How to Get Anime Eyes

Co-authored by Charina Redugerio

Last Updated: September 24, 2024

Huge, innocent anime eyes are popular among people of many subcultures. Colored contacts are one option, but these can be expensive and always require the advice of an optometrist to avoid eye damage. Carefully applied makeup can achieve an anime-like effect instead. Once you have the technique down, experiment with different products and styles to customize your look.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Enlarging Eyes with Makeup

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Use these products to conceal dark circles under your eyes, and to give you an even skin tone base to work with. Select a foundation lighter than your skin tone.
Cover the area around your eyes with eye primer to keep your makeup in place and make the appearance more durable. Tap it on all the way up to your eyebrows, but not on top of them.

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Placing eyeshadow correctly can make your eyes appear larger and rounder. Brush on eyeshadow around your eyes. While you may use any color, softer, lighter shades are recommended to accentuate the cute appearance of most female anime eyes. If you decide to use pale eyeshadow, blend in a tinge of brown over it to make it stand apart from the white eyeliner you'll be applying later.
For a glittery effect, add eye shimmer powder around the inner corners of your eyes. This step can be skipped if you dislike the flashy effect, or if you do not have this product.
5
Create a pale outline of the inner eye. Use white or pale eyeliner to draw a V shape through the tear duct area of your eyes, at the inner corner. Extend this outline slightly onto the waterline of each eye, but not more than 1/3 of the way across your eyelid. Paler outlines create the illusion of a larger object, and focusing on the inner corner makes your eyes appear closer together.
- The waterline of an eyelid is the hairless area that touches the other eyelid when you close your eyes.
- Some makeup brands make "Big Eye" eyeliner products specifically for this purpose.
- You may use an eyeliner pencil or liquid eyeliner.
6
Make a longer outline with dark eyeliner. Apply a black or very dark eyeliner to the top and bottom water lines of your eye, to make your eye more dramatic. Avoid the area with white eyeliner, or carefully outline the white area. On the outer eye corner, extend the eyeliner past the waterline by 1–2 centimeters (0.4–0.8 inches) to make your eye appear slightly larger. Optionally, create a small wing at the corner. Winged eyes look even larger and more dramatic, but large wings can result in a heavy, partially closed look that doesn't match most anime styles.
- You might achieve a more natural effect by closing your eyes and using the natural crease to extend the outline.
- Avoid smoky eyeliner, which can make your eyes look smaller.
- You might have heard that if you have rather close set eyes, it's not okay to put eyeliner on the bottom because that closes up eyes even more. However, if it's done right, it just ties your whole look together.
7
Put on black mascara. Use a "volumizing" and lengthening mascara to make your eyelashes full and long. The outer lashes often appear thicker than the inner ones in anime, so concentrate on these. There are two main approaches you can use to different effect. Choose between them below, but remember to let your mascara dry before applying the next coat:
- Apply several coats thickly across the eyelashes for a bold, dramatic effect. This option is not recommended if you have a mascara that clumps together.
- Apply one coat using three brush strokes, across the outer, middle, and inner sections of your lashes. Repeat as needed until you achieve the desired effect.
8
Wear false eyelashes (optional). If you are unsatisfied with the look so far, accentuate it with false eyelashes. Use demi lashes, or cut full-length lashes shorter before using. Apply them a little further back than you normally would to create a "larger" eye, across the top of the waterline or even just behind it. Optionally, add lower lashes as well.
- If you do not want to use false eyelashes, curling your eyelashes can result in a similar, though less dramatic, effect.
- Anime characters often have more "separated" eyelash look. Consider attaching sections of false eyelashes 2–4 millimeters (0.08–0.16 inches) apart, instead of in a continuous fringe.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Achieving Other Anime Features

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1
Change your eye color with contacts. Large "circle lenses" can achieve a more dramatic effect than makeup, especially if colored with an unnatural color. Always get your eyes measured by an optometrist first, and purchase the contacts from a reliable source. Poorly made or poorly fitting contacts can cause serious eye damage.
- For an especially dramatic effect, try "sclera lenses," which cover almost the entire visible eye.
- Always put on contacts before applying mascara.
2
Use a light lipstick or lip gloss. Dark or bold lipstick will make your lips appear fuller and larger, which will detract attention from your eyes. On many face types, over-accentuated lips and eyes together can be overwhelming or chaotic. Consider a light pink lipstick or clear gloss instead.
- You can, however, make an exaggerated heart-shaped bow on top of your lips, if you are imitating an anime character with this feature.
The innocent look of most female anime characters can be reinforced with a light pink blush on the cheekbones. For a uniquely anime look, cross the blush over the bridge of the nose from cheekbone to cheekbone.
Brightly colored purple, blue, green, or other eyeliners can achieve an even less realistic look. You may wish to use this instead of black eyeliner if you are imitating cyberpunk anime, or other unusual styles.
5
Draw on false eyebrows. A thinner, higher arch looks more animated than a natural eyebrow, especially if drawn boldly. Optionally, you can also use unusual colors.
- Wiping a gluestick over your natural eyebrows will flatten them out to make this more convincing.
Keep two teaspoons in the refrigerator or a cold cellar for 20–30 minutes. Put the bowl of the spoons over your eyes until the spoons have warmed up. This pulls the skin around your eyes tight, temporarily making you look wide-eyed.

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When I put the teaspoon on my eyes, should they be open or closed?

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Keep your eyes closed. You don't want to accidentally touch a freezing cold spoon to your retina, as this could potentially damage your eyesight.

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What if I leave the spoons on for too long or too short of a time?

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Nothing will happen if you leave the spoons on too long, but if it's too short, the tightening might not work completely.

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How do contacts make my eyes bigger?

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Contact lenses do not enlarge your eyes. Circle lenses are a little bit larger than the colored part of your eye, and that extra space covered gives the effect of larger eyes.

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You can say what you like while having the anime eyes. You can even say "Sugoi" or "Kawaii". It's ok to be a weeb. Let people be themselves.

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Try not to make the eyes too odd, otherwise they may appear very weird and you might get made fun of.

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For a more exaggerated or silly effect, extend the outline further around your eye. Apply fake lashes just above your cheekbones, and use pale eyeliner to extend your eye down to them. You can even use white and black eyeliner to paint a pupil and sclera to your closed eyelids, adding a white shine mark on the fake pupil.

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If you have eyelash extensions, grab the smallest section and place it right under the skin of your eye. Make sure your eyeliner is prepared under the lash skin before putting on the extensions. Anime characters have undeniably long underlashes, so this will give you the anime character look.
Anime girls typically have exaggerated bottom lashes. For this look, try spacing dots of black eyeshadow along your bottom lash line, making them smaller towards the middle of your eye. You can also carefully swipe the dots downwards with a brush to add to the effect.
Putting a nice, soft cream on before the makeup can give your skin a extra-smooth look shared among a lot of anime girls. Don't use anything that could cause your skin to react negatively.

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Warnings

Never use products that claim to enlarge your pupils. They can cause serious damage.

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Wash makeup off before going to bed to keep your eyes and skin healthy.

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Always consult an optometrist before purchasing non-prescription contacts, or you could cause yourself serious eye damage.

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While large anime eyes does not make you Japanese or an anime girl, do what you like. Believe what you would like, and don't let others stop you.

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