I recently learned a valuable lesson about my bangs. I have naturally wavy hair, and if I don’t straighten my longish side-swept bangs every day, they curl up and stick out in all kinds of crazy directions.
Thanks to a tip from the gal who does my hair (thank you, Alis!), I learned that I get much straighter, flatter bangs if I straighten them with a flat paddle brush than I’m able to get with a round brush, which creates more of an arced shape.
So, after I step out of the shower, I draw as much moisture from my hair as I can with an Acquis hair towel, and then spray my bangs with Living Proof Straight Spray.
Then, with the paddle brush (here’s one for $6 from Goody) and my T3 hairdryer, I straighten! Five minutes of work, and my bangs lay flat and straight all day long. 🙂
Now how about you?
What’s one makeup or beauty lesson you recently learned?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
The makeup lesson I recently learnt is that I should try all the new things at home before I leave the house with them on my face! As I move a little further with beauty blogging, I start coming into contact with products or types of products that I have not previously tried before. Since I don’t know how they will perform (like if the shade actually matches my skin tone, or if a cream shadow will crease, or if there will be an atrocious amount of glitter fallout), I prefer to experiment with them at home first! Better be safe than sorry!
I recently learnt that a good way to test if your nails are dry is to gently tap them against each other – if not properly dry, it’ll feel like they want to stick together. This works no matter how almost-dry they may be 😀
OMG Thanks Karen! I just got straight bangs and they have a life of their own. I’m going to try this tomorrow! I usually just straight iron mine every day. =l
One makeup lesson I recently learned was to do my research first before buying. Impulse buying has led me to a lot of wasted money on products I don’t like and use.
Mine’s a little weird…here goes. I have large pores all over my face but they aren’t really visible anywhere except my nose, until I try to apply foundation or tinted moisturizer. So naturally I use primer consistently to fill those in those pores. I’ve been wearing powder foundation for years because any kind of liquid, cream, etc, just settles into those pores no matter how I apply it. I recently made a huge Rouge Bunny Rouge haul and ordered their tinted moisturizer. I was determined to make it work. Well, first application….right into those pores. I almost cried considering the cost of RBR products. Determined to make it work, I sat down at my vanity and started rummaging. I pulled out my MAC SPF 50 Primer (my absolute fave of all time), mixed it with my RBR tinted moisturizer, and to my shock…..perfection! Again, I almost cried…this time from relief. Tried it again a couple of times just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke and it worked every time. Nice smooth coverage, just the right amount of color, and SPF 50 all in one shot. Don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner (forehead smack). If you’re a large pore girl, give this a try, it’s worth a shot.
I just learned how to contour my face *very subtly* and cunningly from Lisa Eldridge and gossmakeupartist in YouTube! Goss especially teaches how to contour the face a la Kim K’s MUA and it works wonder! I love love love Goss and Lisa E! They’re super amazing!
awesome! can u post a link for this?
Mine is pretty simple, I learned how to fishtail braid! At first they were coming out looking like normal braids, but I finally have gotten the hang of it.
I love fishtail braids! I wish my hair were a bit longer so I could braid it like that without the top parts falling out.
Personally and professionally, I have learned to not give up. There have been times when I worry that I am not a good MUA, and maybe makeup artistry is not for me. Then I say to myself, “Lady, you’ve only been doing this for 4 years! Stick it out and see what happens”. The little steps are what lead you to bigger things. 🙂
I really need to learn not to pick at my skin! I haven’t learned yet, but I aspire to.
This is a bad habit of mine as well, I struggle with it because I’m so fidgitey with my ADHD and also because of the damn magnified mirror and my stuPid brain thinking “yo, that blackhead looks ready to come out, try extracting it!” Ughh
I have just started something with myself, like a rewards program: My tax refund check and i splurged or finally caved on a few beauty products I’ve been lusting over, I have a friend holding th hostage, and every week I go without picking my skin, I get one, but I can’t even open one until I do so. HoPefully this will be good motivation!
I learned that I get a lot less zits when I have a nightly and daily routine for my skin. I also learned it’s a good idea to play with new hairstyles for fun at home (not when you actually have to BE somewhere), and for makeup to let the primer settle in before applying makeup.
We are always learning some new tricks or about new products, so I am happy for this blog so that we can all share! Happy Easter (if everyone celebrates, if not happy Passover!).
The sockbun! I always wondered how people got such nice looking, lucious buns into their hair – now I know their hair is full of sock! Haha many great youtube videos out there about the sockbun techique, and products you can use to make it a little easier if you’re uncomfortable walking around with something on your head that you would usually find much further south. Love love love it! (And seriously, it’s so quick and easy too.)
My recent lessons- use waterproof mascara to hold the curl all day; allow time between primer, foundation, and powder applications. And use fingers to apply cream blush like NARS Multiples, so the product goes on evenly and doesn’t “eat” the foundation underneath, making splotches.
I went to a MUFE store recently and got a contouring lesson – I’m so much better at contouring now!
