• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To MakeupMakeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup

A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict

  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
    • Advertising & Media
  • Categories
    • Product Reviews
    • Makeup
    • Skincare & Fragrance
    • Style & Fashion
    • Hair
    • Nails
    • Tips & Tutorials
    • Just for Fun
  • Brands
  • Store

Makeup-Wise, What Have You Suddenly Discovered You Were Doing Wrong?

July 9th, 2010 by Karen 42 Comments

filling browsHave you ever had any “Aha!” makeup moments? Ones where you felt like you were the last person in the world to figure something out?

I’ve had my share.

One came a couple of years ago while I was filling in my eyebrows. You wouldn’t think it could take someone more than 30 years to figure this out but SURPRISE! — it can. 🙂

I’ve been using the MAC 266 brush and Concrete eyeshadow to fill in my brows for as long as I can remember. One day I was doing them in front of a mirror and happened to tilt my chin up to check my work from a different angle.

BAM! Filled in, my left eyebrow looked considerably shorter than my right. Because of how I’d been doing it all these years, holding the brush with my right hand, I’d always made my left brow look shorter by not filling in the inner part (the side closest to my nose) as fully as the inner part of my right.

At least it only took a few decades to figure it out…

Makeup-wise, what have you suddenly discovered you were doing wrong?

Thanks to Lifehacker for coming up with the idea for this question!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Makeup-Wise, What Have You Suddenly Discovered You Were Doing Wrong? / Originally published July 9th, 2010

There are 42 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Just For Fun

Previous Post: Swatch Out! And Get MAC In The Groove
Next Post: Win a $596 Prize Package from LORAC and ABS Clothing

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Trinidad says

    July 9th, 2010 at 10:07 am

    I keep buying the same colors over and over again! And when I try to venture out, I use them a couple of times and then go back. It’s hard for me to break out of my ruts… But this blog is helping because all the new make up looks like so much fun! And seeing how you put it together makes me wanna try things out more often!
    .-= Trinidad’s last blog post… What’s on Sample Sale 7-9 =-.

    Reply
  2. Black is the New Black says

    July 9th, 2010 at 10:08 am

    great post! I used to alway get annoyed that my face makeup (foundation, powder, etc) would rub off when I pulled my eyelid taut to apply eyeliner. Then one day on someones youtube makeup channel I saw that they patted their index finger with powder before doing so and voila! no makeup rubbed off!

    Reply
    • Jackie says

      July 9th, 2010 at 11:03 am

      Wow! What a great idea!!! I always have the same problem =/
      .-= Jackie’s last blog post… Neutral with a pop of teal FOTD =-.

      Reply
    • Kymberlee says

      July 9th, 2010 at 5:16 pm

      Thanks for the tip! I also have that problem.

      Reply
  3. Lindsay says

    July 9th, 2010 at 10:26 am

    not blending my foundation down my neck! looks my heads part of a different skin tone! so embarassing

    Reply
    • Trinidad says

      July 9th, 2010 at 2:09 pm

      Ha! I’ve fallen victim to this too!
      .-= Trinidad’s last blog post… TBS COMMANDMENT 1- Thou shall seek true love – when shopping- =-.

      Reply
  4. Natalia says

    July 9th, 2010 at 10:39 am

    I have an embarrassing one. For the past 6 years or so that I have been doing makeup I thought that having brushes was just for makeup artists or to do dramatic stuff and since i am the queen of neutrals they wouldn’t be for meor that they weren’t worth the money. I always used my fingers or the stupid spongy eyeshadow applicators. Well one day on a whim I bought a 217 brush and saw oh wow my eye makeup looks more natural. Now I have a bunch of brushes and don’t know how I lived without them. I never realized how they are actually essential and not just splurges, they are investments!

    Reply
  5. Kelly says

    July 9th, 2010 at 10:56 am

    Oh god bad eyebrows were my issue. When I look back on pics of me in the 90’s my brows were filled in unevenly or too thick or too dark. Horrific!

    Reply
  6. Jennifer says

    July 9th, 2010 at 11:18 am

    OMG. I just discovered as wonderful as Urban Decay Primer Potion is, I don’t need to use every bit that comes out on the applicator. A little bit goes a long way and anything more is just wasted.

    The same goes for Loreal Primer Studio Secrets. Why I thought I needed so much, I’ll never know. 🙂

    Reply
  7. Molly says

    July 9th, 2010 at 11:19 am

    Oh god… black eyeliner just SMEARED around my eyes in high school. Thought it was “smoky”.. it was really just gross and messy. One day, I tried fixing it with a Qtip, and miraculously my eyes looked AMAZING.
    Also, amusingly, my little sister had the exact same routine with astringent as I did, until I asked her “you do know you’re not supposed to wash that off, right?” Yeah. I went through four years of wondering why it never did anything.

