Big, wide, awake-looking eyes are the objective for almost every eye makeup technique. Profound, open eyes are a beautiful feature that people invest big bucks to achieve. Larger and wider eye shapes give a youthful appearance- something we all desire as we age.

If you have naturally wide-set eyes, you likely get a lot of compliments on your eyes. Wide-set eyes are further apart than the average set of eyes.

The features of wide-set eyes include:

• Eyes further apart than the length of one eye
• Visible space between the eye and the brim of the nose
• Flat-shaped nose

Wide-set eyes are not an eye shape but an eye position, like close-set eyes. They tend to be almond-shaped or round eyes and often appear prominent, similar to protruding-set eyes.

Wide Set Eyes Meaning

According to Chinese face reading, people with wide-set eyes are open and courageous, and willing to face life’s challenges. They have high expectations and the drive and energy to achieve them.

What is Orbital Hypertelorism?

If you’re searching for makeup and tips for wide-set eyes, don’t be alarmed if you come across orbital hypertelorism.

Also known as ocular hypertelorism, it is a medical condition caused by a birth defect or genetic disorder. The formation of excess bone between the eyes causes it.

Human eyeballs are very similar in shape and size, whereas eye shapes are unique because of individual faces’ muscle, tissues, and bone formation.

The chart below compares wide-set eyes to orbital hypertelorism.

Wide-Set Eyes	Orbital Hypertelorism
Common eye position Eyes are wider than the length of the eye Not profound in early childhood Caused by tissues, muscle, and bone formation	Medical condition caused by a syndrome or birth defect Eyes are abnormally spaced apart Detected at birth or early childhood Caused by abnormal skull formation and excess bone between the eyes

How to Diagnose Orbital Hypertelorism?

If you are wondering how to diagnose hypertelorism, your parents would likely have been informed in your early childhood that you have the condition. Some 3D ultrasounds can even detect orbital hypertelorism in the womb.

Most of the time, wide-set eyes are a perfectly normal facial feature that can be very attractive too! In fact, research studies on facial attractiveness have shown that bigger and wider eyes tend to be the most attractive facial characteristics.

Models and Celebrities with Wide-Set Eyes

Wide-set eyes are a flattering facial feature. Many models and celebrities prove how beautiful eyes with a little extra space can be.

Celebrities and models with wide-set eyes include:

• Kate Moss
• Kendall Jenner
• Amanda Seyfried
• Brandy

Makeup Tips For Wide-Set Eyes

Make-up tips for wide-set eyes are the opposite of most online makeup tutorials. Since most people want their eyes to appear bigger, wider, and more awake, makeup tips are geared toward close-set or deep-set eyes. For wide-set eyes, you want to follow the opposite of makeup advice for almond eyes and smaller eye shapes.

The chart below provides an overview on the main dos and don’ts with makeup for wide-set eyes.

Makeup for Wide-Set Eyes ‘Dos’	Makeup for Wide-Set Eyes ‘Don’ts’
Line your entire eye Apply dark eyeshadow to inner eye corners Fill in your inner eyebrows Highlight your brow bone	Elongate winged eyeliner Apply dark eyeshadow to outer eye corners Extend your outer eyebrows Highlight your tear ducts

Reduce the Brow Gap

Choosing the right eyebrow shape is essential for every eye shape. If you have wide-set eyes, you want thicker eyebrows that line up close to the bridge of your nose.

You can reduce the gap between your eyebrow and nose with an eyebrow pencil to fill in the inner browns. Start thicker towards the nose and gradually fill your brows softer towards your outer corners.

Apply Neutral Color Eyeshadow

You’re not limited to neutral eyeshadows if you have wide-set eyes; however, most makeup artists recommend starting with a neutral eyeshadow palette to experiment with blending lighter and darker colors to close the gap.

Start by applying a medium neutral color like brown-beige or one a couple of shades darker than your facial skin all-over your upper eyelid and crease. Deeper colors make eyes look smaller and closer together. You can then blend lighter colors towards your outer v and darker colors towards your tear duct.

Tight-line Your Lower Lash Line

Most eye makeup tutorials neglect the lower lash line to avoid making eyes appear smaller, sunken, or closer together. When you have wide-set eyes, you don’t play by the typical rules.

Tight-lining your lowe lash lines can define your eye shape and create the illusion of a smaller gap. When your eyes are far apart, the space between them becomes the prominent feature; adding a thin line to your lower lashes gives attention back to your eye shape.

Define Your Inner Corners

Light, shimmery colors applied to the inner corners of the eye helps to open them up and separate the space between them. Using dark-colored eyeshadow for wide-set eyes on the inner corners of your eyes will draw them closer together.

If you feel dark eye eyeshadow makes your eyes look too small, use dark shades to define your inner corners, and light tones around your outer v.

Highlight Your Brown Bone

Highlighters are no longer a school pencil case essential for taking notes; highlighter sticks in makeup are a game-changer when you want to accentuate parts of your face.

Makeup tutorials for most eye shapes recommend highlighting under your brow bone to create the appearance of lifted, more youthful eyes. With wide-set eyes, highlighting below your brows lift the eyes up rather than out.

Line Your Entire Eye

For narrow, deep and smaller eye shapes, eyeliner is a great tool to apply to your outer corners to elongate and open up your eyes. With wide-set eyes, lining your entire eye will make them appear closer together.

Rather than start with a thin line towards the inner corner of your eyelid, you want to start thick and taper the line narrower towards your outer corners.

Use Volumizing Mascara

Mascara tutorials for every small eye shape, like deep-set or hooded eyes, tell you to brush mascara outwards to emphasize the lashes on the outer corners. For wide-set eyes, do the opposite by focusing on the inner corners lashes.

