We all want to make the most of our eyes, but sometimes aging, genetics, or even our own habits make things a little tricky. Recently, I decided to investigate my options for correcting ptosis, a condition where the upper eyelid droops due to muscle weakness. However, after a professional check, I learned I don’t actually have ptosis. Instead, my lids are simply hooded from aging, something many of us experience. On top of that, I lift the brow of my dominant eye out of habit, which makes my eyes look uneven.

This discovery opened the door to an important distinction:

• Ptosis* is a medical condition where the eyelid muscle weakens.

• Age-related hooding** happens when skin loses elasticity and begins to droop.

• Naturally hooded eyes are genetic and not caused by aging.

While surgery, like an eyelid lift or brow lift, is an option, it’s considered cosmetic unless vision is affected, and therefore not typically covered by insurance.

For many of us, that means makeup is our best tool for creating balance and symmetry, and that is what we're going to talk about this week!

*You can be born with ptosis, or it can be acquired by age, injury, muscular or neurological diseases, or complications from procedures such as eye surgery or Botox injections.

**Hooded eyes develop with age due to a loss of skin elasticity, weakening of eyelid muscles, and the accumulation of fat, leading to sagging skin and a droopy appearance.

🎥 Watch on YouTube

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Light vs. Dark: The Secret to Perfect Eyes

Here’s the good news: you can create the illusion of larger, lifted, more symmetrical eyes with the right color placement. It all comes down to one simple principle:

✨ Light shades bring forward. Dark shades push back.

When you understand this, your eye makeup routine becomes so much more powerful. For example:

• Use a light shade on the mobile lid to make it look bigger and brighter. (A little shimmer in the center gives it some extra pizzazz!)

• Place darker shades slightly above the natural crease to create the illusion of lift and depth, and push back hooded lids.

• Add a touch of highlight under the brow bone to emphasize your brows and open up the eye area.

• To correct asymmetry, use shading strategically to balance one eye with the other. And pay attention to whether you also lift one brow higher than the other. If we learned it, we can unlearn it!

👁️ Get all the details on how to sculpt your specific eye shape to perfection in this free guide, Discover Your Unique Eye Shape.

My Demonstration: From Subtle to Dramatic

In this week's YouTube tutorial, I walk you through these techniques step by step using my own eyes as an example. You’ll see how I:

• Push back a heavy lid by blending a darker shade above and into the crease.

• Emphasize the mobile lid with a lighter, brighter color.

• Continue to Sculpt and define to create symmetry between both eyes.

I even take it further by creating a dramatic cut crease, just to show how much impact light and dark placement can have. Hopefully you can see how much makeup can transform your look without any surgery required.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences with this concept in the comments of the video or right here on the blog!

The Tools That Make It Easy

Last week, I introduced the BK Beauty | Hot & Flashy brush collection, and I used the same brushes again for this look. They’ve truly changed how soft, blended, and flattering my makeup looks. For this tutorial, I pulled out the:

• A501 Lid Shader for packing on lid color

• A502 Crease Shader for precise placement

• A503 Blender to diffuse harsh edges

• A504 Detailer for sculpting and definition

• A505 Shimmer Brush to bring light to the center of the lid

  These brushes make it so much easier to place color exactly where you want it and then blend it into perfection.

  

  I also used the A505 Shimmer Brush to add primer to my lids before applying any color. I've been using Milani Eyeshadow primer recently with great results.

All eyeshadow shades were from the Mary Kay Chromafusion line and can be found here: marykay.com/michellefox

Shades used: Blossom, Dusty Rose, Merlot, Candlelight.

Final Thoughts

Whether you have ptosis, naturally hooded eyes, or aging lids, makeup gives you the power to shape and define your eyes in ways that don't require surgery. By playing with light and dark shades, you can minimize what you don’t love, emphasize what you do, and even create symmetry where nature gave you differences (or you just have a funny habit of lifting one eyebrow higher than the other 😉)

And remember: makeup isn’t about perfection. It’s about what makes you feel beautiful, increases your confidence, and utilizes your creativity.