A few years ago, at the ripe old age of fifteen, I was invited to a friend of my mom’s wedding. Delighted with the idea of getting dressed up on the day, I considered my make-up options. At this very fragile stage in my life, I was quite self-conscious and into a slightly gothy look (too much black eyeliner under the eyes and not a pop of colour on my cheeks!). So, in her infinite wisdom, my mother suggested that I get my make-up done with her. A kind gesture indeed, but unfortunately for me, not a great move towards my faith in make-up artists (that has since been restored by great make-up artists like Glamity Jane).
You see, my mother and I have very different skin tones (She’s an autumn and I’m more of a summer) and it was a stage of the early noughties where every lady wanted to look as bronze (ahem orange) as possible. To this day, I’m not sure if my MUA thought I may be fake tanning later at home, or if she just thought that I would be wearing a huge scarf but all I can say is that it looked like I’d switched bodies with someone else.
Needless to say, I smiled politely and went home TERRIFIED! Endlessly rubbing and blending my bronzed jaw-line, I realized there was very little hope for me. The texture and colour were entirely wrong for my face. Somehow, I managed to look a little more presentable but it took a little work. So, if you’ve ever been the victim of some awful make-up (professionally or by your own hand), here are some quick tips to remedy the look:
- If your eyelashes appear quite sparse, apply darker liquid or kohl liner along your lash line. Tight line the upper rim of your eyelid with a pencil liner. To open up the eyes, tight line your lower line with white liner before applying mascara.
- If your foundation looks dry and uneven, apply some moisturizer to the palms of your hands and press lightly onto the face. This will dilute and free up the coverage as well as creating a more dewy effect. As a last resort, smooth out with a damp sponge or brush.
- For blush that looks a little too dramatic, tone down by covering over with a face powder brushed into the cheekbones. The same can be done for harsh eye colours and contours. Blend out with a fluffy eye shadow brush. The secret to any harsh foundation lines, eyeshadow or blush is always to blend!
- Add some gloss or balm to tips that appear too dry and if lips are too dark, blot out and apply with a beige or pink layer on top.
