Some people say that you can tell what the latest beauty and makeup trends are by looking at the people around you. From what I’ve seen on campus, creativity and individuality are rampant. I love seeing the way collegiettes add fun pops of color to their makeup palette, or the different ways that eyeliner is being used. On the other hand, I’ve also seen a lot of beauty faux pas– things that would make you think, “Why would you do that?” or “Is that really in right now?”
There are certain faux pas that I see over and over again and wonder, “Is that what it’s supposed to look like?” Yes, makeup is an expression of individuality but, there are certain things that should be done no matter what kind of look you’re rocking. Here’s a list of the most commonly committed beauty crimes and how to avoid them:
Brows: Two Counts of Tweezer and Product Abuse
For me, brows are one of the most important features of your face – you could say I’m the captain of the brow police. When shaping your brows there are only 2 options:
- Get them done professionally
- Do them yourself
If you’re 100% sure of what you’re doing, then all power to you (and link me to your resources, please!) If not, I hereby sentence you to get them done at a salon. I’ve seen threading services offered at around 8 bucks so there is no excuse not to get them done professionally. Over plucking your brows is never a good thing because you have to wait for them to grow in again, and a consequence of long-term overplucking is that they can become sparse and thin. I have seen my fair share of thin over-plucked brows. It may have been a trend in the 90’s but right now, a full brow is what’s turning heads! (Thank you, Cara Delevingne and Lily Collins.)
Product abuse: Filling in your brows too much and/or shaping your brows into rectangles. That’s right ladies, brows aren’t meant to be rectangles, or Nike check marks. Once you’ve got your brows shaped by a pro, it’s easy to see where they should be defined. Here’s one thing to remember: when filling in your brows, they should gradually get darker from start to finish. This means at the start of your brow (closer to your nose) you should be using very little product. The middle of your brow should be darker but not too dark, and the ends of your brow should be the darkest. Also, just follow the natural shape of your brows when filling them in, this shape already compliments your face so defining them differently might not be as flattering. After all, one of the best things about makeup is that it helps enhance your natural beauty.
Helpful Products:
- To fill in my brows, I use Stila’s Stay All Day Brow Pen which is virtually indestructible and smudge proof. Another brand that many people adore is Anastasia Beverly Hills’ and their line of brow products like Brow Wiz or Dip Brow- these are a bit pricey but are worth it if a beautiful brow makes your heart flutter with joy!
So basically, avoid this:
And this:
Lips: Trespassing and Overstepping Boundaries
I love the look of a bold and classic red lip, but what I don’t love is seeing a bold lip with the color that’s found its way outside your lip line. Whatever color lip your choose to flaunt, be it red, white, pink, black, burgundy, you have to remember to keep the outline of your lips crisp and clean– or else it just looks messy! There are two precautions you can take to avoid this
- Lining your lips
- Cleaning up the outline of your lips with concealer (Or Both!)
Lining your lips with a lip liner is pretty self-explanatory. Just make sure the color is similar to the lip stick you’re putting on. As for cleaning up the outline of your lips here’s a step by step to help you out:
- Put a bit of concealer on the outside of your hand.
- Take an angled brush or a small concealer brush and put a small amount of concealer on it
- Use the brush and concealer to outline your lips- this should create a clean line from your lip and the surrounding areas
- After this, pull your lips in (so it looks like you don’t have any) and brush a bit of powder over the concealer and you’ll be all set!
Here’s the worst case scenario of bleeding lip lines (Ghastly, right?!):
Foundation: Fleeing the Scene with Unfinished Business
Let’s say you’ve finished your foundation routine. Is there anything left to do aside from finishing up your eyes/cheeks/lips? A lot of collegiettes forget this very simple task- that is, putting foundation on your neck as well as your face. I’ve seen so many people walking around with one shade on their faces and another on their necks and ladies, it just doesn’t work! This step is particularly important if your neck is a couple shades darker or lighter than your facial skin tone, which tends to happen during the summer months. If your complexion has darkened (from frolicking around on the beach on a beautiful summer day), it’s a good idea to have two shades of foundation handy; one for the winter when you’re at your fairest, and one for the summer when you’re at your darkest. This way, it won’t look like you have mix matched body parts half the year.
- For the summer, I find it’s a good idea to use powder foundation, since it’ll be lightweight and mattifying on those hot summer nights.
Bronzer: Powdered Gluttony
Contouring has become an extremely popular makeup trend lately, have you seen those makeup transformation memes? They’re pretty amazing and hilarious (Google the ones where men do them!). With contouring, blending is the key to achieve a perfectly sculpted cheekbones (or the illusion of one since we can’t all be Johnny Depp). This means no harsh lines. In natural lighting, it’s easy to see when you’re putting on too much product. If you’ve put on too much, it’s extremely obvious once you walk out of the door. Unfortunately I’ve seen too many ladies walking around with too much bronzer. If you’ve put on a really concentrated amount, you can look more orange or worse – dirty.
- To avoid putting on too much bronzer, make sure you’re in a room with lots of windows and natural lighting.
The easiest way to apply bronzer without overdoing it is to use the ‘3’ technique. This means you draw a three on the sides of your face.
- First you start on your temples
- Sweep downward to the hallows of your cheeks (make a fish face to find them)
- Then sweep downward again to your jawline.
- If you want a little more definition on your cheek’s, apply some bronzer beneath your cheekbones by making short sweeps vertically instead of horizontally sweeping.
Here’s an example:
So now that you know the basic beauty laws I hope you’ll abide by them accordingly- plus, I’d like to think that most (if not all) collegiettes wouldn’t want to walk around with sparse brows and heavy bronzer. Hope this helps, Blog Adjourned!
Photo Sources:
http://beaut.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/step13.jpg
http://www.quickmeme.com/Sharpie-Eyebrows/