Patel describes the results of slathering on foundation over chapped skin as "horrific," and we have to agree. Foundation will only emphasize the flakes by sitting on top of them instead of blending in with your skin. Fix the dryness by exfoliating regularly (to get rid of flakes) and following that up with a rich moisturizer. Smoother skin means a much smoother application and finished look.
We confess: "I'm in my 30s, and I don't exfoliate as much as I should," says executive editor Meghan. "While most experts recommend I do it at least once a week, preferably twice, I'm probably more in the exfoliate-twice-a-month category. As a result, I've fallen prey to putting makeup on too-dry skin -- and I end up looking less than cute. Note to self: Take an extra couple minutes to exfoliate twice a week before bed. It takes more time to fix makeup that looks awful after it's been put on parched, flaky skin."
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Mistake No. 3: Wearing blue eyeshadow
"Blue eyeshadow works for some people," Patel says. "Little girls in dance recitals. Guests at 1970s-themed parties. Ethereal looking supermodels. If you aren't one of the aforementioned people, don't wear it. Enough said." Harsh, but truer words have never been spoken.
We confess: "In middle school, I had a friend who was born with dark brown/black hair and light blue eyes that I was super jealous of," says intern Stephanie. "She wore electric blue eyeliner and managed to make it look so edgy that I wanted to give blue a try too. I tried a bright blue shadow instead, but as a girl with black hair and brown eyes, the color is all kinds of wrong on me. Luckily, my mom was quick to point out that I looked like a clown before I headed off to school that day, and I haven't touched a pale blue palette since."
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Mistake No. 4: Trying to "plump" your lips
You've probably heard, or tried, the trick of lining just outside your natural lip line to make your lips look bigger. But it's way easier said than done. One wrong move and you'll end up looking like Pamela Anderson circa 1993. If you are going to attempt it, Patel says to use a lip liner the same shade as your lipstick on the outer line of your lips, without passing over it. Fill in your lips as well -- that way if your lipstick fades, you don't wind up with only a line around your mouth.
We confess: "The makeup artist for my wedding drew lip liner outside my lips -- I guess it was to make my lips look fuller, but all I kept thinking was 'porn star,'" says editor in chief Beth. "Not exactly what I was going for. When she packed up and left for the day, I dialed it way back with a Q-Tip and vowed never again."
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Mistake No. 5: Over-tweezing (or ignoring) your eyebrows
"When [brows are] well groomed they can enhance your eyes and your entire look," Patel says. So head to a professional to get an ideal shape. While you do want to tame overgrown brows, Patel stresses that you don't want to tweeze too much. "As we get older, our brows naturally become sparser, so if you tweeze your brows too thin they might never fully grow back," she says. So just stick with cleaning up the area around your brows and follow their natural arch for your best shape.
We confess: "I've totally over-tweezed my eyebrows," says associate editor Alexis. "What usually happens is this: I try to clean up the strays and notice a few stragglers on the end. I remove a few hairs from the end, and then think it looks uneven. Before I know it, half my eyebrow is missing. On both sides. This is why I get them threaded -- professionally."
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Mistake No. 6: Wearing an entire eye palette on your lids
"Just because your compact came with four or more colors packaged together doesn't mean you have to paint them all onto your eyelids at once," Patel says. Instead, she recommends wearing no more than three shades at a time: a medium one on your lids, a lighter one near your brow bone and a dark one as liner. But for everyday, you really only need a sweep of one shade across your lid.
We confess: "Yes, I had delusions of grandeur and thought I could get all fancy on my eyelids," says senior editor Sarah. "I had a different shade of liner on my top and bottom lash lines, a brow highlighting shade, crease shade and at least two shades on my lids. Had this been done by an actual makeup artist I'm sure it could have been quite beautiful -- but since I'm so not one -- it looked like a hot mess. The only saving grace: I had enough time before going out to wash it off and start over."
In theory beauty editors shouldn't be making makeup mistakes. We interview expert makeup artists all the time, we try new makeup products daily, and we write about bad makeup on celebrities and vow never to do the same to ourselves. But in reality, even the most experienced makeup mavens can mess up now and then.
That's a lesson we learned the hard way when we talked to New York City makeup artist Susmta Patel. When she told us about 11 super-common makeup mistakes she sees almost daily, we were stunned. And more than a little embarrassed. Because all of us at some point or another had committed these blunders (and most of us thought we looked pretty good at the time to boot).
However, once we recovered from our shock and humiliation, we were glad she shared. We'd rather know (and fix!) our makeup mistakes than strut around looking like clowns. And now that we know, we can share these mistakes with you, so you never walk out of the house with bad makeup (again). Plus, in the spirit of sisterhood and community, we've each 'fessed up to the makeup mistakes we've committed. Join in and share which ones you're guilty of -- no judgment. After all, your confessions will make us feel a bit better about our own misguidedness.
