Need ideas for makeup on weird face (huge eyes!)

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I've been struggling with makeup for about 10 years, I've never been able to find a look I'm satisfied with. This is because my face is kind of weird and correcting one of the issues makes another one look worse. Here's what I'm dealing with:

1. Humongous eyes. Everyone always points out how big and blue my eyes are, to the point where I get self-conscious about it. My eyes are also set pretty far apart, but because they are also gigantic, the distance between them is smaller than the width of the eye itself, that makes them close-set as well. Does anyone else have this problem?

2. My eyes are deep-set. In natural sunlight with no makeup, my eyes are hidden in the shadows and all you can see is the big, dark sockets, which looks kind of freaky to me. To help combat this to a certain extent, I put very light colored concealer around my eyes (particularly in the upper socket area) and wear light-colored eyeshadow, but doesn't light shadow also make your eyes look bigger? Don't want that.

3. My eyes are a bit down-turned/droopy looking, and some of this is the shape of the socket itself. I keep reading that to counteract that, you're supposed to put eyeshadow sweeping out and up, but I can't do that because then my eyes look even bigger and farther apart.

4. I think my lips/mouth are too big for my face. I only wear chapstick (no lip gloss or lipstick) because I don't want to draw any more attention to my already big lips.

5. My hairline is very far back, which is something I've always been pretty self-conscious about. And to make it worse, my forehead doesn't really slope back like on most people, it just sort of goes straight up from the bridge of my nose, which makes it look even bigger. I'm going to try a new hairstyle, but I don't really know what to choose (that's something for a whole other thread). Anyway, I dunno if there are any makeup styles that look better with large foreheads, but I figure I'd at least bring it up.

So yeah, that's about it. I've never sought advice on makeup before, never had a makeover, and never read girly magazines, so I figure it's about time I got some input. My current routine consists of putting concealer and powder on, blush, eyebrow pencil (my eyebrows are naturally transparent and disappear in sunlight), dark eyeliner on the outer top lid, light eyeshadow on the lid itself, a bit of darker eyeshadow on the outer corners of the top lids, and then mascara mainly on the top lids (I put a bit on the bottom just to create a border). Currently I do the same routine every day and don't change it based on what I'm wearing, but I'm willing to learn!

Here are some crappy shots of me, from the front with no makeup, from the side with no makeup, and then outside in the shade with makeup.







 
You have great features!! You eyes are a great size... if you want them to appear smaller use black eyeliner in the water line for them to appear smaller. 

If you really the concerned about your forehead get a fringe/bangs cut in this will hide your forehead and make it appear smaller. I think all your 'problems' and worries are truly down to being  self-conscious. Because you have great features, seriously!

If you need anymore tips, let me know! 

 
Cut a nice full bang and that will help minimize your forehead and I personally think any shadow that has an upturned edge will also help counteract what you think is a droopy eye.

Make sure to fill in your brows....there is a 100% difference in the way your face look in the first picture and the last....

I also agree, your being self conscious....I would love to have big eyes and lips

 
Thanks! Yeah, I'm sure a lot of it is just how I see myself in photos. It's like you know how when you think you look OK in the mirror but then someone takes a photo of you (or in this case, I took a photo of myself) and you're horrified at how you look in it? Ugh, story of my life. I think I've improved my makeup techniques though over the years - I used to use dark eyeshadow and put it above the crease as well, which added to the "black hole" effect when I went outside. Here are some shots from a couple years ago to illustrate what I mean (this was also before I began using pencil on my eyebrows, you can see how they disappear). I think I look scary!





Does anyone else have this problem?

I actually used to have bangs for a period last year, but eventually I just grew them out again because I hated having to go get them trimmed every couple of weeks (I'm not a big fan of going to the hairdresser). They were just regular bangs, but because my hair is extremely fine and limp, it took about 10 minutes to style them in the morning so they didn't look horrible, and sometimes that was 10 minutes I didn't have. One problem with bangs is that since my hairline is so far back, I don't really have much hair to make bangs from. Are side bangs easier to maintain?

 
Your features are a heck of a lot better than mine =) You look a lot like Uma Thurman (sp?), whereas I look like an emaciated troll when I don't do my makeup. I support everyone's vote for bangs, and a layered medium length cut would be good as well. You can use a curling iron or a flat iron to flip out the ends of your hair http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsdTuwWPDDs. (BTW, watched the video without sound so not sure what she's saying but she's doing it right) This gives your hair a bit more spunk and volume which is nice for thin faces.

I agree with dark liner on the water line and an awesome mascara, L'Oreal has always worked the best for me. I don't think light eyeshadow is necessarily the best option but dark is also going to make your eyes look more sunken in. I think bright is the way to go, not like bright pink or bright blue but pearlesque colors as opposed to matte or glittery shadows. I think Inglot has the best pearl shadows.

