How to Apply Eyeliner on Hooded Eyes (Beginner-Friendly & Natural) | Elena Rachitskaya

Hey, this is me without makeup, in natural window light, no filters, two hooded lids, a few blemishes. Yes, my real skin. And today I'm showing you my favorite and most hated makeup for hooded eyes, eyeliners, yes. If you struggle with them, try my method and it really changes everything. Let's start with foundation. Because this one is literally photoshop for my skin. It's perfect if you have oily skin, an oily t-zone, visible pores, texture, fine lines, post-acne. Honestly, you don't even need concealer. I swear. It's high coverage, but I use just one thin layer and mostly where I actually need it. On blemishes. And look at that coverage. That's one layer. One. It's one of my absolute favorite when I want my skin to look really good, like polished but still skin. You can dab it into the skin or smooth it out. I'm showing both techniques on each side of my face. I usually apply it with a synthetic brush, lightly pressing and then stretching it out where I want more perfection. The finish is radiant, but not that wet, greasy glow. It sets and it fully dries, but the skin still looks alive. And actually, no skincare underneath on purpose. Just to show that all foundations are different and sometimes a formula is so good it looks beautifully even without a million prep steps. I skip concealer with this one because there is honestly no need. And it melts into the skin and just stays there. You just don't feel it on the skin. Next lips. I'm using lip liner just to define them slightly. I don't want to look pale, but I also don't want the lips still in tension. The liner needs to be the star of the show. After that, I apply lip mask in a thick layer. Trust the process. By the end, once it absorbs a bit, you get the most natural healthy lips ever. I have these little jars of lip mask all over my apartment. Next to my laptop, by the couch, I apply them while editing or watching films. This one is a vanilla, very subtle, not annoying at all. It's not that sweet. Then the hourglass palette. I always mix both blush shades just because I don't know what I want to get at the end of the makeup. The warm and the cooler one. And that's the trick to making blush look natural on the skin, not flat or too make-upy. Warm alone can look heavy, cool alone can look too pink or fake, but together they balance each other. And I apply it lightly, starting high on the cheek and blending upward. And I never do it too close to the nose, because I have some reddish spots around. And build slowly. Blush should look like it's coming from the skin, not sitting on the top of it. For bronzer, if it's too dark for you, mix it with a bit of powder. This hack saves my life, especially because I'm pale and everything looks super saturated on me. I mix them both exactly on that palette, but also I can tap my brush into bronzer, then into powder and mix it on the back of my hand. And only then I apply it. Start very softly, blend well and keep it where the sun should naturally hit. Temples, cheekbones, touch of the jawline. And it's much harder to mess up this way and the result is way more natural. Highlighter. I mix both shades. I don't want a very cool silver shine, but I also don't want it too warm. Mixing them gives the most natural result. I apply it to the highest point of the bone. You can already see where that point is if you just turn your face toward the light. Natural light paints it for you and you only need to enhance it a little. I apply it once very lightly and then I keep polishing it with a brush to make it look smooth and glossy rather than heavy. And you can always add more if you want, but this way it looks like it's coming from the skin. And then bake powder. I apply it in the center of the face, under the cheekbones and on the forehead. It instantly makes the skin look more radiant, like the thinnest layer of Photoshop, but it's just powder. Not because of shine, but because of the reflection. It's a different type of radiant particles here. Very soft, very fine, completely different from the highlighter. And now we can finally move to the eyeliners. But first we have to prepare our eye shape just to change it a little bit with the eyeliners. So, first of all, I take a small pencil brush, pick up the same bronzer and apply it along the lower lash line. Just a few swipes and look at that. I love the result. Every single time it looks very natural, but the eye shape instantly appears bigger. With the same brush, I take a touch of highlighter and apply it to the inner corners of the eyes. This step really makes the eyes pop and look more awake. Such a small detail, but it makes the eyes look less tired immediately. Beautiful. Now we move to three eyeliner techniques. I take a waterproof black pencil and a small sharp brush. I've said this many times, YSL Beauty did a great job combining both in one product. You don't need to buy a separate brush or search for one in your makeup bag. It's already there on the other end of the pencil. Lay it along