The eyes, they say, are the window to the soul. For Crossdressers, the eyes, if shaded, shaped and softened are the window to a more feminine appearance. I love my makeup; I love doing my makeup. In the past I have done a before and after photo and video session of my own makeover and can hardly believe the difference. Taking the time to do your makeup, as perfectly as you can, to me, is worth every minute spent in front of the mirror. Most of my effort in preparation of creating my “look” is spent on my eyes.
As I discussed in my last article “Hairstyles for Your Face Shape”, I have a square face and when I do my makeup, I concentrate on breaking my makeover into thirds. The brows and eyes, the cheeks and cheekbones and thirdly, the chin and jaw line. I’m writing this article on the 1st third, the “eyes and brows”. There are several things to consider with eyes and brows. Are your eyes round, oval, or narrow? Are your brows really thick, thin, straight or arched? Identify each characteristic of your face and decide how to make them look more feminine. In a typical feminine face the brows are arched or angled, thicker near the inside, thinner in width on the outer aspect, also like a tail. For many CDs, you likely have thick brows which truly need some care. You can go to an esthetician for a little plucking and trimming or you can do so at home but be careful, don’t over pluck! But if you are uncomfortable with plucking and trimming, there is the method of gluing them down, a process I won’t go into, but it is used in the drag industry to create a very dramatic eyebrow. If you dress often, take the time to pluck and trim, shaping your brows creating a slight arch and or angle. There is no way a unibrow is going to look feminine, it’s just not going to happen.
Shaping the Brow
The brow line on the inside should stop in line with a line drawn from the outer aspect of the tip of your nose, this will bring your eyes slightly closer together narrowing a square face. The outer brow should end with a line drawn from the same point on the nose to the outer aspect of the eye to the brow. When I am doing my makeup, I do my foundation and finishing powder first to get a palette to start from. With the guide lines discussed above, I mark each point, the start and the end of my brow. Now with an eyebrow pencil, I fill in a thin line following the arch of my brow emphasizing a slight angle a two thirds of the way along the brow then sloping down to the end. Now, I use a brow cream with an angled brush and fill in the brow defining the shape. I want them to have a defined edge on the upper and lower aspect and on the vertical edge of the brow near the eye. With the tail of the eyebrow, I like to narrow and bring it to a blunt point. Then I coat the brow with brow gel which gives them a little shine and hold. Recheck in the mirror and touch up the brow until your happy with the curve, depth and volume of your eyebrow.
Eye Shadow
For eyeshadow I have chosen to do a smokey eye for a glam look. Since I have blue eyes, I decide to use neutral shades in black with silver and white highlights. I shade black on my eyelid, mix some silver on over the hollow of my eye and then line the edge below my eye brow with white eye shadow. With the shades in place, I feather the colors together, blending them so no hard edges exist and the colors flow nicely into each other. I use a very small bush to run a charcoal shade on the bottom of my eyelid and gently blend it creating soft edge. The contrast in shades makes my eyes appear rounder and larger giving me a feminine look. I love liquid eyeliner. I run a bead along the edge of my eyelid, tapering it off slightly outside the edge of my eye which gives me a little cat eye look. I touch up the inner corner of my eye with a white eyebrow pencil which effectively brightens the eye.
It’s now time to define my eye lashes and nothing works better than mascara! I apply a first coat and a minute later a second coat. The icing on the cake for my eyes are faux lashes! I have chosen a full length glam set. I love them. I always use them and would never go out without them. I apply my faux lashes with minimal anguish. It always takes a little patience but I am successful this time. I step back from the mirror and do the run through. The brows are shaped nicely with a little arch. The eye colors are blended and the faux lashes are staying in place. Priceless!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my article all about creating the most feminine eyes possible!
Sincerely, Melissa
More Articles by Melissa Honey
- Body Image and Shaping
- Finishing your Feminine Face Part 3
- Sweet Cheeks!
- Hairstyles for your Face Shape
- To Bare or Not to Bare
@Melissa Honey Great article and you definitely have created beautiful feminine eyes. I am learning that the eyes are the key to a great feminine look. I also love your name. 😊
Melissa 👠
Wonderful article Melissa! My wife has been my primary tutor when it comes to makeup, but I know I must go further than she (obviously!) in order to achieve a truly feminine look.Your article gives some excellent direction.
Best,
Kris
Thanks so much Melissa. I am horrible at makeup and need every help that I can get. With your help I’ll practice and get better. Hugs, Marg
@Melissa Honey Thanks so much for posting this. One of my goals for 2024 is to improve my makeup and eye makeup is an area where I definitely need help! I particularly love the smoky eye look.
Great article Melissa, your article was so helpful, it will help me with my make up
Jane
Xx
Hi Melissa, wonderful instructions that are easy to understand and follow. I use almost all of your techniques each and every day as I’m a working trans girl and have to always look my best.
You are right about the importance of making sure your eyes are the focal point, requiring the most time spent making sure everything comes together.
Hugs,
Ms. Lauren M
Thank you Melissa for taking the time for to explain in detail perfecting the “feminine eyes”.. I know I need all the help I can get to avoid the dreaded raccoon eyes lol
your article was so helpful and informative.
warmest regards,, Leonara
Melissa, Wonderful tutorial for someone who certainly knows their way around the makeup pallet. Eye shape and hooded vs non-hooded eyes are critical to successfully creating the look you want, be it daytime minimal to night time dramatic or anywhere in between. What I have found is that watching and listening to someone who has similar physical characteristics as you can make the learning process easier. Nothing more frustrating that watching a tutorial for someone with non-hooded eyes create a beautiful look that simply will NOT work with my hooded eyes. Taylor Swift is my girl and she has hooded… Read more »
@Jessie Smith Same here, Jessie! Hooded eyes AND a heavy brow means no smokey eyes for me! Even black eye liner makes my eyes look sunken. A very friendly makeup artist at Sephora showed me some great tips and now I’m much more confident in my eye game. I didn’t know that about Taylor Swift; I guess there’s hope for us yet!
xo, Nikki
Thank you for sharing your expertise with us Melissa. I’ve watched many tutorials online. Personally I’ve learned to keep it quick and simple. I’ve had many fails especially with my eye brows. And the applying faux eyelashes is a skill that takes lots of practice but I still have days that I struggle with it. lol.
I wish for more time and opportunities to really glam it up but I generally do a quick, brows, eyeliner, eye shadow, color correcter, foundation, lip liner, faux eye lashes, lipstick. done. lol.
I love your article. I want to try everything you mentioned next time I get the chance, which occurs way too infrequently.