Beauty Mistakes We've All Made
Monday July 14, 2008
A few makeup mistakes I've seen friends, my mom, myself and a few people on the subway make:
1. We apply eyeshadow with our fingertips. Don't use your fingers and don't use the cheapie sponge-y thing that comes with your makeup. Instead, invest in an eyeshadow brush. It's worth the $10-$40 and could last your lifetime.
2. We overapply foundation. I've seen women apply tinted moisturizer as a base and then apply foundation over it. Tinted moisturizer acts as a (light and sheer) foundation. You don't need both.
3. We buy foundations and lipsticks at drugstores We all have a "bad shade" drawer -- a bag or drawer of makeup full of wrong shades we bought but couldn't return. Always try before you buy foundations and lipsticks at a department store such as Sephora. You'll save money in the end.
4. We leave the house with dripping wet hair. Yes, curls should airdry. Yes, that can take forever. So do it the night before, or wake up early. Or use a diffuser on your hair dryer or roll your wet hair into a bun. But please do not go out into public with a dripping wet head.
1. We apply eyeshadow with our fingertips. Don't use your fingers and don't use the cheapie sponge-y thing that comes with your makeup. Instead, invest in an eyeshadow brush. It's worth the $10-$40 and could last your lifetime.
2. We overapply foundation. I've seen women apply tinted moisturizer as a base and then apply foundation over it. Tinted moisturizer acts as a (light and sheer) foundation. You don't need both.
3. We buy foundations and lipsticks at drugstores We all have a "bad shade" drawer -- a bag or drawer of makeup full of wrong shades we bought but couldn't return. Always try before you buy foundations and lipsticks at a department store such as Sephora. You'll save money in the end.
4. We leave the house with dripping wet hair. Yes, curls should airdry. Yes, that can take forever. So do it the night before, or wake up early. Or use a diffuser on your hair dryer or roll your wet hair into a bun. But please do not go out into public with a dripping wet head.
Comments
actually, i’ve read in *many* beauty magazines that applying and blending shadows with your finger can give you a sexier, smudgier look than with brushes. And when you think about it, unless you wash your brushes after EVERY application, they’ll still transfer skin oils and bacteria to your makeup. One dip per clean finger makes more sense to me…..
With up to a 2 hour commute one way, I don’t think I’ll be waking up to spend an extra half hour drying my hair.
It is dry before work. Incredibly healthy thanks to no heat damage and the only people who see it are on said subway.
It is not “dripping” so I don’t drip on my fellow passengers. They (and you) will get over it.
LOL.
Note to self: The word “mistakes” riles up people.
I’m not a huge believer in makeup rules because no one thing works for everyone, but my experience is that wet hair on the subway and especially at work elicits an “ewww” from most people.
Mick is right, however. I’ll get over it. I break so many beauty rules myself (current state of hair: badly in need of cut and color), so there ya have it.
As for the smudged-by-finger look — when done well by someone who knows what they are doing, it can be great, particularly when one’s eyes benefit from the smudged look (think Jennifer Connelly).
Not everyone who does this should, however, and a basic eyeshadow brush can do wonders.
I agree with these “mistakes” especially with the drugstore foundations and wet hair.
Nothing is more sad than seeing a beautiful woman with the wrong shade of cakey foundation on! Totally ruins it. That goes for the wet hair too. It looks cheap. I blow dry my hair at night. I have frizzy wavey hair and cannot go without blowdrying it, or else I would have a huge ugly half fro!
Okay………..if hair is wet doens’t that usually mean its freshly washed? what is “ewwww” about freshly washed hair?? My hair is way too curly and it is way too hot out to dry it with a dryer and no, I am not going to ruin my hair because someone else has issues………..I agree with Mick, its healthy and you’ll all get over it!
What if you pull wet hair back into a bun or clip? I’m in search of a loophole.
Wow, wet hair. So take my picture and put one of those bars across my eyes. I have short straight hair people think is “easy” and it NEVER looks good in the morning unless I wash it first. Yes, I leave with a wet head (and I never get colds from that either, just for the record.) Get over it. Go pick on someone with sword-like fingernails or – for a real “eeuuu factor” – dreadlocks and stop being so anal. Geesh!
As i work from home nobody sees if my hair is wet or dry. If I take the car to another office ditto.
I actually find my hair reacts better to being blow dried and no I dont use anything on it befor eI do that either. WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT AND SHOULD CELEBRATE THIS!
Guilty of the wet hair look! Although, I can speed things up with a microfiber towel to gently scrunch my curls. I also use a diffuser in the colder months.
I am a huge fan of tinted moisturizers, but some might be too sheer for some women. I might suggest using a more opaque formula (like tarte’s smooth operator), and then use a concealer to spot cover any blemishes, under eyes, or places that need more coverage.
I would add overdoing the powder is a big no-no as well. Using a mattifying lotion or blotting papers is the best way to eliminate shine without caking on more powder.
I actually find using my finger tip to be much more effective.
To the wet hair.Well why dont you just take a shower at night,let it air dry,and than in the morning straighten or curl it?Thats what I do and It always comes out perfect.And for days when I dont feel like it I just put my hair up in a bun or ponytail.
This article just bothered me last week so I took a poll amoung my more “beauty educated” frineds who are in the industry and one of them remined me of a quote that Kevyn Aucoin used to use and he is arguably the best make up artist whoever lived!! He always said that there are no rules in beauty, that what works for one doesn’t work for others and he was a huge fan of his fingers apparently. I have to say this, Julyne I usually think of you as an “authority” but this past column now has me doubting the wisdom of that thinking. This past column was not a unanimous winner if the comments I’ve read and the feed back I’ve solicited are any indicators…maybe you should have re-thought this one………and I still go to work with wet hair, although not dripping and those I’ve asked over the past few days are not offended!! LOL
Though my encounters with individuals using public transportation donning long wet hair has been extremely limited, I dare say I would not be offended…if I even noticed the individual at all. What I DO take issue with is an individual who focuses on and finds fault with “other people’s looks”, instead of pointing his/her “oh-so-hypercritical-eyes” in his/her own mirror and seeing what an insecure, unhappy, and petty person with countless flaws looks like. Let he who has no sin cast the first stone.