Getting your handle with makeup, much like any form of art, takes quite a bit of trial and error. Luckily, a lot of the fun of getting good at makeup is trying new techniques which replace older ones that were doing nothing for your skills.
We, too, have made mistakes when doing our makeup, several of these mistakes seen right here on this list. According to Reddit, there are many more people out there who have made these makeup mistakes too, so we are not alone here. Now that we are in these mistakes together, we can learn from them and get to glowing.
You hold your eyebrow brush too close to the top of it and too lightly.
Makeup artists everywhere say that you want to hold the brush a little farther out as you risk putting too much pressure on the brush and blending then becomes a nightmare.
Rather than holding it this way, you should hold the brush lightly and near the end of it to give yourself a softer look. This way, you will get a smoother blend and a more professional finish.
You don't use your transition shade prior to putting on your eyeshadow.
Applying eyeshadow that is the color of your skin on your lids prior to applying the color of your choice will help the darker shade blend more evenly into your skin.
This is how makeup artists give that ombré effect to your eyelid when they work on your face and it does not look like a color block.
You don't apply blush according to the shape of your face.
Not all face shapes are created equal, therefore applying blush should also not be that way. Applying blush is very similar to contouring, it should be based on the shape your face has.
See image here for best practices. We were doing it wrong our whole adult lives and it was hard to swallow.
You don't tightline your eyeliner.
Firstly, tightlining means that you put eyeliner on the upper waterline of your eye. When done properly, tightlining makes the eyeliner you applied look even fuller.
If you, like some, have sensitive eyes, be very careful with this technique and it may irritate the eye should you put too much on or poke yourself by mistake.
You apply your makeup in bad lighting.
Lighting is everything when it comes to applying your makeup! If you do your makeup in a dark room then you will put on a lot more than you need to.
On Reddit user said, "I made the mistake recently of putting makeup on in a darkened room and then when I went outside I realized I'd gone HEAVY on the contour and blusher."
Adding more and more layers of mascara when you should just stop.
Put down the wand, lady! There is a myth among us that if we apply more and more mascara then we will have thicker and fuller lashes. That myth is untrue, see this photo as your exhibit A.
A reddit user agreed and said, "I'll look into the mirror and say, 'This mascara is making my lashes look bomb! Better add some more.' And it's always the wrong decision. ALWAYS."
You wear waterproof mascara every single day.
Waterproof mascara is a brilliant invention, but while it does not budge, removing it is super hard and is even harder on your poor lashes.
The best tip here is to use waterproof mascara when you know you are going to need it, otherwise go for the regular stuff. Be prepared for an emotional day but also think of your lashes.
You put concealer on AFTER your foundation.
We have been doing this wrong forever and no one told us until now. One Reddit user said, "If you use concealer over foundation, your foundation is already doing half the work so you need less concealer."
She continued by saying, "Also, if you use concealer first, there's a good chance you'll end up wiping some of it away when you apply foundation."
You don't prep your lips before applying your lip color.
Your lips need as much care as the rest of your face. You work on your facial skin like nobody's business, but your lips need TLC too.
Before you apply your lip color, use a lip scrub to make sure they are plump and have no dry pieces on them. This will make your lipstick or gloss application infinitely smoother.
You forget to groom your eyebrows before you fill them in.
Filling your eyebrows in is such a great way to frame your face, but you have to do something before you fill them in - groom them!
Brush your brows, pluck where you see the need (do not for the love of it all OVER PLUCK) and cut your brows to the shape you most want them to be like. Then, fill those bad boys in to put the finishing touch on your makeup.
You expect your eyebrows to always be perfect.
They say that eyebrows are like sisters, not twins. They are not made to be exactly the same. It is hard to remember that little fact when you see perfect-looking brows all over your Instagram feed. However, do yourself a favor and remember that they are not meant to be perfect.
Filling them in is great, but even so, remember that the natural look is better than the over the top fill.
You contour the top of your jawline rather than the underside of it.