    Reply
  8. emma says

    July 9th, 2010 at 11:26 am

    gosh ive had a lot of these…i used to just PACK on blush on the roundness of my cheeks, thinking thats what you were supposed to do, but then looking at photos it made me realize that my already round face looked even ROUNDER. now i stick to highlighter and contour haha
    .-= emma’s last blog post… Great Scott =-.

    Reply
  9. Gina says

    July 9th, 2010 at 11:26 am

    What I discovered I was doing wrong, was not filling in my eyebrows at all! I’d put together a beautiful eye of eyeshadow, then leave my brows as they were, because I always thought my filled-in brows looked clown-like. Then I finally invested in a good quality pencil, and wow! I was missing out on so much.

    Reply
  10. Lowelli says

    July 9th, 2010 at 11:26 am

    Setting your liquid makeup with powder!!! I have heard this rule sooo many times and seen so many youtube gurus do it. I think I was either afraid of looking cakey or I just never found a powder that I liked or maybe I’m just plain stubborn but I never did it. The first time I did it, it was like the heavens opened up to reveal a wonderful world of lasting concealer and a non-greasy face. Needless to say, I use powder to set my makeup now (most of the time).

    Reply
  11. Lowelli says

    July 9th, 2010 at 11:27 am

    Oh yea, and I just tilted my head in front of the mirror and VOILA! My left eyebrow is shorter than my right one. Go figure.

    Reply
  12. Thea says

    July 9th, 2010 at 11:40 am

    Not using primer. Turns out your makeup CAN stay on all day…

    Reply
    • Trinidad says

      July 9th, 2010 at 2:11 pm

      Agreed! I just started using Primer! I don’t know what took me so long!
      .-= Trinidad’s last blog post… Look Book- Masquerade Party =-.

      Reply
      • toe says

        July 9th, 2010 at 6:01 pm

        me, too! the joy of primer!!! 🙂

        Reply
  13. Lucia says

    July 9th, 2010 at 11:44 am

    I actually had the EXACT same thing happen to me with my eyebrows. I realized it when i got my ID pictures taken for my new job…one was filled in shorter than the other. I can only hope that nobody else noticed :).

    Reply
  14. dani@callitbeauty says

    July 9th, 2010 at 12:16 pm

    blending eyeshadow! i was doing it wrong by not doing it at all! :p
    .-= dani@callitbeauty’s last blog post… Have Luggage- Will Travel =-.

    Reply
  15. Kate & Zena says

    July 9th, 2010 at 12:20 pm

    I had the awful years of using way too much and way too thick black eyeliner…with raspberry lipstick. I looked like a painted raccoon!

    Reply
  16. Tango says

    July 9th, 2010 at 12:22 pm

    EYELINER. I clearly remember being frustrated for years wondering why I couldn’t get my eyeliner to look like certain magazine pictures, and then one day before a party being all “but what if I take this pencil and draw on the INSIDE (waterline) of my lashes?” Boom! You can still see how psyched I am in the pictures from that party that my eyeliner looks awesome.

    Reply
  17. gio says

    July 9th, 2010 at 12:24 pm

    I have very small eyes and when I was younger I used to line my waterline with black eyeliner, which made them even smaller. Shame I only realised it years later. 🙁 Also I only recently started to use powder to set my makeup and now it finally stays on a lot longer. I don’t know why I hadn’t tried that when I first got into makeup.
    .-= gio’s last blog post… Looks- Warm Summer Eyes =-.

    Reply
  18. Nina says

    July 9th, 2010 at 12:24 pm

    I was afraid of mascara … and refused to use it. It made my eye makeup look undone. Turns out I just needed to find the right mascara wih the right brush.

    I still dont use mascara everyday but often enough so that I dont look “unfinished” … 🙂

    Reply
  19. Suji says

    July 9th, 2010 at 12:26 pm

    I have definitely done the eyebrow thing – too thin or thick.. also the foundation blending into the neck thing! recently my mistakes have involved shimmery blushes and bronzers. I LOVE shimmer because I think it’s looks gorgeous, but I don’t exactly have the nicest skin, and unfortunately the shimmers sometimes spotlight my less than perfect skin 😛 so I’m learning to play better with matte facial powders.