Lashes close to the inner corners of your eye tend to have less volume naturally, so using a volume zing mascara will help fill them in. You can apply volumizing mascara over all your lashes but brush your lashes inwards to follow the curve of your eye.

Choose the Right Lash Extensions

Wide-set eyes naturally draw more attention than close-set or sunken shapes like deep-set eyes, but that doesn’t mean they won’t benefit from lash extensions. Not only are eyelash extensions a way to add length and volume, but they’re an effortless way to enhance your eyes without needing makeup.

You need to take extra care to choose the right eyelash extensions for wide-set eyes. Opt for an open eyelash set rather than tapered styles like cat eyelashes. The fans should point directly out, rather than out to the side, with the most volume in the center and inner corner lashes.

When you go to the lash bar, ask for:

1. Open-eye eyelashes
2. Classic volume
3. B curl

Contour Your Nose

When your eyes are wider apart, it can make your nose appear flatter. Contouring your nose creates definition and pulls the eyes together.

You want to choose a neutral tone, a shade or two darker than the skin on your nose; for fair skin, a peach color works well, and for tanned skin, a more caramel tone does the trick. Use a thin brush to blend in vertical lines on either side of the bridge of your nose to make your nose appear narrower and the illusion of more close-set eyes.

Reverse Wing It

When a makeup tutorial tells you to avoid wings on wide-set eyes, reverse-wing it!

When doing regular winged eyeliner for wide-set eyes, you’re advised to create a thick wing from the inner to the outer corner, flicking it out to a thick wing at the end; an elongated wing will pull your eyes further apart. Reverse-winged eyeliner does the exact opposite. You draw those babies together by extending the wing into your inner corner!

Top Makeup for Wide-Set Eyes

If you have wide-set eyes, you might think you need a whole new makeup bag for the makeup tips to suit your eye shape. However, you can get creative with the cosmetics already in your makeup bag to line, shade, and contour wide-set eye shapes. All you need for makeup for wide-set eyes are a few cosmetic essentials.

Here are the top four essentials for your wide-set eyes makeup bag:

1. Eyeliner
2. Brow pencil
3. Eyeshadow
4. Contour stick

Eyeliner

Eyeliner for wide-set eyes is the opposite of eyeliner for narrow, close-set, or hooded eyes. For wide-set eyes, you will want to tight-line your entire eye and focus on thicker eyeliner on your inner corner.

Laura Geller New York INKcredible in After Midnight is a gel eyeliner pencil that is perfect for eyeliner techniques for wide-set eyes. It is a gel-pencil hybrid eyeliner offering intense, creamy color in a sharpenable pencil form. The fine precision is ideal for tight-lining your entire eye and glides on smoothly for effortless application.

The key product features include:

• Built-in sharpener
• Creamy gel formula
• Smudge-proof
• Waterproof
• Highly-pigmented color

Brow Pencil

Closing the space between your eyes is the number one objective of makeup for wide-set eyes. The first and foremost way to do this is by penciling in your eyebrows. Filling the inner corners of your brows creates a more narrow appearance.

JOAH Brow Down To Me is a 2-in-1 gel and pencil brow filler, perfect for subtly filling eyebrows. The triangular-tip pencil outlines while the tinted gel adds volume for natural-looking eyebrows. The long-lasting formula is water-resistant and smudge-proof for all-day and activewear.

The key product features include:

• 2-in-1 gel and pencil
• Matte finish
• Water-resistant
• Cruelty-free

Eye Shadow

Wide-set eyes eyeshadow techniques are about blending dark colors inwards. Makeup artists recommend using neutral colors to minimize the attention of wider eye shapes. You will want an eyeshadow palette with a range of darker neutral tones like beige, tan, and caramel and a shade or two of lighter nudes.

Ccolor Cosmetics 9-Color Eyeshadow Palette in Matte Natural is an eyeshadow palette with a range of neutral tones to compliment wide-set eyes. The palette features nine highly-pigmented colors from soft ivory cream to espresso brown. The eyeshadows are buildable and blendable for vibrant, smooth, long-lasting color.

The key product features include:

• Matte finish
• Nine eyeshadow colors
• Long-lasting
• Blendable formula
• Smudge-resistant

Contour Stick

When you do makeup for wide-set eyes, a lot of the makeup tips involve shading and highlighting tricks to create the appearance of close-set eyes. Contouring your nose to make it look narrower and highlight your brow bone are essential components of a wide-set eyes makeup routine.

NYX Professional Makeup Wonderstick is a 2-in-1 face-shaping stick for all your shading and brightening needs. The stick’s darker ‘shape’ end is to contour and creates dimension, whereas the lighter ‘brighten’ end highlights areas of your face. Its creamy stick application is buildable and blendable for a natural-looking finish.

The key product features include:

• 2-in-1 face shaping stick
• Highlighter and contour
• Cruelty-free
• Vegan formula
• Natural finish

Hairstyles for Wide-Set Eyes

According to the team of renowned hair stylist Paul Mitchell, people with wide-set eyes should go for hairstyles with bangs and a little volume to create the illusion of a longer face shape concerning the eyes.

If you don’t like the idea of thick blunt bangs, there are many other options for lighter bangs and hairstyles to compliment wide-set eyes.

Hairstyle ideas for wide-set eyes include

• Side-swept bangs
• Wispy bangs
• Wavy shag
• Textured fringe
• Feathered hair
• Curly bangs

Wonderful Wide-Set Eyes

Wide-set eyes are beautiful facial features that deserve their unique makeup techniques. Whether you want to accentuate your profound features or draw your eyes close together, there are plenty of makeup tricks and tools to compliment wide-set eyes.