Almost every makeup tutorial is built around a visible crease. But roughly 30% of East Asians — over half a billion people worldwide — have monolids or partial lids, and hooded eyes, where lid skin covers part of the eye, are common across every ethnicity. Here is how to work with each eye shape instead of against it.

Monolid eyes

A lid with no crease. The defining trait is that a normal-width liner all but disappears when your eyes are open. So draw a line 1.5 to 2 times thicker than usual, placed so a sliver still shows when you look straight ahead. Best looks: a clean thick line, or a small cat-eye with a slightly lifted tail.

The key with monolids is using the lid space. The flat, generous lid takes graphic makeup beautifully — color blocking (one shade up top, another below), graphic liner, and glitter focal points all read well, so this is a shape that rewards experimentation.

Inner-double lids

A lid with a partial crease near the inner eye — the in-between shape, common in Korea, Japan, and China. Lift the liner up a touch so the inner crease stays visible and you get a natural gradient. Angle the cat-eye tail up about 30 degrees to counter any downturn.

Hooded eyes

A lid where extra skin drapes over part of the eye and hides your liner. The fix is the floating liner — drawing the line where it stays visible with the eye open. Avoid the classic trap of drawing a line with the eye closed that vanishes the moment you open it.

How to apply on hooded eyes: (1) watch yourself slowly open and close your eyes in the mirror to see how far the hood covers; (2) draw the liner just above the edge of the hood; (3) lift the cat-eye tail strongly to offset the downturn; (4) emphasize only the upper lashes and keep the lower ones natural.

Larger, rounder eyes

If your eyes already read big and defined, heavy liner can overwhelm them. Smudge a soft dark-brown shadow instead of a hard line, or skip liner entirely and let a couple of coats of mascara carry the look.

Asymmetrical eyes

Almost everyone’s eyes are slightly uneven. Do not try to draw them identical — judge balance from a step back in the mirror. Go a touch thicker on the smaller eye and a touch thinner on the larger one, and they even out.

Eye shape changes with age. A crisp crease in your twenties can start to hood from the late thirties as the lid begins to droop. Keep drawing liner in your old spot and it will all hide when your eyes are open, so re-check the visible position once a year by slowly opening and closing your eyes in the mirror. For monolids and hooded eyes alike, skip the painted-on fake crease — working with your own eye shape looks the most natural, and global trends increasingly lean into individual identity rather than away from it.