Glossary · Eye area
Hooded eyes
Hooded eyes have a fold of skin below the brow that hangs over the upper eyelid, so little or none of the lid shows when the eyes are open and the crease is hidden. It is common, partly inherited and partly age-related, and it is different from deep-set or downturned eyes, though they often appear together.
Eye shape, spacing and the surrounding frame.
Explore eye areaAlso called: hooded eyelids, eyelid hooding
How to tell if you have hooded eyes
Look straight into a mirror at eye level with a relaxed face and eyes open. If you can see a clear band of eyelid between your lashes and the crease, your lids are not hooded. If the skin under the brow folds down and covers the crease, and most or all of the lid disappears, they are. Many people are in between: the hood covers the outer part of the lid but not the inner, which is called partial or outer hooding.
The amount of lid that shows is what the forums call upper eyelid exposure. Low exposure with a low brow is part of the look the forums call hunter eyes; hooding is the soft-tissue version of it, where the fold rather than the brow bone covers the lid.
Hooded eyes compared with similar eye shapes
| Shape | What defines it | Lid visible? |
|---|---|---|
| Hooded | A skin fold under the brow covers the crease | Little or none |
| Deep-set | The eye sits further back under a prominent brow bone | Often little, because of the bone |
| Downturned | The outer corner sits lower than the inner | Varies |
| Monolid | No visible crease at all | The whole lid, without a fold line |
A face mesh can see the gap between lashes and brow but not the crease itself, so a photo tool can estimate low lid exposure but cannot tell a hooded lid from a deep-set eye with certainty. The downturned eyes test measures the tilt, which often travels with outer hooding.
What changes how hooded eyes look
Hooding increases with age as the skin loses elasticity and the brow descends, and it is more visible when tired or puffy. Sleep and less salt the night before reduce the puffiness; sunscreen slows the skin changes. Makeup for hooded eyes works with the fold: shadow placed slightly above the natural crease so it shows when the eyes are open, a thin liner that thickens toward the outer corner, and lash curling. Brow grooming that lifts the tail shows more lid. BecomeTen does not recommend surgery; eyelid surgery for hooding is a medical decision for a surgeon when the fold affects vision.
Questions
Are hooded eyes attractive?
They can be. Hooded eyes are common among faces rated highly, and a low, hooded lid is part of the intense look the forums prize in men. What reads less well is heavy hooding with puffiness, which reads tired; that part responds to sleep and skin care. The fold itself is a normal variation.
Can hooded eyes go away without surgery?
The fold itself does not disappear with exercises or creams. What changes is how visible it is: less puffiness after good sleep, a lifted brow tail from grooming, and makeup placed above the crease all show more lid. Age-related hooding can progress slowly, and sunscreen and a retinoid slow the skin changes.