We use makeup to hide blemishes, enhance our natural beauty, and create our own personal style, but for glasses wearers, this can get a little tricky.

We know the struggle. Makeup styles that would look fantastic on someone without glasses might become barely noticeable once the glasses go on. Sometimes, the prescription strength of the lenses themselves make the eyes look bigger or smaller, which makes things even more complicated! So what can we do?

How Your Makeup Can Complement Your Glasses

There are a lot of different ways you can approach your makeup to make it look good with your glasses, whether you’re aiming for a neutral look or a bold one.
  • Lipstick can do a lot to balance out the shape of your face, particularly if you wear glasses with thick or dark frames. Bold or bright colors are best for this.
  • The frames of your glasses cast shadows, and sometimes that makes it look like you have dark circles under your eyes. Concealer is a great fix for this problem.
  • Are your glasses always slipping down the bridge of your nose? A dab of primer on each side will keep them in place. Even guys might want to try this trick!
  • When it comes to eyeshadow, it’s a good idea to stay neutral but bright. A bold color combined with glasses can create an overwhelming, busy effect, but staying simple and bright will give you great, natural-looking enhancement that will make your eyes pop.
  • Yes, you can wear mascara and glasses at the same time. The trick to avoiding getting mascara smudges all over your lenses is to apply your mascara more to the roots of your lashes than the tips. You can also curl them so that they don’t stick straight out towards the lenses.

Your Frames Are A Big Part Of Your Look

The style of frames you choose will have a big impact on which makeup options work best for you. Glasses without frames give you more freedom to wear heavier makeup, while dark frames tend to look best with something more neutral. Explore different combinations to find your favorites. Size matters too. Bigger frames give you room to experiment because they don’t cover as much of your eyes, but smaller frames don’t compete with your eyebrows as much, giving you an opportunity to wear more makeup there. Do your glasses fit with your makeup goals?

Tailoring Your Makeup To Your Prescription

Does your prescription make your eyes look tiny or huge? Luckily, makeup can do a lot to minimize these effects. If your eyes look too big for your face, use matte and liquid eyeshadow. Glittery and powder eyeshadow will only make your eyes look even larger, so it’s a good idea to avoid them. If your glasses make your eyes look tiny, do the opposite. Steer clear of dark eyeshadows and go easy on the eyeliner. You’ll get better results with lighter eyeshadows and liners, and you can get an enlarging effect with mascara.

Is It Time To Change Up Your Style?

Maybe the reason you’re struggling to find the right look isn’t about the makeup, but the glasses. Come by our practice and take a look at our selection. You might just find the perfect new frames to suit your style!

We love seeing how our patients look in their glasses!

Top image used under CC0 Public Domain license. Image cropped and modified from original. The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.