How to Apply Makeup When Wearing Glasses
As a glasses wearer, it took me a while to feel comfortable with the attention that wearing glasses drew to my face. It took me even longer to find a new makeup style that worked harmoniously with my frames to achieve an elegant, everyday makeup look.
At Kiana Beauty, several of our team members are glasses wearers. We understand that the struggle is real. Below, our glasses-wearing team of experts share their makeup tips based on many years of their own personal experience.
If you are significantly vision impaired, use a magnifying mirror when applying your makeup.
Glasses will make your fine lines and wrinkles more visible to others, particularly if you wear magnifiers.
We highly recommend adding a comprehensive eye cream to your skincare routine, such as the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Synchronized Complex II which will reduce the appearance of wrinkles, fine Lines and dark circles, making your eyes look younger and more vibrant.
Long-wearing makeup won't slide off the bridge of your nose or beneath the frames of your glasses. If your glasses commonly leave indentation marks on your nose, apply concealer onto the bridge of your nose instead of foundation as concealer creases less than foundation. Set any foundation or concealer you apply with powder for extra staying power.
Glasses can amplify dark circles and puffy eyes, so under-eye concealer is essential! For a brighter, fresher looking eye area, we recommend applying concealer under the eye all the way to the inner corner of the eye, near the nose.
When wearing glasses, you will look and feel more polished when you define your eyes and brows more than you would if you weren't wearing glasses.
This will balance the frames.
Apply eyeliner all across the top and bottom lash lines, staying as close as possible to the lashes.
If you wear wire frames, you can get away with a thinner line.
If you have thicker frames, draw a thicker line on the top and bottom lash line to achieve balance.
Apply waterproof mascara to open up the eye area and avoid smudging against the lenses.
Wearing glasses draws attention to your brows, so ensure that they are well groomed and be sure to fill in any gaps with your favourite brow powder or pencil.
Consider the Frame You Are Wearing
Wire Frame
You can pretty much wear whatever you like in terms of eyeshadow or lip colour as a wire frame is understated and looks harmonious with little effort.
Coloured Frame
Coloured frames look great with neutral-coloured eyeshadow. However, to prevent your eyes from getting lost within the bold frames, we suggest creating some depth with two colours.
Apply a light, neutral-coloured eyeshadow that compliments your skin tone from the lash line to the brow bone.
This acts as the base.
Then apply a neutral shade of medium depth on the outer corners of the eye or along the crease. Then blend, blend, blend.
We love a neutral lip with a coloured frame as it won't compete with your fabulous frames, but helps to pull the look together.

Clinique Pretty Easy Eye Palette
Customise your own look with the eight shades of long-wearing eyeshadows.

Clinique Lip Pop Colour and Primer
(Pictured in Nude Pop)
Tortoise Shell
If you're wearing bold frames in a natural colour, we recommend keeping the eyes subtle yet defined, and creating balance with some colour on the lip.


Elizabeth Arden Beautiful Color Lipstick
(Pictured in left to right: Neoclassic Coral and Pretty Pink
The team at Kiana Beauty hope you have a whole lot of fun finding the makeup style that best suits your glasses and personality. Need more help or have a question? Feel free to use our Ask an Expert feature for individualised advice on your skincare or beauty needs.