Major Pop or Subtle Glow, 4 Ways To Highlight The Inner Corners of Your Eyes

When it comes to makeup, the amount of product you use is not always directly proportional to the effects. It takes a good amount of foundation to completely smooth out the face. But it takes a tiny bit of highlighter to turn a flat base into a glowy one. And one dot of highlighter applied on the inner corners of the eyes makes a huge difference in your overall look.

Otherwise known as eye strobing, inner corner highlighting makes you look more awake and makes your eyes look bigger. But if you’ve tried and you’ve failed, you might want to give it another shot. Because there are different things you can use to highlight the inner corners of the eyes. And there are different ways to apply it. Scroll down to learn how to highlight the inner corners of the eyes.

1. Use your highlighter.

A face highlighter is an ideal method for highlighting the eye area. To properly highlight the inner corners of the eyes with your powder highlighter, you can try one of these:

• Dab your pinky into the powder highlighter and press it into the inner corners of the eyes. Don’t worry too much about placement. If you want your eyes to look bigger, bring the highlighter a little closer to the sides of the nose.
• You can also try this with a brush to be more precise. Wet the brush, either with water or a setting spray, and get a little bit of your powder highlighter. Apply it on the inner corners of the eyes. You can bring it a little bit closer to the lower lashline as well.
• If you have a liquid or cream highlighter, you can use the applicator tip to highlight the eye area. If you only need a small amount, you can use the brush too.

But if you’ve tried your highlighter on your eye area and the results didn’t seem to be what you were going for, the problem is probably the finish of the highlighter. Some highlighters simply work better for the inner corners of the eyes.

For the eye area, you need a highlighter that has a very smooth, streak-free finish. What does that mean? Sparkly, glittery highlighters may work for the cheekbones, but they don’t work very well for the small eye area.

There are powder highlighters that can help you with this. But liquid ones work better. Below are the best highlighters to lighten up the inner corners of the eyes.

Ilia Liquid Light Serum Highlighter

MAC Extra Dimension Skinfinish

2. Use a white/nude pencil.

Nude or white pencils have been immensely helpful for making the eyes look bigger. But they can also be used as highlighters. But know that this won’t give you the finish of a regular highlighter.

A white pencil will lighten the eyes and make them more luminous as opposed to shimmery. And that’s a great way to subtly freshen up the eyes without the glitter.

To highlight the inner corners of the eyes using a pencil, you can use it on the waterline and drag it towards the inner corners of the eyes. This will make a huge difference for small eyes as this technique is the most effective way to make the eyes look bigger.

You can also skip the lash line and just use the pencil to highlight. In that case, use the pencil as if to outline the inner corners of the eyes. Then diffuse the color to make it look more natural.

You can also try highlighting pens or under-eye brighteners that double as concealers. These ones help cancel out discolorations while increasing radiance in the eye area. They tend to be less concentrated than concealers. So they won’t be full coverage.

But they amplify the coverage and brighten the eyes. To highlight the inner corners with a brightening pen, apply it after you use your concealer. Below are the best ones to go for.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Highlighting Duo Pencil

Dior Flash Luminizer Radiance Booster Pen

3. Use an eyeshadow.

An eyeshadow, either in cream or powder form, can replace your highlighter. Even though they don’t always work out great when used on the cheeks, they work surprisingly well for the eyes. After all, an eyeshadow is literally made for the eye area.

To use your eyeshadow for inner corner highlight, try the same techniques with a face highlighter. Try a wet brush to apply it on the inner corners of the eyes or simply use your finger to press the product in.

If you already have a shimmery cream or powder eyeshadow, use it all over the eyelids. And try bringing it closer to the inner corners and diffuse it there for a completely glowy eye makeup look.

Go for rosy pink, white, or a lightly bronzy shade. But if you’re feeling adventurous, you can go for more colorful shades. This is a fun way to play with colors and eye makeup.

Stila Shimmer & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow in Kitten

4. Use a luminizer.

Last but not least, here is my favorite method for highlighting the inner corners. And that’s by using a cream luminizer. A luminizer reflects light in the most natural way. It’s way more subtle than a highlighter.

But it’s the best product to achieve dewy skin makeup and fake glass skin. Just dab your finger into a cream luminizer and press it into the inner corners of the eyes.

Use it on the high points of the cheeks, and the bridge of the nose as well. As there is no glitter, you can’t really screw this up even if you tried. It looks natural no matter what.

Chanel Baume Essentiel

RMS Beauty Living Luminizer

So these are the easiest ways to illuminate and highlight the inner corners of the eyes along with the best products to help you out.

For the most impactful pop of color, make sure you apply your concealer in advance and cancel out any discolorations around the eyes. Otherwise, your highlighter can look streaky on the eye area and may not blend well.

Here’s my personal recommendation if you’re on the lookout for a good brush to properly highlight the inner corners of the eyes.

Make Up For Ever 212 Medium Precision Smudger Brush

For this area, you can use pretty much any eyeshadow brush and even a lip brush. The trick is to find a brush that’s small with dense bristles.

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