I Have Monolids: How I do My Makeup for Glasses

I’ve been wearing glasses since the age of four, so mastering the art of doing my makeup for glasses is one that’s been key to my makeup journey. For the better part of my tween and teen years, when I first started getting into beauty, I wore black eyeliner and smudged gray eyeshadow. It was the early 2000s: I was listening to Fall Out Boy and looking the angsty part. But it wasn’t just the emo music fueling my look—I didn’t know how to do any form of eye makeup properly. 

Looking back, I realize it was because I didn’t have anyone to teach me how to do makeup for my monolids, let alone glasses. All the tutorials my friends watched were catered to folks with double eyelids. I didn’t have any Asian friends to ask, or even know that my “monolid” was the issue I was having in the first place. I was adopted by a lovely white family when I was seven months old: In addition to my mom’s eyelids being completely different from mine, she barely wore makeup. The combination of my monolids and my glasses made me feel as if I didn’t have many options when it came to styles of makeup.

It wasn’t until I moved to New York City after college, discovered color, and made multiple pairs of glasses my accessories that I realized eye makeup could be a whole new way to express myself. I perfected my makeup technique watching videos of Allure’s then-editor-in-chief Michelle Lee and random YouTubers with eyes like mine. I’ve worn neons, glitter, bold primaries, and ombrés that ranged from sunset to full-on rainbow. 

The key to wearing eye makeup that’s suitable for glasses is always going big, according to Ari Adams, Milk Makeup Sales & Education Executive. “With glasses, you have to make everything more exaggerated,” he says. “When glasses go on they typically (depending on your prescription) magnify things, normally for the wearer, making them look larger. In reverse, when someone is looking into someone's eyes behind glasses, the magnification makes eyes appear smaller.” 

With this in mind, I’ll walk you through my typical makeup routine, and how I make my looks work for my glasses and my eye shape. It’s so easy, I can do it each time in 15 minutes or less. 

1. Prime Gotta start with a good canvas, and Hydro Grip Eye Primer is perfect for keeping every color locked in place on a smooth, hydrated base. I apply and let it dry for at least one minute so it sets. 2. Blend I always color-coordinate my outfits with my makeup. Each time I do my eyeshadow, I use a shading brush, preferably one with an angled tip, and I always apply the colors in order of lightest to darkest across my lids, going from the inner corner out. If I mess up, I clean it up with a little makeup remover, like Hydro Ungrip Makeup Remover + Cleansing Water on a cotton pad (Hydro Ungrip Reusable Pads are a great option if you’re looking to minimize waste). Don’t be afraid to eff around and find out when you’re playing with makeup! You can just wipe away any mistakes.  3. Add a wing Before drawing on my wing, I close my eyes and spritz somePore Eclipse Matte Setting Sprayto keep the work I’ve done so far in place. Then, I reach for my liner. I like to use a liquid liner with a brush-tip applicator, but I’m also into creamy pencil formulas likeInfinity Long Wear Eyeliner.  I don’t limit myself to black—I like to use a lot of different colors. For my monolids, I’ve found thatgentlypulling the far corners of my eyes as I draw on my liner helps make it smoother and glide in one swoop.

Just as with makeup for glasses in general, when you are doing winged eyeliner for monolids, you’ve got to take care to exaggerate the look a bit. “Eyeliner needs to be drawn on thick because when someone with a monolid opens their eye, part of the lid is covered,” Ari explains. “Basically, you have to draw your wing over the natural crease of the lid.”

4. Brows After one more mist of setting spray, it’s on to brows. I use KUSH Clear Brow Gel when I’m going for something more polished or KUSH Brow Lamination Gel when I want a feathery, slicked-up effect. When I’m not in a rush, I use KUSH Brow Shadow Stick or a pencil to fill in any gaps. 5. Lashes I don’t typically use mascara, but that isn’t true for everyone. If you have monolids and glasses like me, Ari suggests dusting your brow bone with a little bit of powder first to keep your mascara from transferring. 6. Finish One thing everyone who wears makeup and glasses can relate to is the struggle of all your hard work transferring onto your glasses. You know those oily spots of foundation or concealer that sometimes get on your frames—they suck.  Here’s a trick to keep all that mess from happening “Take a loose bristle crease blending brush and swirl it in a little bit of powder, like our Pore Eclipse Matte Translucent Setting Powder,” Ari advises. “Then, lightly brush it on the parts of your glasses what will touch your face.” The nose bridge and the bottom half of the frames are key locations. This should help prevent makeup transfer once you put your glasses on.

Once I’m finished applying my eye makeup, I put my glasses back on. That’s when I’m better able to see if there are any parts of my look that need finessing. I take care of those, but sometimes, I don’t have to: the beauty of wearing glasses is that sometimes, they can help hide any flaws in your makeup that you might not have noticed while you were doing it.

I’m proud of what my makeup routine has evolved into. My high-impact looks make enough of an impression behind my glasses to garner compliments from friends, strangers, and Sephora employees. It’s allowed me to adopt a signature look that is a far cry from my OG smudged black emo kid eyeliner. I still listen to Dashboard Confessional on the regular, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at my makeup.

Meet The Expert

Ari Adams (he/him) is the Global Education and Events Manager for Milk Makeup. Boasting over 10 years of experience as a makeup artist, Ari got his start watching drag performers do their makeup backstage. It sparked a passion for beauty that fuels his work at Milk. Ari channels his expertise to train Milk Makeup field team members on how to apply, hack, and talk about our products in Sephora stores and beyond.