“Beauty is power, and makeup is something that really enhances that; it’s a woman’s secret.” - Charlotte Tilbury
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on February 28, 2020. It has since been updated.
We all love a little bit of makeup, don't we? Right from the time we secretly raided our mothers' and older sisters' make up stash to make ourselves look prettier. We painted on that bright red lipstick, dabbed on bright pink blush, and studded our eyelids with some glitter, and there, what a pretty picture we made. But over time, you must've realised through many trials and errors that makeup is not just about red lipstick and pink blushes and glittery eyeshadows. It differs from person to person, depending on your skin tone, features, age etc. Experimenting with various products and color palettes, it takes patience to finally achieve the perfect look for you. But sometimes, even the most experienced woman may make a few common makeup mistakes. And these are some of them along with ways to avoid it:
Without moisturizing first, applying makeup on your face can make it look dull, cracked, and tired. Additionally, blending products into your skin can become even more difficult.
How to avoid: A good, clean wash followed by a moisturizer can do the trick and ensure that you have an easier time applying makeup. It can truly make your skin glow and make your makeup look natural.
Lighting is truly everything when it comes to finding out how the application looks on you. Doing this in artificial lighting or one-sided lighting can distort your judgment of how the makeup looks on you and it might end up looking unflattering.
How to avoid: Try your best to test out makeup in natural lighting. It will give you a real view of how it suits your face. If that is not possible, opt for yellow lighting that mimics sunlight and ensures that it covers your whole face.
Foundation is just supposed to even out your skin tone. However, applying too much of it can make it look caked up on your face.
How to avoid: Ensure you have the right color that suits your skin and don’t use a foundation lighter than your skin tone. Blending it properly into your skin, don't forget to add it to your neck and ears to ensure evenness of the color.
Where neatly-shaped eyebrows can accentuate your best facial features, untidy, and unkempt eyebrows don’t flatter your eyes. And as you grow older, it's normal for your eyebrows to diminish but overfilling it can make it look unnatural.
How to avoid: If you have blonde hair, fill in your eyebrows with a shade that is the same or one shade darker than your hair color. If you have darker hair, keep your brows the same color to avoid it looking too harsh. Apply your brow product with feathery upward strokes with more focus on sparse or uneven areas. Then lightly comb through your eyebrows with a brow brush to smooth out the lines.
Blush is just supposed to be that final, finishing rosy touch to your cheeks to give you a flushed look. However, applying it too low or too high on your cheekbones can actually make you seem to age. Or even applying too much of it.
How to avoid: To get the perfect location, smile and apply color to the apples of your cheeks. Once you do that, blend color back along your cheekbones. This technique creates a glow that makes you look younger and full of energy.
Due to the chemicals in the various makeup products, keeping it on for too long can do a lot of damage to your skin, especially when left overnight. When you sleep, your skin takes that time to heal and restore its balance, hence it's important to keep it clean and makeup-free.
How to avoid: Before sleeping, using a makeup wipe or rose water swabs, clean up all the makeup from your skin and do a thorough cleanse with a face wash.
The point of makeup is to highlight the features of your face that make you look beautiful. So finding your style and what suits you best is an individual experience. Avoiding these mistakes can help you enjoy that journey.
References:
https://www.stylecraze.com/articles/most-common-makeup-mistakes-you-usually-commit/#gref
https://cloveandhallow.com/blogs/blog/5-common-makeup-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them