We are here to remind you that contouring is intended to create shadows. If you want to create the look of a sharper jawline, you need to apply your contouring underneath it, rather than on top of it.
The contouring is there to replace the shadow that you do not naturally have. Sorry, but it is true and we have the same problem.
You spray your face with setting spray AFTER you applied your mascara.
In order to make sure all mascara-related disasters do not take place, remember to apply it AFTER you use your setting spray.
The setting spray is not going to help make your mascara last longer, if anything it will do the opposite effect; as you can see here by this woman's mishap.
You forget that there really is a right side and a left side to fake lashes.
The naked eye perhaps cannot see this but the way lashes are placed in their respective boxes are there for a reason.
If you hold up the box to your face facing the mirror, the left one is meant for your left eye and the right is meant for your right. This is news to us too, we know.
You don't buy foundation based on your skin's undertone.
This is a big one. Choosing a foundation based on your skin tone is one thing, but we all have undertones as well. Some of us have yellow undertones, while others have pink or neutral ones; you should choose your foundation based on that.
If you are not sure what the undertone of your skin is, ask any makeup professional out there and he or she will be able to tell you.
You use powder foundation when you have dry skin.
This one is like putting powder on a countertop and expecting it to stick. A lot of us started our makeup journey with powder since it was cheap and easy to apply. However, if you have dry skin, it is not your best bet.
One Reddit user said, "I have dry skin and I was using a powder foundation for years before I finally asked someone at Sephora to help a girl out."
You line your lips with a harsh line.
Biggest tip of the century - if you want to line your lips, do it with a smudged outline rather than one solid line; this was popular in the 90s, and is totally outdated these days.
The lining of the lip is meant to make your lips look more defined, not border them up!
You go to sleep with your makeup on.
We have all done this at one point or another, but making a habit out of sleeping with your makeup is terrible for your skin!
Make it a habit to take off your day's makeup before you hit the sheets. Your skin will be happier for it, and so will your pillowcase.
You don't wash your makeup brushes.
You are using these brushes to apply makeup every day - you need to clean them, and do so regularly. In order to clean them, mix olive oil with dish soap and take the brushes and swish them in the mix.
The olive oil is there to keep the brushes soft and moisturized, while the dish soap is there to clean out the bacteria and dirt.
You use expired makeup.
Treat your makeup like you would your food. Makeup has an expiration date too and you should listen to it. Makeup is expensive, we get it, but when it is expired it can no longer do the work it is meant to.
You could get caked on foundation that cracks, no SPF when you thought there was some, and discoloration from products that have a certain tone.
You forget to wear sunscreen.
Sunscreen is there to protect your skin from the damaging effects of the sun. You need to wear sunscreen every single day. We will repeat - wear sunscreen every single day!
It should be in your makeup and face cream already. Sunscreen is there to keep you looking fresh and youthful for a long time, it is there for you.
You keep your makeup your the bathroom.
The bathroom may be the most convenient place to store your makeup since you apply it in there probably, but it is the worst place to store it due to the humidity that a bathroom holds.
Showering makes bathrooms a breeding ground for bacteria and for shortening the lifespan of makeup products. Store your makeup in a bag elsewhere and bring it with you to the bathroom when you need to.
You blend your eyeshadow with the same brush you used to apply it.
Do not ruin your eyeshadow game by using the same brush you applied it with to blend it.
If you do this, you could be adding more color and making your look a lot more dramatic than you intended for it to be. Use a fresh brush to blend and you will see a huge difference in your look.
You apply foundation with a flat brush.
Stop applying your foundation with a flat brush. Flat brushes have a tendency to leave streaks on your face and that is not the outcome you want, at all.
Instead, try going for a large head duo fiber brush, it will evenly apply the makeup and will not leave any streaks there for you to worry about.
You don't let your eyelash glue to get tacky.
After you put the glue onto your false eyelashes, let them sit with the glue on for about 30 seconds.
The reason for this is so that the glue has time to activate and so when you do go on to place them on your lashes, they will adhere properly and evenly. No one likes a gluey eyelash look.
You use shimmery eyeshadow to fill in your eyebrows.