I think a shade of lipstick that's slightly transparent and a lighter shade than your natural lip color would be best. The natural color pattern on your lips makes me jealous so I wouldn't cover it up, but if you lighten them a bit it'll go better with lighter makeup. Having really dark lips and light eyeshadow looks odd most of the time.

You did awesome with your eyebrows too, match your hair perfectly!

 
If bangs aren't an option, try a style with a part on the side and let your hair sweep across your forehead maybe? You have a lovely face and beautiful eyes! The tips you've received on makeup all sound good to me, but you look great in your photos as far as I'm concerned. 

Carol 
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You're really pretty, your eyes are not too big and your lips are great! I would try some bangs if I were you. Side bangs are easy to maintain i think, i have straight bangs right now and have to get them cut every two weeks. Luckily i know someone to cut them so there is no hair appointments involved. My eyes are also really deep set so in a lot of my pictures my eyes are shadowed. The biggest thing i see wrong with you is attitude! Whenever you think something isn't right just look in the mirror and tell yourself you are fabulous because you are, you're stunning. I used to not feel so great about myself but i just stopped caring about other peoples negative thoughts and started telling myself i was beautiful. Fake it til you make it if you have to 
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I'm just repeating what's been said, but you've got lovely features :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> honestly, I think a haircut that frames your face would really soften your look more than changing your makeup (which I think looks fine in the 3rd photo).

If you've got a full forehead and a higher hairline, a non-layered, straight middle part emphasizes it more than bangs, or even a side cut. Zooey Deschanel and Katy Perry both have pronounced foreheads, which is why they can rock fringe bangs (something I could never pull off).

   

even if you don't get full-on fringe bangs, I think layering your hair and getting a side part (maybe with some longer, sideswept bangs?) will give your hair some nice volume and frame your face. regardless, you look gorgeous the way you are right now :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 
You are so pretty! 

Has anyone ever told you that you kind of look like Amanda Seyfried? 

I know how it feels like to have big eyes, I have big almond shaped eyes. I've learned to love them over the years. I think having confidence (not too much confidence, lol) in your looks is a good thing. You should be happy with the features you are born with. 

However, there are some things you can do to enhance your features :)

1) Get Bangs - Full bangs on you would probably be your best bet! You could even try side bangs, but i'm not sure how that would turn out. The reason why you should get full bangs is because your eyes would pop and it'll look really good :D /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> 

2) Eyeliner - If you want your eyes to look smaller, you should try wearing dark eyeliner. It minimizes the size of your eyes, yet still accents them. 

Examples: 

Christina Ricci
She has a quite a bit of a forehead, but she adds bangs which in my opinion look REALLY good on her. 



With Full Bangs:
 


As you can see, with full bangs she looks a lot better. Her eyes pop! :)
 

 
Thanks all! This really helps a lot.
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ChemicalMakeup - You look adorable in your avatar and I'm sure you look great without makeup too! Thanks for the video link, I love that look. I have a question about it though... If the model were doing that herself, how would she do the back of her hair? That's something that's always confused me. As you can tell by my photos, I know next to nothing about hairstyling, LOL. Most of my makeup is L'Oreal, though I've found that their eyeshadow tends to be a bit difficult to blend compared to other brands. I'll definitely take a look at some new shades though, I like the idea of going with something bright... Though I wouldn't know how to coordinate that with my outfit!

Carol - Yeah, I definitely think a side part would help. That's something I've never done before; even when I had bangs in the past I always had my hair parted in the middle. It's been like that so long it's pretty much impossible for it to not part in the middle. If I put it off to one side, it will work its way back to a centered part in no time at all. I have to figure out a way to stop that when I do get a new hairstyle.

myrmillonis - Yep, I'm thinking side bangs are the way to go, since it seems like I could let them grow out a couple more weeks than if I had straight bangs like before. I wish I could just cut my own bangs, but I know how hard it is to learn and how easy it is to completely mess them up, so I'll leave that to the professionals. I dunno why I feel so self-conscious about my face, aside from the inevitable teasing from siblings when I was a kid, no one's said anything bad about my face that I can remember. I don't let it show in person though! Your eyes are gorgeous, BTW. You're much braver than I when it comes to makeup, and it works!

americanclassic - Thanks for the suggestions. :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> I've been Googling celebrities with high foreheads to get some ideas on hairstyles. Problem is, they have hours and hours to style, I'm lucky if I get 40 minutes! Especially come April when I'm going to be moving to Mississippi for a few months for some biology work and I'll have to be up and in the field at sunrise, haha.