    Reply
  20. Shannon says

    July 9th, 2010 at 12:36 pm

    Figuring out how to do a smokey eye! Goodness sakes, I just could NOT get the hang of it in high school (and through most of college, to be honest). It always ended up making my eyes look tiny and closed in. Finally, one day when I was getting a makeover at Bare Escentuals, I asked the makeup artist to show me how to do a smokey eye. She did a dramatic take on what, coincidentally, was my everday eye look: she only placed the dark shades/liner on the outside corners of my eye, blending to about mid-pupil (same with the contour shade in the crease – I’d been trying to blend it too far in). Turns out I just shouldn’t try to rim my eyes in black, ha. 🙂

    Reply
    • Shannon says

      July 9th, 2010 at 2:47 pm

      Also – realizing how put-together foundation can make you look! For the longest time I never used the stuff, and my eye makeup never really looked crisp, and I was limited to very few shades (pretty much pinks and browns). I just hated applying it and didn’t like how it felt. Bare Escentuals came to the rescue again and changed my makeup mind. I’m still amazed with how many different colors I can pull off when my skin tone has been smoothed out by foundation. And that was like… a year ago. And I’ve been wearing makeup and reading books on beauty for years. Sheesh! Silly me.

      Reply
  21. Christian says

    July 9th, 2010 at 1:23 pm

    While not make up related, I recently discovered that the RIGHT moisturizer makes a WORLD of difference! I only started following a skincare routine religiously for the past 2 months…before that all I did was remove my make up with a MAC wipe and be done (I was so lazy before). I used to hate moisturizer because I always thought it made me feel more greasy and I was thinking “why am I putting grease on top of a pimple when I want it to dry out?”. Anyway, by finally finding out that there are moisturizers without mineral oil aka Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing LOTION…sucks!…then I was able to try out different types of moisturizers that SINK RIGHT IN. 🙂 Currently finishing up my sample of Ole Henriksen’s Sheer Transformation and I’m pleased to have tried this!
    .-= Christian’s last blog post… Golden Lotus earrings- =-.

    Reply
    • Kam says

      July 9th, 2010 at 10:45 pm

      I have oily skin that’s why I use Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing GEL. The lotion is for dry. They make the GEL for oily skin. If you ever go back to Clinique, make sure you specify the GEL. Whenever I get the lotion in a bonus buy or gift with purchase, I give it to my mom if I can’t get an exchange. Hope that helps.
      .-= Kam’s last blog post… Make it work- =-.

      Reply
  22. knownever says

    July 9th, 2010 at 1:34 pm

    I wouldnt really call this doing it wrong but I never liked how lipstick looked or felt comfortable wearing it out until I got a clear lipliner. It makes lipstick so much less upkeep to wear and it doesnt bleed so you look totally put together. Also, not my doing it wrong moment but I was happy I could help out. my roommate started using a bit of makeup after never doing so and she would put a color over her lid and was amazed the change in effect you get when you put a highlight color under the brow. it is essential!
    .-= knownever’s last blog post… Street Style for Idiots =-.

    Reply
  23. Tiffany says

    July 9th, 2010 at 2:20 pm

    when I was younger – wearing too dark foundation and not blending into my neck. yuck!

    Reply
  24. BioGeek says

    July 9th, 2010 at 5:43 pm

    2 things:
    1. I never (and I mean never!) used to wear mascara. I thought “I already have black lashes…why should I wear mascara?” Yea. Yea… 10 years later & well into my mid-20’s, i am a mascara diva! L’Oreal drugstore mascaras done me right!!!

    2. Like Shannon said above: not realizing how put-together foundation can make you look! I just recently got into makeup (25 yrs. old here) & I’m so glad I did. The first thing I got into was eye makeup (shadows + mascara; I’ve always been an eyeliner girl). My eyes always looked great, but when I would look in the mirror, all the splotchiness of my red cheeks + uneven skin tone around jaw line would kind of ruin the look. Once I found a great foundation, I look so much better & feel so much better about the time I invest into my makeup ritual.

    Reply
  25. AtelierGal says

    July 9th, 2010 at 6:15 pm

    I have been using too much highlighter! To the point where I look “shiny” or worst, “oily” in my pictures!!!
    .-= AtelierGal’s last blog post… A Cheesy Predator Monday =-.

    Reply
  26. Sara says

    July 9th, 2010 at 6:50 pm

    i don’t know if i was doing it “wrong” before, but i’ve started using more force when i wash my face [i.e., rubbing rather vigorously for 1-2 minutes] and moisturizing straight out of the shower or post-face wash. durrr

    i’ve also started using copious amounts of concealer. now concealer actually works! wow….yes.

    Reply
  27. Lexi says

    July 9th, 2010 at 6:54 pm

    i totally agree with brows – also bronzer – I’ve seen pics of myself from the early days (read: using fake ID for the bars) and thought – WOW…too bad that Vampire stuff didn’t come along until now because I probably would have looked lovely and Vampirically pale back then!

