Downturned Eyes: How to Tell and Makeup That Lifts

How to tell if you have downturned eyes

1. Look straight ahead into a mirror or take a straight-on photo at eye level, with your face relaxed.
2. Picture a straight line through both inner corners.
3. Find your outer corners. If they sit below the line, your eyes are downturned. If they sit on it, they’re straight; above it, upturned.
4. Check the lower lid. With this shape, the lower lid often slopes gently down toward the outer corner.
5. Compare both eyes. It’s common for one eye to be slightly more downturned than the other.

The difference is often just a few degrees. The detector shows your angle next to an average face so you can see where you sit.

What does it mean if I have downturned eyes?

A downturned eye shape means the outer corners of your eyes sit slightly lower than the inner corners. It describes the angle of the eye only. It isn’t a sign of mood, health or personality, though it’s often described as a soft, gentle look.

What makes eyes downturned?

The corner angle comes from where the tissues that anchor the outer corner attach to the eye socket, the shape of the lids and the position of the brow. Some people are born with downturned corners. For others, they develop gradually, because the outer part of the brow and the surrounding tissue tend to descend with age (EyeWiki), making the outer corners look lower.

Downturned vs upturned eyes

• Upturned: outer corners higher than the inner corners, giving a lifted look.
• Straight: corners roughly level.
• Downturned: outer corners a little lower.

The angle combines with every other feature, so you can have downturned almond eyes, downturned round eyes, or downturned hooded eyes. Downturned round eyes are the natural base for the doe eye look.

Tilt is only one trait. The eye shapes chart shows how it pairs with crease, outline and spacing.

Makeup for downturned eyes

Whether to lift your eyes is entirely your choice: this shape wears soft, smoky looks beautifully just as they are. If you want a lifted effect, the trick is to direct everything up and out.

1. Prime and set the lid.
2. Place the deepest shadow on the outer third and blend it upward toward the tail of your brow, not straight out or down.
3. Keep the outer lower lash line light. Deep shadow or liner there follows the downward slope and emphasizes it. Try a soft smudge on the inner two-thirds only, or skip the lower lash line entirely.
4. Brighten the inner corner with a light shimmer to open the eye.
5. Highlight lightly just under the outermost part of the brow.

If your lids are also hooded, the hooded eyes guide shows how to map a wing with your eyes open. To finish the look, the lip shape detector shows where lip liner will look most natural on you.

Eyeliner for downturned eyes

• Start the wing early. Begin angling up a little before the outer corner, so the lift starts where the eye begins to slope down.
• Aim at the brow tail. Point the wing toward the tail of your brow rather than straight out.
• Thin inside, thicker outside. Keep the line very thin at the inner corner and thicken it toward the outer third.
• Try a tightline along the upper waterline for definition without weight.
• Don’t close the shape. Connecting upper and lower liner at the outer corner forms a triangle that points down. Leave a small gap.

If your eyes are also hooded, draw the wing with your eyes open (see the hooded eyes tips).

Lashes for downturned eyes

Curl the outer lashes especially well, and add an extra coat of mascara there, brushing slightly up and out. Individual lashes or a half strip on the outer third give lift without weight at the inner corner.

Lash lifts, extensions and downturned eyes

If you wear lash extensions, ask for a map with the longest lashes just past the center of the eye and a gentle rise toward the outer corner, curled with a C or D curl, so the outer lashes point up rather than out. A classic lash lift (a semi-permanent curl of your natural lashes) also helps, because it turns the outer lashes upward. Avoid very long, straight lashes at the outer corner: their weight can emphasize the downward slope.

Glasses for downturned eyes

Frames that rise slightly at the outer edges, such as soft cat-eye, browline or upswept rectangular frames, echo a lifted line and draw the eye up. Frames whose lower rim slopes down toward the temples follow the eye’s natural angle instead, which gives a softer look. Either is a valid choice; pick the one that matches how you want to look.

Eyebrows for downturned eyes

The brow tail makes a big difference. Grooming a lifted arch, and keeping the tail from drooping lower than the start of the brow, visually lifts the outer eye. Fill the tail with fine strokes angled upward and tidy any hairs that fall below it. A brow lamination or tinted gel can hold the hairs up.

Downturned eyes in men

For men, the same principle applies to grooming: keep the brow tail tidy and level or slightly lifted, and avoid over-trimming the arch. Glasses frames that angle up slightly at the outer edges, like a subtle browline or a soft wayfarer, echo a lifted line.

Myths about downturned eyes

• “Downturned eyes look sad.” Eye angle doesn’t set your expression. Smiling, brow position and lighting do far more.
• “You can’t wear winged liner.” You can, and a wing angled toward the brow tail is one of the best looks for this shape.
• “Downturned eyes need surgery to change.” They don’t need changing. Makeup and brow shaping adjust the look whenever you want.
• “Only older people have downturned eyes.” Many people are born with them.

Measure your eye angle, and see your full eye shape, with the eye shape detector.