Beauty Hacks For People With Glasses

I love eye makeup, so when I got glasses a few years ago I was pretty bummed. I felt like a lot of my favorite eye looks would now be rendered useless. However, it turns out there are plenty of makeup tips for looking gorgeous in glasses — it's just about readjusting a few of your makeup basics to incorporate your frames, as opposed to trying to work around them or ignoring them all together.

A friend of mine once described not taking glasses into account when applying makeup as kindred to not taking the furniture in your living room into account when repainting your walls. It just doesn't make sense. Makeup is a visual art and your glasses add a whole new dimension to your application process. And what's more, you can actually make your eyes look super big and noticeable even behind frames if you just use a few basic techniques and avoid a few simple mistakes.

Basically, if you love makeup and love accentuating your eyes, you definitely don't need to say goodbye to that just because you now have frames around them. Here are the top seven tips I've compiled for making your eyes look awesome in glasses. Because us glasses girls need to stick together!

1. Keep Your Lids Bright

Milani Bella Eye Shadow, $11, Amazon

The makeup team over at LorealParis.com said, "When it comes to shadow, the lighter and more neutral the color on the lid, the better," noting that dark shades will, "magnify dark undertones around the eyes, causing them to look tired and swollen." They also recommended using a shimmery accent right in the middle of the lid and a highlighter on the brow bone for maximum brightness and openness.

2. Use Eyeliner Lighter Than Your Frames

Makeup Forever Artist Liner, $19, Sephora

The L' Oreal team also recommended using an eyeliner a shade or two lighter than your frames so that your liner doesn't get lost in the big picture. They noted that the thickness of your liner should directly correlate to the thickness of your frames, meaning the thicker the frames, the thicker your eye liner should be. "This will ensure your specs don’t overpower your eyes," they noted.

Also consider: Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Eyeliner in Purple, $9, Amazon

3. Use Eye Shadow Shades That Enhance Your Eye Color

Makeup is about wearing what makes you feel great, so really you can wear whatever colors you love. However, if your goal is to really make your eyes pop, makeup artist Troy Surratt said to wear colors that complement your specific eye color in a piece for Refinery29. He noted that golden brown shades look amazing on both blue and brown eyes, and purple shades really accent green eyes.

Try: BH Cosmetics Enhancing Eyes Eyeshadow, $12, Amazon

4. Use White Eyeliner On Your Water Line

Professional makeup artist Sam Chapman recommended using a white or beige eyeliner on your lower water lines to create the illusion of larger eyes. This is especially helpful if you're near-sighted and your prescription makes your eyes look smaller. And pro tip: I've found that drying my water line with a Q-tip beforehand really helps eyeliner stay there longer. Cut to 00:35 of the above video to see how it looks!

Try: NYX Mechanical Eye Pencil in White, $4.49, Amazon

5. Use An Eye Lash Curler

Surratt also strongly recommended using an eyelash curler if you wear glasses. "If you think of eyelashes as visors or awnings for the eyes, by flipping or curving them up you allow more light to reach the eye and that makes the eye look bigger and brighter," he noted.

Try: Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler, $15, Amazon

6. Don't Skip Concealer

L.A Girl Pro Concealer HD, $5, Amazon

In a piece for Cosmopolitan, Stila makeup artist Sarah Lucero noted that a lot of women will forgo concealer when they wear glasses because they believe the frames will hide their under eye circles; however, she said that the shadows created by the glasses can actually make them worse. She instead recommended an under eye brightening concealer set with powder.

7. Use A Pressed Powder

Maybelline Facestudio Master Fix Setting + Perfecting Powder, $8, Amazon

And finally, Chapman recommended using a transparent setting powder on your whole face once your makeup routine is complete, as "it will stop you foundation from coming off onto your glasses," and will just help keep everything nicely in place.

Wearing glasses absolutely doesn't mean you have to give up on your eye makeup. It's just about slightly adapting your routine in order to compliment your frames and create a new sense of balance. So go forth and enjoy, because at the end of the day it's just makeup, and makeup is supposed to be fun!

Image: yorkfoto/E+/Getty Images