I Tried Some Monolid Makeup Hacks And They Were Surprisingly Great

Give your monolids some lovin'.

Hi, I'm Lauren and I have monolids! For a very long time, I HATED my eyes.

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

Going through puberty with monolids was no lie, a fucking struggle. Inapplicable Youtube beauty tutorials combined with my total juvenile makeup techniques equaled a hot mess that I had no idea how to fix. I thought I could just solve the problem by forcing double eyelids with tape or glue, but that didn’t work out for me. I gave that up and over time just grew to appreciate my eye shape, because Y-E-S, they’re great the way they are!

While I love my eyes now, my eye makeup could use a lil' switching up. So I tested a few popular makeup tips for monolids to see what more I can do with my eyes because it's about damn time they got some proper love.

1. The hack: Save eyeliner by lining just the area that will actually show up on your open eyes.

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

This hack is GENIUS. I mean, yeah, you can see it when I close my eyes but does anyone really take that long to blink? And is it really any different from seeing a ton of black eyeliner? No and no. So floating eyeliner is a total win. Check out the tutorial here.

Product used: Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner, $22.

Rating: 5/5

2. The hack: Blend your eyeshadows upwards, not outwards.

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

Most people tend to put lighter eyeshadow in the inner third of the eyes, and the darker in the outer "v" of their eyes. Using the vertical gradient technique, you would put your darker eyeshadow right above your whole lash line, and gradually get lighter the closer you get to the eyebrow. I think this technique definitely made my eye look bigger, in a much more natural way.

Product used: Urban Decay Naked Palette, $54.

Rating: 4.5/5

3. The hack: Create some strong brows to help frame your eyes and bring out your natural features.

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

Monolid eyes tend to be very flat, so some strong eyebrows will help emphasize their shape. Everyone knows the quote, "Eyebrows are sisters, not twins." Well okay, but my eyebrows are half cousins twice removed at this point so doing ma brows is the most important part of my makeup routine and typically takes the longest. I have been loyal to the e.l.f. Eyebrow Kit for about three years now (it's only $3.00!!!!!) but I wanted to see what the Anastasia Brow Wiz could do for me and I'm a new convert, I love it so much. I definitely could have done a "bolder" look for my brows, but you can still obviously see what a difference it made.

Product Used: Anastasia Brow Wiz in Chocolate, $21

Rating: 5/5

4. The hack: Tightline your eyes to add more volume to your lashes.

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

Tightlining is lining the upper lash line underneath the lashes instead of on top. It definitely adds definition to the eyes, volume to your lashes, and is a great tip for "no makeup makeup" as well. I almost never tightline my eyes, because I'm always sure it will smear on the bottom leaving me looking like a fucking panda. So be sure to use a waterproof liner when you do this! The eyeliner I used was supposed to stay on all day, but I did notice some smudge by nighttime (even with primer). I am not sure whether it was the eyeliner itself or my technique or the fact that I never tightline my eyes, but my eyes felt very irritated and tired for the whole day.

Product used: Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil, $20.

Rating: 3/5

5. The hack: Let your natural eyes shine, and use a bold lip color instead.

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

Too often do I spend 20 minutes on my eye makeup, thinking I need to overcompensate for my small eyes, when I could've emphasized them by actually not doing anything to them at all. Somehow, I think this look makes both my eyes and my lips stand out even more, which I am definitely all about.

Product used: L'oreal Colour Riche Lipcolour in Raisin Rapture, $5.99

Rating: 4.5/5

6. The hack: Swap your black eyeliner out for some color liner, or add it on top of your black liner.

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

I felt so fucking cute this day. I typically only use black eyeliner (I like matching my soul ya feel), and I stick to browns when it comes to eyeshadow, so this ~color thing~ was a little new to me. I know it was the tiniest bit of pink, but it really made my eyes pop and every time I looked at myself in the mirror I told myself I was damn adorable. If you want to try lining your eyes with just a colored liner, I would definitely go for a liquid liner to get a more precise line – the pencil liner I used was a little hard to use.

Product used: Sephora Collection Contour Eye Pencil 12hr Wear Waterproof, $10.

Rating: 5/5

7. The hack: Create a fake crease with eyeshadow.

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

First things first: I could've done a WAAAY better job with this. I think I ruined it when I added the eyeliner in the inner corners of my eyes, which I have never before done in my life. I also could've blended more. Whatever whatever, moving on. I just wasn't feeling the look, but maybe it could look better with practice. My mom really liked it though, she thought my eyes looked really big. Here's a step-by-step tutorial for this look.

Product used: Urban Decay Naked Palette, $54.

Rating: 2/5

8. The hack: With a very precise liquid eyeliner, create "more" lower lashes by drawing short, thin lines.

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

I know – I got some stubby ass lashes y'all. I wasn't sure if I was going to like this drawn-in lashes look, but I'm actually kind of diggin' it! It takes some practice, for sure, but my lower lashes look fuller and I think it could be a really great eye look if I paired it with some darker eyeshadow.

Product used: Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner, $22.

Rating: 3/5

9. The hack: Try some funky eyeliner.

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

Yeeeeaaaahhhh IDK about this one. It gives off a cool vibe that's for sure, but I don't know how I could make this work for an everyday look.

Product used: Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner, $22.

Rating:1/5

10. The hack: Use primer to keep your eye makeup from slippin'.

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

Lauren Han / BuzzFeed

GASP. Black smudge of shame. I use primer every single day because hello it obviously works. This was after a whole day at work, and then some party action at da club. Many makeup-wearing people with monolids will find that they are more susceptible to makeup smudging because they wear more eyeliner (since it disappears under the fold) and due to the shape of the monolid eyes. I used to have those black smudges all the time until I started using primer. Use it y'all. Use. It.

Product used: Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion - Original, $20.

Rating: a million/5

As a monolidded lady, I'm happy to know there are a lot of tricks out there to help us that don't require you to be a makeup guru. But it's all about practice and having fun, so just try everything — you might surprise yourself!

Most helpful tip: PRRRRIIIMMMEEERRRR

Most surprisingly great tip: Floating eyeliner. WTF it was so cool and just makes sense.

Most fun tip: The pink eyeliner because it was such a small, easy way to change up your look!

Most interesting tip: The conceptual eyeliner was such a strong look, that I don't know if I personally have the confidence to rock it BUT I would try it again.

Most natural tip: The vertical gradient eyeshadow technique. Sometimes I feel like I look way too glammed up when I do the regular technique, but the vertical eyeshadow technique gave me a much more natural look while showing all the colors on my eyes.