common makeup mistakes (and how to fix them)

Easy Steps You Can Follow For Flawless Makeup

WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY : WASIFA AHMAD HASAN Follow Wasifa on INSTAGRAM: @sifascorner

How do you feel about makeup? Do you like to try the latest trends on Instagram or do you like to stick to your “au natural” look?

Makeup may sound redundant in times like these, but it can be therapeutic for some. The touch of soft brushes on the skin and the variety of eyeshadows and lip colors can be the artistic escape we need to feel happy right now.

Most of the time, when we are trying a new makeup look, it doesn't translate the way we want it to, especially if you are following a tutorial from Instagram or YouTube. Due to time constraints, when influencers are making a video tutorial, they cut some parts to keep it from getting too long. The small steps which are omitted in a tutorial may be causing the troubles you are facing when you are recreating that look.

This is why today I am going to talk about the five most common issues and mistakes and how to fix them.

DRY, TEXTURED UNDER-EYES:

Believe me when I say this, we all have texture on our skin. Due to built-in smoothening filter effects on the latest cameras and editing software, we only see the smooth and "flawless" finished result. But there are some steps you can follow to truly achieve smoother looking skin in real life.

In picture 1, you will see how dry and textured my under-eye area looks. It's because I have not used any moisturizer underneath. If you are very young, you can get away without an eye cream under your concealer. Because of our age, most of us need the extra moisture due to the general dryness and loss of collagen in our under-eye skin. You will need less than a pea-size amount to cover the area around your eyes (picture 2). Now if you look closely to picture 3 you can see the same concealer looks much better with an eye cream underneath.

OILY UPPER LID:

Oily upper lids can cause smudged eyeliners and faded eyeshadows. If you have oily eyelids, skip the eye cream on your eyelid (use only on the under-eye area). Now what you can do is dab some concealer on your upper lid and blend it with a damp sponge using a tapping motion (picture 4). After the concealer is blended well, press on a small bit of translucent setting powder using the same damp sponge. Once it's set, go on with your liner or eyeshadow.

ASHY/GREY CONCEALER:

Often you’ll notice that while your concealer looks good on the rest of your face, it looks ashy or grey under your eyes. The main reason for this is your undereye circles. You should be using different shades of concealers on different parts of your face, as our face is not just one color. First and foremost, apply a small amount of eye cream to prepare the area, then use a brush to apply a corrective concealer (with an orange or peach undertone) under the eye (picture 5).

Also, pay attention to your skin undertone. Warmer skin tones should look for yellow or orange undertones, while cooler skin tones will look better with pink shades.

Be sure to get the sides of the nose that hits the inner corner of the eye. Make sure to blend the concealer outwards so it’s not too thick. After you have covered any darkness, take a translucent powder and dust over top to keep creasing at bay.

LIPSTICK IS NOT SHOWING TRUE COLOR:

If you have pigmented lips or the area around your mouth is pigmented like mine, the lipstick will not show its true color. If you look at picture 6, the right side shows how this pink lipstick looks normally on my lips. On the left, you will see how the same color looks when I have prepped my lips to show the true color.

The key is to balance out the darkness on and around your lips so that the lip product has a clean surface on which to show the actual color. To achieve this, just dab your lips with a bit of your foundation or concealer with a damp sponge and blend it with a tapping motion. Do not overdo the product here, you will only need a tiny amount. After blending well, apply the lipstick on top.

EYELINER IS NOT DARK ENOUGH:

Sometimes the darkest liquid eyeliner you own can end up looking not dark enough or patchy on your eyes, especially if it's a black liner. In this case, add a cream liner of the same color before you add the liquid one (picture 7). I have seen many makeup artists following the layering technique to get a depth of color. You can layer a cream liner with a powder shadow, a cream liner with a liquid liner, or a liquid liner with a powder shadow on top. Whichever method you choose, you will get a beautiful and long-lasting result.

There are many small steps like this you can follow to get a beautiful and flawless makeup. Performing the small steps in each stage are the main difference between looking like a makeup artist or a makeup-beginner. To get more tips like this you can follow me on Instagram and YouTube (@sifascorner). Stay safe and healthy! [ aw ]