Making eyes look larger is mostly about light and direction: light in the right places, and everything angled upward and outward.
The six that work
1. Curl the lashes. The single most effective step, and it costs nothing. Lifted lashes reveal more of the eye. Always before mascara, never after.
2. Light in the inner corner. A small touch of a pale or slightly shimmery shade at the inner corner opens the eye immediately. Use less than you think.
3. A nude or soft pink liner on the waterline. Rather than dark liner, which shrinks the visible eye. This is the reverse of what most people do.
4. Mascara on the outer half of the lower lashes only. Full lower-lash mascara ringed all the way round closes an eye.
5. Groomed brows with a slight lift. Space between brow and lid reads as openness. Over-plucked or heavily filled brows crowd it.
6. Concealer under the eye, in an inverted triangle. Brightening the area beneath makes the eye itself look larger.
The three that close the eye
Dark liner all the way round. The most common mistake. A complete ring reduces the visible white and makes the eye smaller, however good it looks close up.
Heavy dark shadow across the whole lid. Depth belongs in the outer corner and crease, not everywhere.
Thick liner on the lower waterline. Especially in black. Swap it for nude and compare in a mirror — the difference is larger than expected.
Direction matters
Everything angled up and out. Wings toward the tail of the brow, outer shadow lifted rather than dragged down, lower lashes emphasised only at the outer edge.
Anything that pulls downward — a wing that droops, dark shadow under the outer third, heavy lower liner — makes the eye look smaller and more tired.
What makes the biggest difference
If you do only two things: curl your lashes, and change the lower waterline from dark to nude. Between them they do more than any amount of eyeshadow.
For placement adjusted to your eye shape, see the eyeshadow guide in the makeup section.