the lash line using small strokes. Very light pressure, almost tamping the pencil. It can look uneven at this stage and that's totally fine because of the lash growth is uneven in real life and that's what makes it look natural, right? But a bit complicated. Next, the wing. Turn your mirror slightly and look straight ahead. You can tilt your head back a bit. Find the direction of your lower lash line and follow it with the short strokes. As soon as the shape is there, flip the pencil, take the angled brush and gently melt the line. This softens it and keeps it thin and lightweight. Don't worry about the very tip yet. Connect the wing to the lash line starting from the middle of the eye. Done! That's your first eyeliner sketch. Now the second eye. Again, small short strokes along the lash line and I always recommend starting with your hard eye. While you're fresh and not tired, you can do it easily. And after finishing the lash line, look straight into the mirror, find your continuation of the lower lash line and draw the wing with a very light pressure, almost gray line. Mistakes are easy to fix at this stage. For example, if it's too long like mine was, then I slowly build up the intensity and refine it into the thin line. Tight lining. What is it exactly? It's not the waterline, it's the empty gaps between the lashes. I'll show you clearly what I mean. Waterline tends to transfer, especially if you have hooded eyes or sensitive eyes. Yes, tight lining doesn't because it's skin, not the waterline itself. And I use small wiggling motions to make sure all lash roots are covered. Look at that, no white gaps between. When you only do waterline and eyeliner, those gaps are still visible. Tight lining fills them in. And this is a classic technique, you can stop at any step and I just do all of them because I love the result. If you skip it, the makeup will still look good. Then I take a small brush and matte dark eyeshadow and press it along the wing. This softens the lines and, the most important, sets the pencil. It also dries it down. After that, I take a dark brown matte shadow and gently blend above the eyeliner. Very softly, mostly focusing on the wing because I don't have much mobile lip space. And I place the brown slightly higher than where the pencil is and blend them together. That's why small sharp brushes are so important here. You just can't do it with the big pencil brushes. Small brush equals small elements on the face. Next, I apply a light matte shade on the mobile lid. I choose lavender one, it looks amazing and makes green eyes pop even more. For the final touches, I go back with a lighter mid-tone matte brown and I apply it along the wing and the lower lash line. The same shade goes into the crease with a blending brush. And with that same color, I softly sculpt my nose, starting from the brows and going down toward the tip. I hold the brush perpendicular to the lid so the placement stays precise. And then a light matte beige shade I apply it under the tail of the brow to soften the gradient and make everything look smooth and blended. I also add it to the inner corners to bring maximum light there. And the last eyeliner technique is a marker. With a thin tip, I gently stamp it along the lash line. I hold the marker horizontally and work with the side of the applicator. Then, using just the tip, I draw a very thin wing with a light hand and connect it with the lash line. I repeat the same on the other eye. Stamp along the lash line, adjust your hand position to what feels comfortable for you, and be precise. It's easy to make a mistake, I know, but also very easy to fix if you do it immediately while it's still wet. I personally love blended eyeliners. What about you? Classic pencil, blended with eyeshadow or marker? Tell me in the comments while I blend this one out again. Then mascara. I use a small wand to make sure the lashes support the eyeliner instead of overpowering it. Thin, fluffy, lightweight, separated lashes. I blink into the wand to coat every lash evenly and create that soft doll effect. And the very last step, brows. Look at me without them, it looks unfinished, like the makeup isn't complete. I use a brow marker and start from the tails, filling in gaps with a light strokes. I go a bit more graphic here because graphic eyeliners need support from another graphic element, brows or lip liner. The brow color is everything, not orange, not yellow, not reddish, it's slightly olive toned. And I swear this shade is perfect for natural or bleached blondes. What do you think? And this is the final result, a very natural lip color, not pink, not peachy, calm and a little bit pale. And with a lip liner that matches the face sculpting, everything looks harmonious. Lightweight eyeliner wings that actually change the eye shape. Longer, wider, more lifted. I love it. I hope you will like it too. Try it, maybe tomorrow before work. But practice today, it's really very simple and easy technique. Choose one version and tell me how it goes. Thank you so much for watching. See you next week. Bye!