5 Ways to Highlight the Inner Corners of Your Eyes

How to Highlight the Inner Corners of Your Eyes

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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 have tried and 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.

Each of these methods gives you a slightly different finish. You can achieve a very subtle radiance around the eyes or visibly glowy and bright inner corners. Either way, scroll down to learn how to highlight the inner corners of the eyes.

How to Highlight the Inner Corners of the Eyes

1. Use Your Face Highlighter

The highlighter you use for your face is ideal for highlighting the eye area too. Face highlighters usually come in silver, pink, and gold. For this purpose, silver highlighters work best. To properly highlight the inner corners of the eyes with your highlighter, here’s what you do:

Dab your pinky into the highlighter to pick up a small amount. Apply it by pressing it into the inner corners of the eyes. 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 using water or a setting spray, and get a little bit of your powder highlighter. Press the brush on the inner corners of the eyes. Bring it closer to the lower lashline as well.

If you’ve tried your highlighter on your eye area and the results didn’t turn out to be what you were going for, the problem is probably your highlighter.

Certain powder formulas can give you a flaky finish and cause fall-outs around the eyes as well. For the eye area, you need a highlighter that has a very smooth, streak-free finish.

Sparkly, glittery highlighters may work for the cheekbones, but they don’t work very well for the small eye area. That’s why liquid and cream highlighters work better for inner corner highlights. Below are the best ones to try.

Armani Fluid Sheer Glow Enhancer

Armani Fluid Sheer Glow Enhancer - Best Highlighter for the Inner Corners of the Eyes

The reason why this liquid highlighter works amazing for the eye area is because it has this seamless consistency. It feels like a shiny liquid as opposed to a glittery pigment. Because it’s a liquid highlighter, it also looks incredibly natural around the eyes. Try the shade 2 or the shade 7 to get a neutral color. Put some on the back of your hand. Using your fingers or a small brush, get a small amount and place it on the inner corners of the eyes.

Merit Day Glow Dewy Highlighting Balm

Merit Day Glow Dewy Highlighting Balm - Highlighter For Inner Corner Highlight

If you’re not used to liquid formulations, try a cream highlighter for more control and a more precise application. This is a stick highlighter that helps lighten up the eyes even if you’re a makeup beginner. It has a seamless consistency and gives you a clean, smooth, glowy finish. The shade Cava is a soft neutral perfect for this. It’s not easy to directly apply the stick onto the inner corners. So, use your ring finger to get some product and simply pat it on the inner corners.

2. Use a White or Nude Eye Pencil

Nude or white eye pencils have been immensely helpful for making the eyes look bigger. But they can also be used as highlighters. A white pencil will lighten the eyes and make them more luminous.

But the shimmer on these usually disappears after a while. So this won’t look like a regular highlighter. Also, white pencils are tricky. It can give you a cheap look if you overdo it with the application. So keep that in mind.

To highlight the inner corners of the eyes using a pencil, apply it on the lower waterline and drag the color towards the inner corners of the eyes. This will make a huge difference for small eyes because this technique makes 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 using your finger to make it look more natural.

Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil

Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil - Highlighter For Inner Corner Highlight

This is a multi-purpose shimmery eye pencil you can use for anything in the eye area. You can try the shade Milk for a very bright white or the shade Cottage Cheese for something muted and softer. These two look great both on the inner corners and all over the face as a brightening pen.

3. Use Brightening Pen

You can try highlighting pens or under-eye brighteners that double as concealers. They 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. You’ll achieve a natural, soft matte look as opposed to shimmery.

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat All-Over Brightening Pen

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat All-Over Brightening Pen - How To Highlight Inner Corner of the Eyes

Think of this one as the liquid version of an eye pencil. This helps you highlight areas on your face and create a more fresh-looking appearance on the eyes. It won’t look super shimmery or glowy but more radiant. Again, this one has coverage too. So this method works better if your primary goal is to minimize discolorations and brighten the under-eye area as well as inner corners.

4. 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.

To use your eyeshadow for inner corner highlighting, 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. Try bringing it closer to the inner corners and diffuse it there for completely glowy eye makeup.

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.

Lancome Idole Tint Longwear Liquid Eyeshadow in Sunburst

Lancome Idole Tint Longwear Liquid Eyeshadow in Sunburst - Inner Corner Highlight

This is a recent favorite. It’s a liquid eyeshadow with a shimmery finish that comes in amazing colors. This shade is a soft gold that literally looks like a highlighter. Apply it on the inner corners as well as on the eyelids for a glossy look.

5. Use a Luminizer

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

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.

Chanel Baume Essentiel Multi-Use Glow Stick in Transparent

Chanel Baume Essentiel

This is unrivaled. This is like a stick highlighter with the most beautiful wet finish. It has no visible glitter. The shade Transparent is just a seamless gloss stick that gives you dewy, healthy skin.

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. If you need help with the application, below is a step-by-step tutorial on how to do inner corner highlighting to achieve a seamless look.

How to Apply

Step 1: Finish Eye Makeup

Before moving on to highlighting, finish your makeup first. Apply your foundation and your under-eye concealer. Cover up any discolorations beforehand. Highlighter is applied in the last steps of makeup. If not, the blending won’t be as easy and you might end up with a flaky finish.

Step 2: Use Small Brush

If you’re not going to be using your fingers, make sure you’re using a small brush with dense bristles for precise application. I can recommend Make Up For Ever 212 Medium Precision Smudger Brush but you can also use a lip brush if you have one at home.

Step 3: Apply Highlighter

Get your brush and the product of your choice, and apply your highlighter on the inner corners of the eyes a bit closer to the sides of the nose. Here’s how to make this even better: apply highlighter on the outer corners of the eyes as well! Just apply a dot of highlighter there closer to the outer lashes. This opens the eyes even more and gives you an incredibly fresh, youthful look, especially when you use a luminizer.

Step 4: Apply Some on the Brow Bone

If the rest of your makeup agrees, apply a tiny bit of highlighter on the brow bone as well. This gives you an overall bright-eye look. Apply it right below the brows toward the tail.

Step 5: Set It

The most annoying problem with this inner corner highlighting technique is how it looks a few hours later. Eyes get watery, makeup smears or smudges, whatever it is, the white eyeliner starts to pile and accumulate on the inner corners, especially when combined with black eyeliner or a smudgy mascara. It gives you a dirty appearance. When you want to pick that up to clean up the inner corners, you wipe off the highlighter as well. To prevent this as much as you can, consider setting your makeup with a setting spray.

Read Next: How to Get Fluffy Eyebrows

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