The best hooks for eye makeup reels, from 779 that went viral
We read the opening line of every viral eye makeup reel in Aubrium's library: which hooks show up most, which travelled furthest, and 16 real ones to learn from.
"The worst part of doing lashes" was all it said on screen. A small gripe, from an account with 2,993 followers, and it got 6.2 million views.
A gripe like that is a relatable line, and in eye makeup those travelled further than the other common types. We read the hooks on all 779 viral eye makeup reels in Aubrium's library, from 602 creators. They sit inside our hooks guide covering every niche, and what goes viral in each niche covers the rest.
On viral eye makeup reels, transformation teases lead at 22%, ahead of curiosity gaps and relatable lines. The relatable ones went further than any other common type, with the middle reel at 34 times its account's followers. 72% put the hook on screen as text. The middle hook runs 9 words, and shorter hooks did better.
Aubrium's library, 22 October 2026.
What kind of hook works best for eye makeup reels?
Relatable lines went further than any other common type. Transformation teases, the before-and-after promise, are the most common.
Transformation teases open 168 reels, and their middle reel got to 23 times the account's followers. The 77 relatable lines reached 34. Number lists went further still, 60 times, but there are only 9 of them. And 22% of eye makeup reels have no hook of any type, yet their middle reel reached 46 times.
16 eye makeup hooks that went viral
Hooded eyes come up again and again. Each hook here opened its creator's top reel, and we picked them by hand. The type buttons filter the list.
- RelatableText on screen
The worst part of doing lashes
- RelatableText on screen
If you have hooded eyes you can still get away with that wing 🥺
- RelatableText and spoken
Me whenever I see someone trying my signature eyeliner
- RelatableText on screen
"You have no talent"...
- QuestionText on screen
Is it waterproof?
- QuestionText on screen
anyone else have a dead lash that won't fall out but also won't curl??
- QuestionText on screen
Should you apply false lashes underneath or above your natural lashes?
- Transformation teaseText and spoken
Hacks for SHORT lashes that actually work
- Bold claimText and spoken
Watch me fake microbladed brows Using ONLY a pencil
- Bold claimText on screen
once u started tightlining, it's game over for everyone else
- NegativeText on screen
Me thinking I'd never be able to do eyeliner on my hooded eye
- WarningText on screen
Never skip the lower lash liner ❌
- CalloutText on screen
Hooded eyeshadow hack on someone who actually has hooded eyes
- Curiosity gapText and spoken
This shouldn't even work...
- POVText on screen
POV: You don't know how to do eyeliner on hooded, heavy eyelids...
- Number listText and spoken
3 BIGGEST MISTAKES beginners make!
How long should an eye makeup hook be?
Short. Eye makeup hooks lost ground with every step up in length, and the middle one is 9 words.
With the tightest hooks, 1 to 4 words, the middle reel reached 25 times its account's followers. At 5 to 8 words it was 19, and past 20 words just 7. 50% of eye makeup hooks are 8 words or under.
Should you say the hook or show it?
Show it. 52% of viral eye makeup reels open on text alone, with no voice, and that went much further than speaking.
With text alone, the middle reel reached 28 times its account's followers. Text plus voice reached 17, and a voice alone only 10. 82% of these reels are tutorials, and the line on screen sits over the brushwork.
How do viral eye makeup hooks start?
"If" opens 20 eye makeup hooks, more than any other word, then "POV", "this" and "I". "If" names a problem the viewer has, like hooded eyes, and the reel answers it.
- if 20
- POV 16
- this 15
- I 14
- how 12
- the 12
- my 11
- you 7
- I'm 6
- do 5
- don't 5
- eyeliner 5
The first word of 325 English hooks on viral eye makeup reels, and how many start with it.
Here's how four common openings look in this niche:
When… / If you…
“If you have hooded eyes you can still get away with that wing 🥺”
POV…
“POV: You don't know how to do eyeliner on hooded, heavy eyelids...”
A question
“Should you apply false lashes underneath or above your natural lashes?”
This is… / This is how…
“This is why your cluster lashes never look as good as in video.”
Keep reading
Eye makeup has close neighbours with their own hook pages: makeup tutorials, makeup hauls and lash techs.
Questions people ask
What hooks work for eye makeup reels?
Relatable lines went further than any other common type on viral eye makeup reels in Aubrium's library, 34 times the account's followers for the middle one. Transformation teases are the most common, at 22%.
How long should an eye makeup hook be?
Short. Eye makeup hooks run 9 words in the middle, and the 1-to-4-word ones went furthest, 25 times the account's followers. Past 20 words it fell to 7.
Should eye makeup hooks be spoken?
Text did better. 11% of viral eye makeup reels use a voice alone, and their middle reel reached 10 times the account's followers. Text on screen alone reached 28.
Do eye makeup reels need a hook?
Not always. 22% of viral eye makeup reels have no hook of any type. Even so, the middle one of them went 46 times its account's followers.
Which word do eye makeup hooks start with most?
"If" leads, on 20 of the 325 English eye makeup hooks we read. "POV" follows with 16.
How we did this
We looked at every eye makeup reel in Aubrium's library on 22 October 2026: 779 reels from 602 creators with 1,000 to 100,000 followers, each of which reached at least twice its creator's follower count and at least 10,000 views. We counted every reel filed in Aubrium's eye makeup niche; a reel can sit in more than one niche.
Hook types, delivery and on-screen text are labels Aubrium's reader puts on every post. Hook length and first words count the 325 reels with an English hook in words. Every number here describes reels that already went viral, so none of it is the odds for a new one.
Changelog
- First version.
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