Common Mistakes People Make When Applying Makeup
Tired eyes, skin tone discoloration, and blemishes can be easily fixed with the right makeup techniques. However, in our desire to look perfect, most of us fail to understand that highlighting our best facial features and making our skin look well-nourished is what you need to do when aiming for flawless makeup. You may be experimenting with makeup, but the trick to make it look effortless is practicing your makeup skills and a whole lot of patience.
Unfortunately, you may inevitably fall prey to makeup blunders if you don’t have a habitual practice or follow makeup trends that are not meant for you. To help you avoid some basic makeup errors and ensure your makeup journey is all smooth sailing, Michael Fels Beauty | Hair | Makeup has put together a list of the most common mistakes people make when applying makeup.
1. Not focusing on skincare
As a makeup artist, I spent many years working as a Brand Rep in Sephora locations where I was continuously surprised at the number of clients who came in looking for a foundation to give them perfect skin but had no skincare routine at all, as they expected a primer to do all the work for them.
Let’s think about this in terms of painting a wall. For a great looking wall, you will need these three items, sandpaper, primer, and paint. Similarly, for a great foundation, there are three important skin routines, skincare, primer, and foundation.
Foundation is like paint; it gives color and a specific finish (dewy, matte, etc.). Primer is the same in both cases; it works as a base to go underneath, helping the paint or foundation to stick. Skincare and sandpaper do the same job, it helps prepare the surface, so it is smooth and even.
You wouldn’t paint a bumpy textured wall and expect that the paint would magically make it smooth, right? Yet, I find so many of my clients expected that a foundation would make their skin look amazing even though they were not hydrating or exfoliating properly (or at all!).
2. Doing foundation first
Being a professional artist, the first thing I do is use a mild exfoliating liquid to get beautiful smooth skin. Then I apply moisturizer all over the face and proceed to do the eye makeup. This gives the moisturizer time to soak into your skin, and this can also easily clean up any eyeshadow fallout under the eyes without ruining the base.
It does take a bit of time to learn how much eye makeup to put on when there is no foundation to compare it to. Without foundation, the eye makeup can feel too intense on its own. But once the foundation goes on, you realize it was fine. Try this method out today and see how it works for you!
3. Using a very light undereye concealer
For most people, the color under their eyes is somewhat of a cool-toned bluish or purple tone. When you put a lighter colored concealer over, it often looks grey. The reason for that is because you can still see the darker cool-toned color popping through.
On the other hand, many clients believe that what they need is a more full-coverage concealer. But, this often leads to looking cakey and unnatural! Instead, try looking for a salmon-colored corrector, which will cancel the cool tone and erase it from your face. It sounds counterintuitive to put something pinky-orange under your eye, but I personally only use this on myself, and it works perfectly. The key is not to use too much and only to apply it on top of the discolouration. If it looks entirely orange when you apply it, then it is either too dark or you used too much.
I love this concealer from NYX, it’s cheap and effective!
Pat this lightly under the eye where you have discoloration and watch it totally disappear! At this point, you can try applying a bit of your foundation over the top if you need to change the color, but it should blend well enough with your skin that you can wear it on its own.
4. Dark eyeliner under the eye
This often will make you look older because it drags the eye down. Although, there are few situations where this look DOES work:
a. If you have a full smokey eye, then it makes sense to bring it under the eye as well.
b. If you are of a deeper skin tone and you normally wear liner top and bottom.
But if you are wearing no eyeliner on top of your eye, do not put eyeliner under it. Especially if you are not in your twenties anymore, the chances are that it is dragging your eye down and making you look older.
If you feel naked without some color under your eye, I recommend sweeping some bronzer along the lower lash line with a tiny, round, fluffy brush. Bronzer is also fabulous to use along the edge of your eyeshadow. It helps it fade off into your skin!
5. Doing the same makeup from twenty years ago
As time goes on, trends change, and we all age. It is so important not to let yourself get stuck in a makeup routine that you learned two decades ago because chances are it is totally out of style and no longer suits your face.
Think of it this way, though the actual look itself changes, we all know what old lady makeup looks like, right? But once upon a time, she may have been trendy, and the look actually suited her. Then, time, trends, and age changed, but she kept doing the same things that now seem like “old lady makeup” on her. It didn’t just happen in a day, but it occurred slowly, one day at a time.
It is absolutely NOT necessary to keep up with all the latest and greatest makeup tricks, but natural and neutral makeup will flatter your features and keep you looking timeless. It helps you look elegant and modern, plus feel amazing!
So get in touch for an update on your look. We offer a few lessons and classes specifically tailored to this, such as “Using Your Current Makeup”, “Makeup For Women 40+”, “Makeup for Women 50+” and more! We do one-on-one lessons, as well as group lessons. How much fun would it be to celebrate your fiftieth birthday by doing an updated group makeup lesson with your best girlfriends?
You can check out all of our lessons and classes here.
To avoid these and other mistakes when applying your makeup, reach out to the expert at Michael Fels Beauty | Hair | Makeup. As a mobile makeup artist in Toronto and Vancouver, I provide outstanding hair and makeup services no matter how big or small your event is. I take the stress out and ensure you feel special and look your best on your important day.
My services include bridal and wedding hair and makeup, photo and film hair and makeup, events and glam hair and makeup, fashion and editorial hair and makeup. And serve clients across Toronto, North York, Scarborough, Etobicoke, York, Yorkville, Thornhill, The Beaches, The Junction, Long Branch in Ontario as well as Vancouver, West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Burnaby, and the rest of the Lower Mainland in British Columbia.
For a complete list of my services, please click here. If you have any questions about beauty services, I’d love to hear from you. Please contact me here.