Learning to Apply Makeup

I am also leaning to apply makeup. I am sure most of you can relate to doing things repeatedly, even though it is the wrong thing to do. That is with makeup application! When I first started wearing makeup my senior year of high school (5 years ago) I was not any good at applying it.

It looks like a mess! 4 years later (3 years ago) after watching hundreds of hours of tutorials on YouTube, I felt like I had the basic skills down but was still making so many mistakes!

In addition, not just little ones – some of them are HUGE! Now, 2 years ago, after learning from these mistakes and practicing new tips & tricks constantly, I feel confident enough to say that I have mastered my base routine. In addition, I feel like a skilled MUA!

So today, I am going to share with you the biggest mistakes that I have found people make when learning to apply makeup. Some of them are what we might think of as common sense (but not all of us follow) and some of them are not very obvious at all!

Now, this is in no way meant to be shaming. I know we are all human and we all make mistakes sometimes, but if we can learn from each other’s then that will be such a great thing for everyone! Makeup application is not rocket science after all – it just takes practice, patience, and time 🙂

THE FIVE BIGGEST MAKEUP MISTAKES I’VE MADE WHEN LEARNING TO APPLY MAKEUP

PUTTING ON MAKEUP WITHOUT PRIMING FIRST.   

You can have the best, creamiest foundation or BB cream in the world but if you apply it over un-prepped skin, it will not look very good at all! Your pores will be highlighted and your face will look cakey & bad – trust me on this one!

So when learning to apply makeup, invest in a great primer and use it for every application. Some of my favorites are e.l.f.’s HD Lifting & Pore-Minimizing Primer, NYX’s Shine Killer Primer, and drugstore staple Wet n’ Wild’s Photo Focus Foundation Primer.

USING A BB CREAM AS YOUR ONLY FORM OF BASE MAKEUP.   

BB creams and tinted moisturizers are great for those days when you want a natural look, but they are not meant to be complete makeup replacements! If you use one as such, your face will not look good at all – trust me on this one too!

For starters, there probably will not be enough coverage for what you need (especially if you are covering blemishes) and it will wear off very quickly. Just purchase (or make!) a nice foundation or tinted moisturizer and use that instead 🙂

I personally like the Emetics Your Skin but Better CC Cream for a natural look but if I am going out or need more coverage at all then I will use my Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation.

APPLYING FOUNDATION/BB CREAM ALL OVER THE FACE AS YOUR ONLY FORM OF BASE MAKEUP.   

When I first started wearing makeup, I was really into winged eyeliner. It is probably one of my favorite things to do with makeup, but for the longest time, it seemed impossible to get right.

One day, I was staring at my poor attempts at wings and wondering why they never looked like the ones on Pinterest (which were always by far the best examples). After some more research, I realized that what had been working for not every other person seemed to be working for me.

What did work for me was surprisingly simple – cat eyes!

• The issue was not my skill level, but rather that I kept unconsciously pointing my eyeliner brush in towards my eyeball while applying it. Instead of turning the brush outwards just before the tip got to my eyelid, I would keep it pointed in and drag the brush against the lashes on my upper lid. This led to a much fatter line than was desired and sometimes even crinkled up my eye when I raised it. If you have ever had this happen, you will understand why cat eyes work so well for me now – they just follow the natural curve of your eye shape.
• I think that one of the worst mistakes beginners make is thinking that there is only one way to do something rather than learning what works best for their body type, skill level etcetera. Do not get too down on yourself if an advanced technique does not seem to be working – maybe a beginner version will work better for you.
• You can do anything, though I would not recommend doing cat eyes with the liquid liner!
• Have you ever had to adapt a technique/ makeup look because it did not seem to work for you? Alternatively, have you tried the beginner version of an advanced technique and liked it better than the more complicated one? Let me know in the comments below!
• Thanks so much for reading! If there’s anything, in particular, you’d like me to write about, just let me know – or if there’s something on your mind that I haven’t covered on my blog yet, please tell me your thoughts too.