 
Tulipp - Thanks for the suggestions! I'm still debating on whether to get side bangs or regular straight bangs. I think side bangs might be less work, but I also think they don't hide high foreheads as well as straight bangs. My main problem is that I need to be able to get ready in the morning very quickly, like 30-40 minutes. I shower at night and just let my hair air-dry while I sleep, that method has been working for years. When I had bangs, I would re-wet them in the morning and then blow dry them so they didn't look horrible (that was necessary just to get rid of the part). Going in to get them trimmed every couple weeks is just such a hassle though. :

 
Weird big eyes? Where? I see gorgeous eyes. Lucky, lucky girl. Play those babies up!

 
Your features are really in proportion which makes you really pretty!!

I have a big forehead ( a fivehead!) so I always have full bangs or side sweepy bangs. Usually I get the full bangs and after a few months get sick of having to get them trimmed so just grow them into side bangs. I end up having a blunt fringe for half the year and a sweepy fringe for the other half!! Side bangs are less work.

Best thing I ever did was get rid of my 'parted down the middle, no bangs' hair style.

2nd best thing was when I learnt how important it was to colour my brows. Now if I'm in a rush I make sure I have my bangs and brows done and I feel happy to face the world!!

You have such a pretty face....those 2 things will just enhance your beauty!!

:) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 
Well, I think you are very pretty, and perhaps that you should look to Amanda Seyfried for inspiration! You guys have similar features in my opinion.

 
Thanks again all! Looks like my hair is the most important thing to take care of right now, so I'll start researching some cute, easy hairstyles with bangs!

 
Originally Posted by BiologyGeek /img/forum/go_quote.gifYep, I'm thinking side bangs are the way to go, since it seems like I could let them grow out a couple more weeks than if I had straight bangs like before. I wish I could just cut my own bangs, but I know how hard it is to learn and how easy it is to completely mess them up, so I'll leave that to the professionals.

I've actually really wanted bangs for a while (but everybody I ever talk to always end up telling me that I should NOT get them, so I keep getting scared to cut them in case the whole world is right and I just want them for fun lol.) but when I was looking, I ran into a few salons that offered free bang trims.  I'm assuming you'd get the initial hair cut with them so that you can get into their system but then they'll do free bang trims for you to get you coming back into the store.  (Bang trims are probably the fastest job they can do and it's probably easier for them to upsell you if you're in the salon every other week anyway.)  But you might look into that if you're afraid of having to pay for a new trim all the time.

P.S. I started reading this thread from the bottom then jumped to the top. In every picture I think that bangs would have been the way to go. The makeup looks fine!

quick photoshop job...not very good but to give you an idea:



 
Hi- lemme first just say that you're really pretty! I'd love bigger eyes. If you want to make your eyes appear brighter when they're shadowed, use highlighter or concealer that is a few tones brighter than your skin tone to make them look awake and bright. Also I wouldn't really go for dark eyeshadow- you should use light eyeshadow tones. Black eyeliner is okay because it makes your eyes look smaller, if you want that, just not too thick or too dramatic. Maybe you could even tilt your head up a little bit when you're gonna be in a photo so there aren't too many shadows.

Also I love the username- I am literally typing this just as I came out from studying for a biology test XD

 
For the back of your hair you can always use another mirror (not a handheld one because it's too hard to hold it and work the iron at the same time), but you can also do it by feel if your short on time. I usually go with the latter and people don't seem to notice a difference. If you run your hand over the back of your hair and it feels like it's sticking out then your good  =) I also get them to layer my hair a lot more in the back so I don't have to worry so much about it being unruly.

I'll have to post a picture of me without makeup and done up hair. It's frightening sometimes =) Thank you though!

I love L'Oreal for liners and mascaras but don't have much luck with their shadows either =/ As far as drug store brands go I like Maybelline and Wet N Wild.

 
Thanks! I love this forum, there is so much info! I guess I'll go start a hair thread now, since that seems to be where this thread is going. I have a question about makeup shopping though, probably a really stupid one but I'm a beginner so forgive me! Today I was in a cosmetics store, and I wanted to try on some lipstick but I wasn't sure how to do that. There were some open tubes to use as testers, but I'm guessing you're not supposed to just put them on your lips since that would be kind of unsanitary, right? So how are you supposed to try them out? I saw that there were some mirrors in the store with what looked like disposable eyeshadow applicators (and cotton swabs and pads) nearby for sampling other kinds of makeup, would I just use that to try on lipstick? I didn't end up buying anything.

 
Since a lot of people don't use testers correctly and most stores have great return policies I wouldn't test them. Look up reviews online first, ask or look up what the store's policy is, buy it, try it and take it back if you don't like it. I sold makeup at Kohls for a bit and most people completely ignore the tester materials. A few things you can get from testers: Herpes, Flu (or any other contagious bug), fungal infections etc

 

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