5 Best Lakmé Eyeshadow Tricks for Monolid and Hooded Indian Eyes

Look straight into a mirror with your eyes fully open, not half-shut, not squinting. If you can't see a crease line at all, you likely have a monolid. If you can see a faint crease but a soft fold of skin sits over it, hiding most of your mobile lid, that's a hooded eye. Both shapes are common across India, including much of the Northeast and plenty of people nationwide, and lids naturally hood a little more with age for almost everyone.

On a monolid, there's no visible crease, so colour tends to disappear across the whole lid the moment your eyes open. The priority is a gradient built from the lash line upward, with definition right at the lashes. Matte gives depth here, and shimmer only really works if it stays at the centre of the lid.

On a hooded eye, a real crease exists but is covered by a skin fold, so colour disappears into that crease and the mobile lid instead. The priority is a matte transition shade placed above the fold, plus a transferproof lid base. Matte goes above the fold, satin or shimmer sits at the centre of the lid.

This is why a technique built for a deep-set crease just doesn't translate to either shape. Lakmé's formulas can do the job for both, but only once the colour is placed where the eye actually reveals it.

Clean lids matter more than people expect before any Lakmé eyeshadow goes on. Oil from the skin, combined with skin-on-skin contact in a hooded fold or a monolid crease, is the single biggest reason eyeshadow transfers or vanishes by midday. Indian humidity makes this worse. A thin layer of primer followed by a light dusting of translucent powder gives Lakmé pigments a dry, grippy surface to sit on, instead of one they slide right off.

Step1: Map your crease with your eyes open. Use a flat brush to mark where the transition shade should sit while looking straight ahead into a mirror, never with your eyes closed. Closed-eye mapping is the single biggest reason eyeshadow looks great in the mirror and disappears the second you open your eyes. A Mumbai-based bridal makeup artist with over a decade of experience with monolid and hooded clients put it this way: "I always get clients to look straight ahead before I place a single stroke of colour. Mapping with eyes shut is the most common mistake I see, even on experienced makeup wearers."

Step 2: For hooded eyes, place a matte transition shade above the natural fold. Blend a matte shade just above where the: fold sits, not inside it. The Lakmé 9 to 5 Eye Color Quartet in Mystic Nudes is built for this: the matte, taupe-leaning tones read as natural depth once your eyes are open, and the brand's own "long-lasting formulation" claim holds up through an office day or a function, in my experience. Warm browns and bronzes suit warm or olive undertones; taupes work better on cooler ones.

Step 3: For monolids, build a gradient upward from the lash line. Monolids read best with intensity concentrated right at the lash line, fading lighter toward the brow. Start with the colour end of the Lakmé 9to5 Hya Glam Liner + Shadow Eye Duo, pressing it densely along the lashes, then use the built-in smudger to diffuse the edge upward. The stick has hyaluronic acid, a humectant that keeps it comfortable through wear, plus vitamin E for a conditioning finish.

Step 4: Use a transferproof base, and keep shimmer to the centre of the lid. This is the step that actually solves lid-fold transfer. Sweep the Lakmé Be-jewel Satin Eye Tint across the lid as a base. Its airlight mousse formula is "transferproof... without creasing or fallout," according to Lakmé, which matters a lot on oily, humid Indian lids. Press any shimmer onto the centre of the lid only, afterward. That's where light catches it without the shimmer migrating into the crease or fold.

Step 5: Define at the lash line, not across the whole lid. Skip a thick line across the entire lid. Instead, tightline or draw a thin, smudged line right at the lash line using the liner end of the Lakmé 9to5 Hya Glam Duo, then soften it with the attached smudger. Keeping the definition narrow and low means it stays visible on hooded eyes instead of sitting under the fold, and it doesn't weigh down a monolid.

Four Lakmé products cover every trick in this guide, from base to definition.

• Lakmé Be-jewel Satin Eye Tint is the best base for hooded eyes. It's an airlight mousse liquid with a satin finish, claimed "transferproof... without creasing or fallout," and runs ₹638 to ₹750 on lakmeindia.com at time of publishing.
• Lakmé 9 to 5 Eye Color Quartet in Mystic Nudes is the one to reach for for the matte transition shade and faux crease. It's a 4-shade pressed powder claimed to have a "long-lasting formulation," and costs ₹574 to ₹595.
• Lakmé 9to5 Hya Glam Liner + Shadow Eye Duo is the pick for the monolid lash-line gradient and fine definition. It's a dual-ended stick with a built-in smudger, infused with hyaluronic acid and vitamin E, and costs around ₹594.
• Lakmé Rouge Bloom Eyeshadow Pro-Palette is the pro upgrade, useful for a built-in primer step and a wider matte range for deeper gradients. It has 18 shades across 6 finishes, includes rose oil known to nourish eyelids, and costs around ₹1,529 on lakmeindia.com.

A few things to leave out of the kit altogether: chunky glitter, which collects visibly in lid folds and creases; heavy black eyeshadow on smaller or hooded eyes, where a dark brown reads just as intense but is far more forgiving; thick liner stretched across the whole lid; and shimmer applied all over a monolid, which can make eyes look puffier instead of more awake.