ts for an eye makeup look that’ll give your peepers the attention they deserve. Read on for the full list of tips and a video demonstration of their application!

Hooded Eye Makeup Do’s and Don’ts

• Don’t forget to blend up. When you apply your first eyeshadow color to your mobile lid, the worst thing you can do is only smudge the color on the bottom-most part. Doing so will only make your eyes look more hooded. If, after you put the color on, you look straight into the mirror and can’t see any of the color you’ve applied, you need to blend it higher!

  Do blend up that first color! Use a makeup brush to blend the color up and over the entirety of your mobile lid, into the crease and onto the hood of your eye.

• Don’t use shimmery or satin colors. The shimmer reflects light and will make your hood appear even larger and puffier than it really is.

  Do use matte colors. They’ll absorb light and make the hood look like it’s receding.
  

• Don’t hop on the winged eyeliner bandwagon. Most of the time, the hood of your eye is going to cover up most of the wing anyway, and – like most of the mistakes here! – it will make your eye appear more hooded.

  Do apply eyeliner to your lashline, and no further.

• Don’t use liquid eyeliner.

  Do use a pencil eyeliner.

• Don’t apply eyeliner above your waterline. Doing so takes up what little visible space on your lid you have, and makes it appear smaller.

  Do apply your line to your waterline.
  

• Don’t bring your highlighter down too low. Doing so will only highlight the hooded part of your eye and make it appear bigger.

  Do keep your highlight as close to the arch of your eyebrow and as far away from your hood as possible.
  

• Don’t draw attention to your under-eye area! It’ll only make your entire eye look droopy and dragged down.

  Do apply a minimal amount of eyeshadow only to your lower lashline to balance things out.
  

• Don’t skimp on mascara.

  Do use mascara to build up your lashes as much as possible to make your eyes look as big and beautiful as possible!

Got all those tips down? They’re going to make your hooded eyes look even prettier than they are naturally. For more tips, to see these ones in action, and to get a demonstration of how to actually apply all these different eye makeup products, watch Stephanie’s video below!

What do you think of this hooded eye makeup tutorial? Have you been making any of these mistakes? Are there any tips here you’d with which you’d disagree, or do you have any of your own to add? Share your experiences with your fellow hooded-eye ladies!