Step away from the glitter! While this look would be stunning for Halloween, this is too extra for every day wear. Eyeshadow can be used in place of brow filler, but it needs to be the proper color.
A reddit user said, "I remember I had this eyeshadow trio from Rimmel or something and it had all chunky glittery shimmer shades. It was all I used on my brows for ages."
You apply bold eyeshadow color without applying primer first.
Using primer under your bold eyeshadow not only makes it easier to remove afterwards, but it makes the colors pop more than they would otherwise.
If you do not use primer, the neon green you see here would turn into a matte version of that in a mere couple hours, and that is not a cute look.
You use a dry beauty blender.
"I realized a few months ago that I needed to wet my Beauty Blender," one Reddit user stated. "Before that, I never saw why people loved it so much because it was so hard to use."
That is the key here - your beauty blender needs to be damp in order to use it properly, otherwise it will just soak up your makeup and you will see none of it.
You don't pay attention to the formulas in your makeup.
We all know that oil and water do not go together. So the same goes for makeup and the formula each brand uses for its products. You need to coordinate the ingredients in your facial products so that you do not get a bad effect from a bad combination.
You want to keep oil with other oils and not with water. No one wants the patchy look you get when you combine water, silicon and oil.
You don't let your liquid foundation dry between your layers of makeup application.
We get it, life is busy and you need to get your makeup on fast. However, there is a process here and you need to respect it - for your own good.
Let the base of your makeup routine dry before you move up the steps. If you do not, you are going to get a really bad blending experience when you try to contour and blush.
You wear the same foundation all year.
We tan in the summer which means we get darker, therefore there is no way we are using the same color foundation in July than we do in January.
You need to adjust your makeup shades with your natural skin tone throughout the year. It makes sense but it is also annoying since you have to get two shades of foundation, we get it.
You test foundation shades using your arm.
Your arm and your face are not the same color, so why would you test foundation on your arm and not your face?
This is a mistake we made many times, and we all continue to make. However, now we know that it is correct to test everything out on the location where it is going to be applied.
You powder the wrong area.
We are here to tell you that translucent powder is not, in fact, invisible. If you use it all over your face you will look washed out and over powdered, which is not the look you are going for.
Make sure to remember that less is more and use translucent powder in the right spots.
You don't match your eyeliner to your eye shape.
Like face shape for blush, this is the same case for eye shape and eyeliner. A cat eye is a favorite, but there are some eye shapes that cannot work with it.
There are many styles for eyeliner, try a new one and see if perhaps you find a new favorite to make your eyes pop.
You curl your eyelashes last.
Curling your lashes is a delicate yet vital move when it comes to making your lashes look amazing. However, if not done right, you risk losing some lashes along the way.
Curling them after you put a whole face of makeup on can have them seeing residue and not curling to the best of their ability.
You share your makeup with friends.
We love sharing, but sharing your makeup is a huge no-no unless you are both properly sanitizing your brushes and products.
Otherwise, sharing makeup means you are also sharing germs which can mean infections for the both of you, and we do not want that now do we?
You match your eyeshadow color to your eye color.
Applying an eyeshadow color that is very similar to your own eye color is going to do the opposite effect than what you may initially think.
Rather than make your eyes pop, it will diminish the look of your eyes even more. Using a color that is vastly different than your eye color is the way to go.
You don't follow the proper fake tan instructions.
There is a reason for the complex process of before and after fake tanning that salons as of you. Each brand has their own way of doing things but they are there for a reason.
Follow the directions as they are given, or you will end up looking streaky and unfortunate.
This is what we meant...
And this is what we mean when we say you might look streaky and unfortunate - she did not puff her tan in properly and ended up looking like a crying doll.
Scrubbing her face before and after her tan would have prevented this from happening.
You pump your mascara wand.
For some reason we always thought that pumping the mascara wand in and out of the tube was a way to get more product on there.
However, not only does it not do that, it actually dries out the mascara faster than necessary. Rather than pumping, try swirling the wand around the tube for better distribution.