My Makeup Dictionary: Eyes Edition

Over the last few months, I’ve encountered an entirely new vocabulary that, frankly, confused and confounded me. I thought it might be fun to list some of these new words alongside my interpretation of them, mostly so that you can tell me if I got them right. It may also serve as a handy resource for those of you stuck in situations like mine, where people just use these words and I’m just nodding along pretending I understand them while secretly stashing them in the back of my head so that I can look them up the second I can whip out my phone.

So, without further ado, here’s a bunch of neat new words and terms I’ve learned during my journey into the beauty world, starting first with an edition for the eyes!

CREASE - Okay, I’ve heard of this word before, obviously, but not in the description of my eye. There was a lot of confusion around what or where the crease actually is, mainly because it looks different on different people (that is, it’s almost completely invisible on me). Some have claimed that it’s where your eyelid’s major fold is, but I’ve since found that while this is certainly a crease, it’s not necessarily the crease that most makeup artists are talking about when they say “blend this color into the crease.” The crease, by my reckoning, is essentially the hollow between your eyeball and your skull… the upper edge of your eye socket, really. For most lucky ladies this part is actually sunken and very pronounced so it makes it easy to find, and for SUPER lucky ladies (and there seem to be a lot of them out there), it coincides with the major fold in their eyelid, making their eyes look gorgeous. For me (and those with eyes like mine), it’s a bit more of a chore. If I press against my (closed) eye with a brush and move upward, I’ll come to a point where my eyeball ends and there’s just space and then if I move up more there’s my browbone. That space is basically my crease (or at least that’s where crease colors should go), even if in my case it doesn’t actually crease.

DARK CIRCLES - (see also: Puffiness) For a long time, I thought dark circles and puffiness were the same thing. They are not. Dark circles are where the skin around your eyes from the nose to your cheek has sagged, creased, or darkened to create a “circle” around your eye. You can see it in this photo, where there is a dark line coming away from the inner corner of the eye and sweeping downward and away like the arc of a circle. Some people have multiple lines like these or have lines that are so deep that they form shadows, giving them tired looks. Not to be confused with puffiness, which is another thing entirely!

HIGHLIGHT (BROW) - There is also such a thing as cheek or face highlights, but for the eyes, highlighting is usually when a bright matte or shimmery color close to your skin tone is applied right under the arch of your brow and then blended into the rest of your eyeshadow. While not always necessary, highlights can be used to brighten the look or, more commonly, to blend out any harsh lines created by colors in the crease.

LASH LINE - This generally needs no clarification apart from the fact that it is not the waterline (see below). Your lash line is where eyeliner goes most of the time and is the line right where your lashes grow. You have both upper and lower lash lines.

PUFFINESS - (see also: Dark Circles) Not to be confused with dark circles, puffiness is a problem I have with my eyes (mentioned in several previous posts.  This is where the bottom of your eye looks puffy and casts a shadow beneath your eye. Visible in this photo of my eyes, everyone has these and they are usually more prominent when you smile, but people with protruding eyes will have particularly pronounced eye bags even without a smile (like me). Eye bags can make your eyes look tired or swollen and, from my own experience, can be a pain to conceal.

OUTER V - Describes the “V” that is formed when you draw a line from the outer corner of your eye up towards the outer tip of your eyebrow… then turn that line inward at the crease and about a third of the way in. Lots of Youtube gurus and beauty blogs try to describe it but I find Marlena from Makeup Geek does it best. This is usually wear the darkest eyeshadow in a look will go.

WATERLINE - This is the pale line on the inside of your lid that basically rests right against your eyeball. If you take a finger, place it under your upper lashes, and gently pull upwards, that pale line under your lid there is the waterline. You have both upper and lower waterlines. Dark eyeliner can be used in either waterline to give the illusion of thick lashes or to make a look more dramatic. Pale eyeliner can be used to make your eyes look larger or more awake.