Eyelid tape for hooded eyes- does this really work?

Have you heard about eyelid tape for hooded eyes? Well, I gave this a try and tell you today what I think of it. I think this "thing" started in Asia- since mono-lids or hooded eyelids are even more common over there- so it is actually nothing new, but still not everybody knows about these. Well, I have hooded eyelids myself (if you are not familiar with the term: it means that my eyelids are hidden in my "hood" of my eyes and you can only see them, if I close my eyes.) Can you see on the picture above on which one I have eyelid tape on and on which one not? Yes? No? I tell you in a few! ;-)

Watch it also on YouTube:

I have gotten a box of a variety pack ($35.95) to try from Contours RX when I was at their booth at Cosmoprof in Las Vegas (read about it here). Each strip is medical grade, hypoallergenic and latex free. Depending on how much skin you have to "stick away", you have the options of these sizes: 

• 3mm (slight)
• 4mm (subtle)
• 5mm (casual)
• 6mm (moderate)
• 7mm (dramatic)
• 8mm (maximum)

I really like how the tape comes in a little clear box with a little tweezer. You can store this neatly and I find the idea of the variety pack very convenient to try out all the sizes.

Back to the picture above my post: can you see the difference? Well, I have the eyelid tape on on the left picture and no eyelid tape on the right. Did you see it?

Thing is, you need to see a "front picture" of me, because my "trouble eye" is definitely the left one. If you look close enough, you will see that my left eye is a little bit more open on the picture above on the left image, basically you can see a little bit of my eyelid, which usually isn´t the case.

Here is my front face- you will be able to see better that my left eye is opened up a little more with the eyelid tape. However- the difference with eyelid tape of my right eye isn´t big.

You guys, I have tried the tape in different sizes and on different occasions (since July!), but I have a couple of problems and I really wanted to love these! Look, if applied correctly, these can give amazing results and literally be "eye-opening". However, I wasn´t able a single time to apply them in a way, that I felt like both eyes look symmetric. Well, my eyes look naturally not symmetric- and chances are yours are too. Never did I know, before trying these, just how different both of my eyes are!

Now I know that my left eye seems constantly closed compared to my right eye...grrr. And it is nearly impossible to balance that out while using the tape. For the picture above I spend one try for my right eye- but about 3 tries (and wasted 2 eyelid tapes) to achieve a half-way decent result on my left eye. 

The other problem is, that you can´t really apply eyeshadow on the part where the tape is- so when using this tape, you can only go for certain looks (though Contours RX offers an eye primer ($29.95)  to use with it, but I haven´t tried it and can´t imagine that it works on top of the tape- but I dunno!)

Also: as long as your eyes are closed, you won´t see the tape, but obviously we blink all the time, and while not immediately obvious, I would feel very awkward, if somebody would notice the tape! 

This is how the eyelid tape looks like on closed eyes- even with closed eyes you can see that my left eye is my "bad eye" 

And how do they feel? You know: if applied correctly, they feel nearly undetectable (like it feels on my right eye!)! That is great! Only that I am apparently an idiot! Cause I can´t apply it like that on my left eye. And then it feels uncomfortable- just like tape! I don´t know why! Is it cause that eye is too hooded? 

Check out on the pic below, when I used a huge eyelid tape to demonstrate the difference when wearing the eyelid tape vs. to not wearing it. And it looks especially dramatic, cause I used the tape on my "good eye" (right) and not on my "bad eye" (left). While the tape truly opens up my right eye like nuts, I find that eye also looks very strange and somehow tired to me! Weird, right? Shouldn´t the open eye look more awake? Maybe I am used to my hooded eyes, but I like my hooded eye (left) (yes, you can´t see a thing of my lid!) much better! LOL!

My husband always made funny comments when I wore the eyetape and usually said something like: "you look tired". And I didn´t even tell him, that I applied the tape on these days. 

I just feel like, whenever I wear the eyelid tape, the person in the mirror does not look like me. Guess, I am just a hoodie! Geez, I would look weird if I would not have hooded eyes! Hehehe!

Overall verdict:

My overall verdict is: if you manage to apply the eyelid tape symmetricly on both eyes and use the correct size (this really depends on your eyes and how droopy they are), these might work fabulous for you. I however, have never managed to apply them evenly- maybe my eyes are both just too different. And then it enhances the look that they are not the same and makes it look worse...

Also: one of the reasons why I thought I would like to not have hooded eyes (and if only for a day) is to create these gorgeous makeup looks I see on YouTube from these big eyed gorgeous beauty gurus- but with the tape I still can´t apply the eyeshadow that way, cause I can´t put eyeshadow on the tape.

I have to admit: I am also kinda over this whole: "OMG I have hooded eyelids-thing", because I find: yes, you can look pretty with hooded eyelids. Geez. Hooded eyelids are not a disease! Blake Lively, Jennifer Lawrence or Kate Hudson are a couple of gorgeous hoodie-examples! ;-)

For these reasons, the eyelid tape is for me personally a pass.

Have you ever tried eyelid tape?

I found cheaper ones on Amazon, if you like to give this a try:

Disclaimer: I received the products mentioned above for free. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. Contains Affiliate link. Read my full disclosure.

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