10 + 1 Makeup Mistakes

I really love reading articles like that because I always find out about something I might be doing wrong or differently and not realise it! Today I’m going to give you 10+1 makeup mistakes that you might or might not be doing, that might look off or even make you look older. This will help mostly beginners I reckon, who might be doing their makeup in a certain way without knowing that they’re doing something wrong!

1. Overpowdering

This is a common mistake, which I’ve caught myself making as well. When you apply powder you need to keep in mind that you’re trying to set your makeup and give your face a matte complexion, not to look cakey or try to hide all your pores. So, according to your skin type, you might want to powder under the eyes and on your T-zone. Also, when you’re refreshing your makeup throughout the day with that perfect compact powder you’re carrying with you, the result might look heavy because you’re just pilling up products on your face. Try blotting your face with a blotting paper, I like the E.L.F. ones, and if you still need it, apply some powder lightly with a brush for a more natural effect. Also, if you find that you get too oily throughout the day you might need to consider a different foundation formula that matches your skin needs.

2. Wrong foundation shade

Been there, done that! Thankfully there are testers available in stores even for drugstore foundations in our country, so you can test the shade before purchasing it. Test the foundation on your jawline, and not on your hand, and look at it closely in natural lightning, don’t depend on the store lights because they might fool you!  Sephora is the perfect place to try foundations because they even give you some of the product in a little pot of their own, which will probably last you for 3-4 uses. So you can test both the formula and the shade. Also, you need to change your foundation shade seasonally, especially if you live in a sunny country and you get tanned during summer. You don’t want to look like a ghost, do you?

3. Not matching the face to the neck

We have all seen these women that have the line of the foundation on their jawline and we’ve all been tempted to tell them but we haven’t! So bear in mind that you need to go over your neck and blend the foundation there as well in order to look natural. This is a good trick even if your foundation is a tad dark for you; if you blend it down to the neck it will most likely match and look natural. You can opt for a tinted moisturiser or a BB cream which are easier to blend and avoid the caked on look.

4. Too much foundation

Another trap most of us have fallen into is to use more foundation than needed! Usually, when you break out you feel the need to cover your whole face with multiple layers of foundation to cover specific spots. Try using more concealer or use your foundation topically in order to avoid looking aged and fake.

5. Wrong under eye concealer shade

We usually pick highlighting concealers for our under eye area in order to lighten it up and hide dark circles. And this will most likely work if you just have a little bit of pigmentation there. But if your dark circles are pretty noticeable you need to eliminate them with a corrector or a peachy concealer first and then highlight if you feel you need to. I love the W7 concealer palette because I can mix and match through the 5 shades and cover whatever I need to.

6. Too dark eyebrows

The reason we fill in our eyebrows is not to draw them on and change their colour but to fill in sparse areas and make them look neat and polished. So when you’re picking an eyebrow pencil go a shade lighter than your natural brows. Using a powder product will give a subtler finish and it’s easier to go light handed. Going for an eyebrow product same colour with your natural brows will make them look too intense and drawn on. I love the Essense Eyebrow Stylist set which includes two shades of powder and I can mix them and match my eyebrows perfectly.

7. Curling lashes after applying mascara

I was recently on a trip with my cousin, who is a beauty addict as well, and I had forgotten to bring my eyelash curler and asked to use hers. She told me she doesn’t use one because she’s afraid that it will break her lashes. I told her that it makes a whole lot of a difference to your eye makeup and I innocently popped the question of when she uses it. I was staring at her in surprise when she told me she uses it after applying mascara! Then I realised that even people who are really into makeup make the same mistake and it is possible to pull your eyelashes out if you use the curler after applying mascara! Use it before, then use a thin coat of waterproof mascara to keep the curl and then go on with your regular pick for as many coats as you want to!

8. Not blending eyeshadow

That’s a really common one. Even when I went to have a makeover by Seventeen the makeup artist used the eyeshadow with the puffy brush that usually comes with palettes (you know, the one you usually throw away, or have a stash in your drawer in case all your brushes are dirty? That one!) and didn’t blend it at all! The shadow looked weird and you could totally see where one colour ends and where the other one begins. Use a nice blending brush, a very affordable and good quality one that I love is the E3 by MUA, and blend your eyeshadow as you apply it, not only when you're finished.

9. Applying matte lipstick on dry lips

You’ve definitely done it and then opted for a more moisturising formula that wouldn’t draw attention to your chapped lips. You can use a lip scrub once or twice a week to avoid dry lips, I’ve made my own with brown sugar, coconut oil, some Vaseline and honey and put it in a mini Body Shop container that previously hosted a body scrub. Also, you might want to apply a lip balm when you start doing your makeup and by the time you apply lipstick they will be moisturized.

10. Going crazy on the blush

The blush is supposed to give you a healthy glow and bring back some colour to your face that you might have counteracted with foundation. It’s not supposed to make you look like a clown! In order to avoid that, smile and apply the blush light handed to the apples of your cheeks and bear in mind that the colour shouldn’t go further than the pupil of your eye. Blend it towards your temples and make sure there are no harsh lines. Go back to your normal expression and see if it is too low that actually drags your face down. If that’s the case, you can correct it with your foundation brush. Also, if you choose bold lips for your look try using a subtler blush that will not draw too much attention to it.

+1 Use dirty brushes

I don’t even want to begin on that! Would you ever cook with dirty utensils? Would you serve your food into dirty plates? Well, I figured that! So why do your makeup with dirty brushes and transfer the bacteria day after day to your skin? Dirty brushes may result to infections and breakouts so I suggest you wash them daily. You might get away with eye brushes for 3-5 days if you don’t change your eye makeup but for face brushes I personally get really grossed out and wouldn’t use it for a second day on my face. If you don’t want to deep clean them you can use an Instant Brush Cleanser, Sephora and Make Up For Ever do excellent ones, or disinfect your brushes with a little tea tree oil mist (just mix a few drops of tea tree oil with some water and that’s it!).  

Have you done any of these? I hope this post will help some of you and your makeup will look more seamless from now on!

P.S. The makeup look I'm wearing in the photo above will have a whole post dedicated to it as part of my  summer series! On my nails I've got nail stickers from Sephora.

Georgina x x x