Weekly Beauty Tip-Eleven Makeup Mistakes You Can Avoid

11 Makeup Mistakes You Can Avoid

No one fesses up to their mistakes, right?   But in reality, even the most experienced makeup experts can mess up now and then.   Let’s not learn the hard way, here are some great tips on what to do and what not to do when putting your face on:

Mistake No. 1: Wearing the wrong foundation shade
Foundation isn’t supposed to give your skin a bit of a tan, that’s what bronzers are for. Instead, “it’s supposed to create a perfect, smooth complexion and cover-up any imperfections. This is why you should always use a foundation which blends in with your skin.  Testing on your jawline (not your hand!) before buying, and when possible, ask for a sample first. That way you can try it at home — and look at your skin in various lighting situations — to make sure the shade you choose looks natural.

Mistake No. 2: Applying makeup on dry, flaky skin
Foundation will only emphasize the flakes by sitting on top of them instead of blending in with your skin. Fix the dryness by exfoliating regularly (to get rid of flakes) and following that up with a rich moisturizer. Smoother skin means a much smoother application and finished look.

Mistake No. 3: Wearing blue eyeshadow
Blue eyeshadow works for some people. Just refrain from perfectly matching the shadow to your eye color. Why? Think about it: Would you display sapphires on a blue cloth? It’s best not to match your shadow to your eyes because all anyone will notice is the shadow.

Mistake No. 4: Trying to “plump” your lips
You’ve probably heard, or tried, the trick of lining just outside your natural lip line to make your lips look bigger. But it’s way easier said than done.  If you are going to attempt it, use a lip liner the same shade as your lipstick on the outer line of your lips, without passing over it. Fill in your lips as well — that way if your lipstick fades, you don’t wind up with only a line around your mouth.

Mistake No. 5: Over-tweezing (or ignoring) your eyebrows
When your brows are well groomed they can enhance your eyes and your entire look. So head to a professional to get an ideal shape. While you do want to tame overgrown brows, you don’t want to tweeze too much.  As we get older, our brows naturally become sparser, so if you tweeze your brows too thin they might never fully grow back. So just stick with cleaning up the area around your brows and follow their natural arch for your best shape.

Mistake No. 6: Wearing an entire eye palette on your lids
Just because your compact came with four or more colors packaged together doesn’t mean you have to paint them all onto your eyelids at once. Instead, wear no more than three shades at a time: a medium one on your lids, a lighter one near your brow bone and a dark one as liner. But for everyday, you really only need a sweep of one shade across your lid.

Mistake No. 7: Trying to “sculpt” your face
Yes, we would all love chiseled cheekbones and a dainty, ski-slope nose, but if nature didn’t deliver, makeup isn’t going to help. Contouring is best left to professionals, and only for photography or film. No matter how skilled you are with the makeup brush, it’s nearly impossible to use dark colors that aren’t glaringly obvious when viewed in person, especially in broad daylight. Focus instead on pretty, soft makeup that plays up your best features.

Mistake No. 8: Using pencil on your eyebrow
A penciled eyebrow  Better choice, choose an eyeshadow color that matches your hair color and apply with a thin, stiff, angled brush using tiny strokes.  The penciled look is very obvious where the waxy powder is so much easier to use and fix if messed up.  Best yet, it looks way more natural.

Mistake No. 9: Wearing black eyeliner in the daytime
Here is a general rule: dark colors shrink and recede.  Light colors advance and bring forward.  By skipping black eyeliner (especially underneath eyes) during the day, your eyes look more open and awake. 

Mistake No. 10: Wearing glitter
Glitter travels on your face, leaving strange sparkly spots where they shouldn’t be. Instead of chunky glitter, use shadows with finely milled shimmer — used sparingly, of course.

Mistake No. 11: Going nuts with “luminizing” products
Luminous particles have been added to everything in the past few years, most notably foundations, powders, and highlighting products. One or two such products can make a woman look fresh and glowing, where too many can make her look very, very strange, “Think glowing head on a matte body.”  Limit your illuminating products to these areas: cheekbones, inner eye corner.