The Ultimate Guide to Wearing Makeup with Glasses

Makeup is undoubtedly one of the biggest blessings when it comes to hiding the imperfections or insecurities of your skin. When applied, your makeup is also widely successful in highlighting, defining, and enhancing certain features on your face. Whether you enjoy a full face of makeup or prefer a classic winged eyeliner and mascara, you are probably well aware of the unavoidable problems you face when you also wear glasses all day long.

We’re talking smudged foundation on your frames, flaking mascara on your lenses, and more. Sound familiar? If you’re fed up with glasses ruining your makeup and vice-versa, keep reading. We’re giving you the must-know makeup tips for glasses.

Define Your Eyes with Your Makeup

If you are in the market for new frames and your go-to look is a dark smokey eye, there is no better time to experiment with a new look! Keep in mind that glasses tend to create shadows in the eye area, so you want to try and avoid making the eyes look darker. If you are thinking that there is no way you will be stepping out of the house in a bubble gum pink, euphoria-like, eye look, no need to fret.

Choosing the perfect makeup for glasses does not have to be so extreme, and you should still be choosing something that you can feel comfortable and confident wearing. Rather than choosing a deep plum purple, try a pale purple or blue instead. Also, note that pastels and shimmers work wonders in terms of brightening the eyes while still maintaining drama under those lashes.

For another trick to open your eyes, apply white eyeliner to your waterline. This makes your eyes appear larger and brighter and makes you look more awake.

This is a common problem that all glasses wearers will know about. Wearing glasses draws attention to your eyes, especially when you wear makeup too, but they can also highlight the parts you’d rather remain hidden—your dark under-eye circles.

If you’re sick of your dark circles making you look tired beneath your glasses, there’s an easy solution; for a bright-eyed look, our Total Eye 3-In-1 Renewal Therapy should do the trick.

Complement Your Bold Frames with an Equally Bold Lip

Thick frames are bigger and bolder. You might choose them to go bold or because you have strong facial features you want to de-emphasize. Thick frames are often available in dark colors but are now offered in a variety of clear and colored styles as they’ve become more popular.

Thin frames are the way to go when you don’t want to draw attention to your specs. They blend into your face more, helping to emphasize your facial features. If you decide to go with a pair of thin or wired glasses, you can accent this look with a bright lip color. This doesn’t have to be the brightest shade of red you can find, but even a more subtle light—yet bright—pink color should do the trick. And if you go for the thicker frames, try a neutral-toned lip shine. These will not only compliment your frames but also maintain a nice balance within your makeup.

Choose the Right Frames: Neutral vs. Color Pop

Let's backtrack to the basics, choosing your frames.

Does the color really matter? Sort of, in the sense that going with an eccentric choice might make it slightly more difficult to pair with later on. The most important thing to remember when choosing your new lenses is that the choice is completely up to you. You are the one that is going to be wearing them, so make sure they represent you in the best way. When purchasing your new glasses consider them a staple in your wardrobe moving forward. And choose something that is going to best compliment you and your style.

Most people prefer neutral colors including black, brown, or even tortoise when choosing their new frames. These common color choices make it easier to match with different hair colors, eye colors, and skin tones.

However, you may want to make bolder color choices or (if your budget allows) own several sets of specs to suit your mood. When choosing your new frames, consider going with eyeglasses that have a style that is large enough to show your entire eye. These tend to distort and disrupt your eye makeup significantly less than smaller frames. Overall, look for a pair of fabulous frames that you love, and do the best job at enhancing your most beloved features.

Choose the Right Mascara

One of the best things about wearing eyeglasses is that it doesn’t mean you have to change your entire makeup routine. Sometimes, all you need is a small tweak to make wearing makeup more comfortable with your glasses.

Another common problem when wearing makeup with glasses is having flakey mascara. Because your glasses sit so close to your eyes, they have a (rather annoying) tendency to smudge mascara which can result in black flakes on your lenses and frames. Not only do you end up with messy glasses, but you ruin your perfectly applied mascara too. To prevent your mascara from transferring onto your glasses, the product you use is very important.

Try a waterproof mascara. If you’re having trouble with your eyelashes flaking or sticking to your lenses, simply swap out regular mascara with a water-proof or dry formula. This is much more resistant and longer lasting than normal mascara, and you’ll notice a dramatic, instant improvement! We suggest trying a creamy, moisturizing formula that is less likely to dry out and flake.

Overall, glasses can be the ideal accessory to compliment your makeup and your face. Hopefully, these makeup tips for glasses allow you to wear your fabulous frames with serious class and keep makeup mishaps out of your daily routine. Here's to "glasses day" no longer being the makeup equivalent to wearing sweatpants!