Makeup has never been my strong suit. Despite this, I am always looking for ways to improve my skills at this elusive art. Recently, I was scrolling through Pinterest and stumbled upon makeup “hacks.” I was instantly intrigued. I fell down a rabbit hole of tips and tricks for beginners like myself. But do the makeup hacks work? For better or worse, I decided to find out. Here are the results.
1. Create the perfect winged eyeliner with tape.
I’ll admit it — this one scared me. Putting makeup on my eyes is already scary enough without adding tape into the equation. Still, makeup lovers of all levels swear by this trick. According to the instructions, all you need to do is place a small piece of tape along your lower lash line, apply your shadow and liner, and voila! A perfectly straight line! Let’s see if it works.
I was happily surprised by this one. Application was a bit difficult, but I imagine that would improve with time and practice. Plus, I’ve never had a wing so sharp! Collegiette-approved!
2. Contour your nose with a fork.
Personally, I’ve never been a huge fan of contouring. On a night out, I tend to rub my face a lot. This means any time spent contouring is time that could have been spent doing something less frustrating … like eating stir fry (but hey, that’s just me). Still, I couldn’t resist trying out this hack. Apparently, if you place a fork on your nose and apply bronzer between the outer two prongs followed by highlighter down the middle prong, you can achieve a perfectly snatched nose. Let’s test it out.
This one worked about as well as I expected it to. Yes, it technically got the job done. However, when I blended it, it was no different from any other time I have attempted contouring, except this time I had a dirty fork. Collegiette…acceptable?
3. Use a spoon to achieve a cut crease shadow look.
Prior to researching makeup hacks for this article, I had no idea that kitchen cutlery could be so useful for makeup purposes. I’ve never attempted a cut crease, but carving out one’s crease seems to be a challenge for makeup lovers of all levels. According to this tip, if you place a spoon on your lid and run eyeshadow over the curve of the spoon, you’ll have a perfectly rounded crease.
This one did not work at all. It’s hard to tell if it’s due to the shape of my eyes, or just my lack of general makeup skills. Collegiette-failed.
4. Use hairspray as an alternative for brow gel.
If you run out of brow gel (or you’re like me and don’t own any and also did not know that brow gel was a product until now), then you’re in luck! Spray a small amount of hairspray onto an eyebrow brush and use it to flatten those unruly brows. This tip is not recommended for daily use, as the hairspray might be a little harsh on skin. Let’s see if hairspray can tame this Collegiette’s brows.
Eyebrows successfully tamed! Collegiette-approved!
5. Lighten your summer-tone foundation with moisturizer.
It’s winter. You spent $40 on foundation way back in September when your skin was about two shades darker. Rather than spend another $40 on another bottle of foundation, use this helpful tip to avoid a tragic “my face is noticeably tanner than the rest of my body” situation. All you need to do is mix your favorite moisturizer with a pump of liquid foundation to lighten the shade and you’ll be perfectly matched AND hydrated! Sounds like a win-win to me! But does it work? Let’s find out.
My only complaint with this “hack” is that it turned my foundation into a tacky texture that was hard to blend into my skin. Still, it delivered on its promise to lighten the shade of the product. Collegiette-approved!