Makeup for Us the Creaseless

Flipping through the glossy pages of Japanese makeup magazines Maquia and Vivi. It's filled with dozens of informative how-tos, if you have creases. On average in these magazines I see one or two tutorials for us monolids, but there is a lack of variety. It's always minimal. They seem to be thrown in carelessly, the voice of the tutorials sound defeatist and seems to be saying, "Well, there's not much you can do with those eyes". Aww come on! I use eyelid tapes on occasion just to be trying something different but what about most days? I like my default eyes just fine. The lack of monolid makeup tutorials online is hugely unsatisfying, and even though a large number of us Asians are born without natural crease lines, Japanese magazines continue promoting and catering only to those with visible creases.

Well, complaining accomplishes nothing.

This is for those who normally don't use anything other than a liner and want to go beyond basics over to eye shadows. Two looks - an everyday minimal and an intensified version, similar to what I did for Nina's shoot which I've gotten positive feedback for.

Disclosure: I am not a makeup artist, but I know how real the struggle is and just sharing what knowledge I do have :P

1) Highlighter underneath the brow bone, inner corner and underneath the eye.

2) A light wash of midtone all over the eyelid. Shadow from the lash base upwards. Remember to blend the edges.

3) Crayon liner drawn close to the lashes as possible. Instead of one long sweep, connecting dotted lines can be easier.

4) Smudge it out with the darkest shadow to soften the line. The shadow also helps keep the crayon liner from moving around later.

5) Everyday look completed. Usually I stop right here. It's minimal, and don't even use mascara. If you want more intense, keep going.

6) Mascara time! Monolids tend to have lashes that aim straight down so curling is important or else you'll see the dark mascara in your vision.

7) Extend the liner more outwards to make a wing. Liner the bottom lid, only a third of the way in from the outside, and a quarter of the way from the inside. Lightly smudge and set with the darkest shadow.

*This is purely optional: With the dark shadow, you can lightly sketch a line of shadow underneath the highlighter below the eye for the popular "puffy eye" look.*

8) Lightly sketch in the shape of the brows you want with the brow pencil. I went with the thick and straight Korean type.

9) Fill it in with either the pencil or a matte shadow. You don't want sparkly brows.

A map of what shade go where. It's kind of messy but you get the idea. Any palette that has at least three shades can be used. For this everyday look I've kept it simple with neutral shades. Apply light washes of color building up gradually as needed. The key to this is to blend upwards from the lashes instead of from the outer corners in like most of us are used to seeing.

Hope this helps! :P