"Expressive" comes down to three things: a defined lash line, contrast between lid and crease, and everything angled upward. Here they are in order of effect.

1. Define the lash line

The highest-impact step and the one people skip in favour of eyeshadow.

A dark pencil pressed between the lashes — not a line above them — makes lashes look denser and the eye look defined, without reading as eyeliner at all. It works under any amount of shadow, including none.

2. Curl the lashes and use mascara properly

Curling opens the eye more than any product. Then mascara at the roots with a wiggle, building density where the lashes meet the lid, which is where definition lives.

Two thin coats, always.

3. Put depth in the crease

Flat lids look flat. One mid-tone shade in the crease creates the contrast that makes the eye read as three-dimensional.

This takes about twenty seconds and does more than a full palette used badly.

4. Lift everything outward and up

Shadow in the outer corner blended toward the tail of the brow. Liner angled up rather than out. Lower-lash mascara on the outer half only.

Anything drifting downward reads as tired, which is the opposite of expressive.

5. Brighten underneath

Concealer in an inverted triangle under the eye. Shadows below the eye pull the whole area down; lifting them makes what is above look more open.

6. Groom the brows

Brows carry expression more than any makeup. Brushed up, filled where sparse, with the tail not dragging downward. An over-plucked or downward brow makes the most careful eye makeup look flat.

What works against you

  • Dark liner ringing the whole eye
  • Heavy shadow across the entire lid with no lighter area for contrast
  • Uncurled lashes under heavy mascara, which weighs them down
  • Too much under-brow highlight, which can flatten rather than lift

If you do only two things

Press pencil into the lash line, and curl your lashes. Together they take a minute and produce more visible definition than anything else on this list.

For placement by eye shape, see the eyeshadow guide in the makeup section.