    Reply
  28. Amelia says

    July 9th, 2010 at 7:40 pm

    year eight: wearing blue eyeliner every day and thinking it looked really good
    year nine: wearing black eyeliner, black eyeshadow, black liquid eyeliner and black mascara every night and looking like… well let’s not say

    Reply
  29. Amy says

    July 9th, 2010 at 10:50 pm

    I used to curl my eyelashes by holding the curler down mid lash. I got crazy bent at a right angle eyelashes so I just kind of gave up curling. One day I saw a YouTube tutorial on the proper way to do it… Changed my (makeup) life!!

    Reply
  30. wehkwas says

    July 10th, 2010 at 12:32 am

    mixing a water-based foundation with a another foundation that wasn’t oil-free. i note this as one of my biggest makeup mistake as it simply goes against common sense:P

    Reply
  31. Jeni says

    July 10th, 2010 at 12:33 am

    I get obsessed with my wrinkles, so I have dark, flattering lighting in my bathroom so that I always look good and don’t over-obsess. I try to never look at myself in bright lighting or bright sunlight, so for all I know, I’m doing my makeup all wrong, but I have no idea! Every now and then my boyfriend will point out something wrong on my face that I missed in my dark bathroom, but he’s not always around to catch me before I leave the house…
    .-= Jeni’s last blog post… Discontinued Makeup And Beauty Products =-.

    Reply
  32. Melessa says

    July 11th, 2010 at 3:54 am

    it wasnt recently, i actually cant remember when or what made me realize, but some how it finally clicked that i have to stop buying makeup just because it looks pretty in the pan (or tube etc) , and buy colors that actually work for me. its a sad realization that theres so many pretty colors you can never wear, but a necesary one.

    and for maybe half a year or so ive been using less foundation. iv been sacrificing coverage
    =( but i think the overall appearance is better. more natural. pretty sure (and i hope!) the change is for the better

    Reply
  33. Melessa says

    July 11th, 2010 at 4:00 am

    oooh yesssssss! how could i forget lol. when i was younger it was ALWAYS thick, black eyeliner. ive since switched to brown and normally smudge it. muuuuch better! especially when youre white lol

    Reply
  34. Stef says

    July 11th, 2010 at 1:55 pm

    Blush! I had a bad blush experience when I was young, put it on too much and my Mom laughed and told me my cheeks were “too big.” Totally the wrong thing to say to me at that age. So I went 20 years never wearing blush. Finally I broke down and bought a NARS The Multiple Stick in Orgasm, and OMG! Wearing blush makes me look 10 years younger! I’m 35 and look pretty young as it is, but blush is the best! I now own several blushes and I love each and every one of them!

    Reply
  35. Kathleen says

    July 12th, 2010 at 7:14 pm

    I cringe when I think of my brown lipstick and gray sparkly eyeliner in middle school….yech.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

About Makeup and Beauty Blog

Welcome to Makeup and Beauty Blog
Hi there! I’m Karen, your friendly neighborhood beauty addict, and I’m a Bay Area girl who hoards brown eyeshadow and covets coral lipstick. Every morning, I wake up and say, “I’m going to do something other than a smoky eye today.” Then…I end up doing a smoky eye anyway (most days). When I’m not putting on makeup, taking pictures of makeup or writing about makeup, which I’ve been doing daily since 2007 (!), you’ll find me hanging out with my hubby (“El Hub”), my four-year-old daughter (Connor Claire) and my torbie girl cat (Pretty Girl Rosie, a.k.a. PGR).

SHOP THE STORE


Long Live Lipstick Tee 💄



Blush Is My Crush Tee



Mascara & Kitties Tee



Thank You For Being a Friend Tee



You Hair Me Tee


Recent Posts

honest beauty smudged cat eye side

Smudged Cat Eye | Day 4 With the Honest Beauty Get It Together Eyeshadow Palette

honest beauty get it together classic smokey eye

Classic Smokey Eyes | Day 3 With the Honest Beauty Get It Together Eyeshadow Palette

honest beauty get it together eye palette

Mauve Smokey Eyes | Day 2 With the Honest Beauty Get It Together Eyeshadow Palette

honest beauty get it together eyeshadow palette

A Soft, Springy Plum Look With Bronze and Mocha (and Warm Nude Lips)

you will figure it out

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 666

Social

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Featured Posts

Lady Unicorn

Weird Things I Like to Do

brows fill out beforehand

Before You Pluck or Wax Your Brows, You Must Do This

current bare skin status

What’s One Thing That Drastically Changed Your Skin for the Better?

red brown smokey eyes tutorial top pic 2

A Glamorously Grungy Makeup Tutorial: Smoky Reddish Brown Eyes and Vampy Matte Lips [MODERATE SKILL LEVEL]

Copyright © 2020 Makeup and Beauty Blog. Get in touch.