Beauty Blunders, mistakes and disasters alike, are experiences we have all had as beauty lovers. Whether you found yourself with lipstick all over your teeth in a photograph, or mascara running down your face, beauty blunders are always something you conscientiously recall. Beauty Gala has compiled a list of the Top 5 Beauty Blunders (in no particular order), which consist of the most common beauty mistakes and disasters that cosmetic wearers make. Inside, we’ve included unflattering photographs of each, and tips on how to turn your beauty blunder into a beauty wonder.
Beauty Wonder: Unless you are in the middle of a photo shoot, modeling runway, or a movie set, raccoon eyes are a no-no. Eyeliner applied heavily, especially dark eyeliner, closes the eyes and makes them appear smaller. To avoid this disaster, consider your eye shape and overall desired effect. Use eyeliner close to your top lash line to make your eyelashes appear thicker, darker, and fuller. Use eyeliner or eyeshadow on your bottom lash line, and smudge lightly for a dramatic smokey effect that will bring out your eye color. Save heavy eyeliner on both the upper and lower lash line for nighttime smokey eye looks, and be sure to smudge and blend for a soft look. Eyeliner on your lower lash line when smudged should never extend past the length of your lower eyelashes.
Beauty Wonder: If we were numbering these beauty blunders in order of how common they are, this one would be the second most common. Over-application of blush is common, and actually an easy mistake to make, even if you are a professional. It is important to remember that many cosmetic brands blushes are not created equal. Some brands produce blush that has extreme amounts of pigment in it, while others need a healthy dose of layers. To be sure this doesn’t happen to you, always start small. Apply a small amount of product to the back of your hand to test, or only apply a small amount to your blush brush. You can always apply more, but taking back cheek color is much more tricky. Blush should just barely be noticeable when applied correctly. If you look like you are wearing blush, you are probably wearing too much. Blush is meant to be a complexion pick-me-up, and mimic your face when blood naturally rushes to your face (i.e, embarrassment, during a workout). Swirl your brush into your blush once, and apply lightly in a circular motion from the apples of your cheeks, upward. Blend out well if it looks too harsh, and remember, you can always go back and apply more if it is too sheer. If you’ve applied too much blush and need to fix it, you can fix it by applying pressed powder to your cheek area to neutralize the color, or attempt to blend out the harshness with a clean makeup brush.
Beauty Wonder: As the most common beauty blunder, mismatching your foundation to your face can cause unsightly foundation lines on your jawline, hairline, and cause you to look like you are wearing a mask. The number one rule here is to never attempt to make your complexion paler or tanner via foundation. Your ideal foundation shade will blend in perfectly when applied in a stripe down your bare cheek or jawline. In the above photograph, you can see four foundation shades on my cheeks. The second from right comes the closest, but all four are still the incorrect shades for my complexion, because none of them are almost invisible when they are on top of my skin. One is too dark, one is too pale, and one is too yellow for my skin tone, all of which will create blending problems. The best way to match your skin tone to your ideal foundation is to test the product on your bare cheek or jawline in natural lighting. Many cosmetics counters have professionals that can match you up with a foundation for free (no product buying required!), and many drugstore brands (such as L’oreal) now even have a color matcher in-store, which is a plastic insert you can hold up to your skin, to see which shade blends perfectly to your skin. And if you are more of a drugstore foundation type of gal, most major brands have websites designed to help you find your perfect shade online through live chat with makeup advisers, who are suited to best answer your specific foundation matching needs.
Beauty Wonder: We have all dealt with this beauty blunder at one point in our lives. Most of the time, when spider eyes happen, it is a result of three reasons: you applied the mascara too heavily, the mascara formula is too clumpy, or you blinked before your mascara had a chance to dry. The above photograph is a prime example of all three of these issues. The correct way to apply mascara is by moving your brush back and forth from root to tip in one coat. If you wish to apply another coat, wait about thirty seconds, and repeat. Applying too many coats, or applying once your mascara is completely dry will cause your lashes to clump together. Not only will this not look pretty, but it can inhibit eyelash growth, and cause your eyelashes to fall out when removing your eye makeup. Some mascara formulas are just naturally thick and clumpy, and tend to be misses in the beauty department. If you still love a mascara, but do not want the clumps, keep a spare mascara spoolie (brush) nearby, and run it through your lashes while the formula is still wet. This will clear any clumps and still allow you to enjoy your mascara. Lastly, if your mascara is still wet, and you happen to blink, close your eyes together tightly, or even sneeze (this has happened to me many times while sneezing), the mascara on your lashes will end up underneath your eye. You can correct this with eye makeup remover if you sneeze, which is involuntary, but beware of shutting your eyes otherwise until your mascara is dry.
Beauty Wonder: We affectionately call this the “Snooki.” An overdose of bronzer, self-tanner, or tanning (a no-no!) can leave you looking as orange as an oompa loompa – and no, this is not a good look! Depending on your skin tone, you should remain within 2-3 shades of your complexion at all times, even when using self-tanner. Anything darker, and you will look unnatural and orange. When using self-tanner or getting a spray tan, be sure to use a shade that will complement your skin tone, making you look like you just got back from a vacation in the tropics, rather than attempting to change your skin tone altogether. If you are using bronzer, do not slather it all over your entire face to change your skin tone. Applied correctly, bronzer can warm up your skin tone, and give you a light, glowing tan. Applied incorrectly, it can leave you with blotches, lines, a mask-like appearance, and make your face look muddy and dirty. Bronzer should be applied to the areas of your face where the sunlight naturally hits. For a great diagram on where to apply bronzer, consider the guide below:
Remember, all cosmetic aficionado’s have made the above beauty blunders and more. Personally, we at Beauty Gala have made the above beauty blunders dozens of times throughout the years. With practice and awareness, these common beauty blunders can be avoided.
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[ALL PHOTOGRAPHY ON THIS SITE IS TAKEN BY REBECCA KAZIMIR. NO PHOTOGRAPHS ARE TO BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION.]
BriansDisneyGal says
Thanks for the Bronzer guide! I always get stumped on that! People say to apply it where the sun would hit, but that’s kinda confusing because the sun would technically hit the whole face!
Rebecca says
I completely understand. Another way of putting it is…think of where the sunlight hits your face directly and where the shadows of your face would fall. The sun typically rests on the area’s of your face where your bone structure sticks out (temples, nose, cheekbones, chin, hairline). Hope that makes a little more sense 🙂
BriansDisneyGal says
Yes it does make sense! I have this real pretty bronzer from NYC called Mocha Glow, or something like that, and I’ve been waiting for someone to post a guide on exactly where to apply the bronzer. Your guide really helped me to figure it out!
lucy says
Wow , you really did go through everything. this is soo helpful and i’m NOT going to lie, i’m guilty of a couple of these
Yvonne Moss says
I borrowed the raccoon image for my blog. Hope you don’t mind. Am posting next Friday and gave you a shout out!
BeautyGala says
No problem Yvonne!
Chantelle says
What foundation shade and brand is the first one the yellow one on you’re swatches 🙂 been looking for a shade like that!? I don’t know if you will remember this is an old post I’ve just discovered! Pleaseeee help
Olive says
What are the foundations used as examples in the photo with four stripe swatches, and what shades?
BeautyGala says
Hey Olive, I wish I could answer that for you. This post was from so many years ago that I can’t say for sure what foundations or shades they were. I wish I could be more helpful. I currently keep a MUCH better record of products I used in posts and for looks. This was back from my first days of blogging, so I hope you understand. <3