After conditioning my hair I will exfoliate my back. I don’t breakout there but I think it’s because I make sure all of the conditioner is gone. I also will wash my face after I wash my hair. Any left over residue from conditioner can cause breakouts
My trick is not something I just learned…but it’s one that I recently employed into my routine. It’s the business card trick for applying mascara. For some very strange reason, I recently began to have problems applying mascara–specifically, I kept getting mascara all over my lids while applying it–a problem that I’ve never had until now (especially with this particular mascara wand). So now, I have to cut out little half circles in a business card and use it as a lid guard. Frustrating that I have to do it in the first place, but it works well! Wonder if my eyelids are possibly getting puffier?? Or maybe my makeup application skills are just regressing…
I recently learned that my new eye cream (I bought a cheap Boots brand at Target when I ran out of my Body Shop one) might be making my eyeshadows crease like mad. I tried the NARS primer and it was a disaster so I returned it, but when I switched back to UDPP, my shadows would still crease. Then I realized that I changed my eye cream lately. Sigh…
I’ve learned so many new things lately! I discovered Lisa Eldridge from a link on this blog and I’ve been loving her makeup philosophy. I’ve learned to use less foundation. I think I was trying to cover my skin imperfections with foundation rather than use it to even out my skin in general. Now I use more concealer and less foundation and my skin glows!
Other lessons: how to wear liquid/gel blushes, let primers settle before applying foundation, use a Q-tip and Vaseline to get rid of flaky skin bits on dry lips. I feel like my makeup looks better every day!
Not to use moisturizer in my face. My face always seems to fight back by breaking out when i use one. I started using a moisturizing liquid toner instead and my skin is so much better now.
Its 2 things for me, lately!
First is im learning how to handle 2nd day hair. I previously washed my hair every.single.day. But it really felt like my hair was getting dry and brittle so I tried not washing my hair one Saturday, and ive taken off from there. I can see the difference – my hair feels stronger and more manageable.
Second — its pedicure season! I love spring and summer because its so much fun to have brightly painted toes! 🙂
I recently learned to handle my eyelash curler. Now it doesn’t hurt anymore 😉 and it really looks great.
I learned that nipple cream makes a great lip balm. Haha. I came across reviews for Lansinoh and they were glowing, so I had to pick some up. I’m never happy with lip balms, but this stuff is just pure lanolin, and it works great. I just have to put some in a different container so that I’m just just carrying nipple cream around in my purse.
I learned to always make sure your hairbrush is heat proof!! Mine melted from my blow dryer and left a sticky, melted plasticky mess in my hair!!
How great buffing my nails can be! I love how it makes my nails look when they’re au naturel, and I feel like it has helped to prevent my nails from peeling after I paint & then remove polish from them (normally a HUGE problem for me).
I realised recently that using a pen to do my eyebrows (I use Anastasia) takes much less time, and looks just as good as powders.
I also got on the BB cream bandwagon. i currently use Garnier’s. While I cannot attest for its benefits on the skin, I find that it’s a good tinted moisturizer. (really, aren’t bb cream just that: glorified tinted moisturizers?). I also learned to let it settle/dry before applying foundation.
I usually get my hair done by a stylist. Last time I did my bangs myself. It was really good then. But this time, I tried cutting the hair when it was dry .
Moral: Never try to cut dry hair. Semi dry and wet are the best ones to work with
( I guess I was the sole one who didn’t realize this before)
Huh, maybe I will have to try styling my bangs with the paddle brush. I usually use the round brush and it works alright MOST of the time, but sometimes I get too much of an arc in my bangs. I have basically the same hairstyle as you, bang wise. Love my long side-swept even if they can be a lot of work!
I recently learned that doing winged eyeliner is HARD, lol. But MAC fluidline is totally amazing. I can see why so many people are addicted to it.
I’ve learned that sulphates (the harsh cleansers in most shampoos) are very drying, and when you wash your hair every day, like I used to, your scalp tries to compensate for the dryness by over-producing oil. That way, my scalp became really greasy and oily, and the rest of my hair was dry and damaged from the sulpates!
The book “Curly Girl” by Lorraine Massey is a brilliant resource (but there’s also a lot of other websites for people who want to learn about sulphate-free hair care).
If you want to cut sulphates from your hair routine, you’ll also have to cut things like silicones and mineral oils (basically everything that isn’t water-soluble) because these things need sulphates to be washed out from the hair.
See how it’s a vicious circle? You use styling products with silicones in them, which build up on the hair and you’ll need sulphates to remove them. These sulphates are damaging to the hair, so you use styling products with silicones to cover up the damage. Because the sulphate shampoo is so drying, you’ll end up having to wash it more often.
I washed my hair with a sulphate shampoo (but without silicones and mineral oils!!!) so that all the old build-up was removed from my hair. Since then I’ve only washed using conditioner. (I use a lighter conditioner to wash grease from my scalp, and more of a deep conditioner to condition the ends.) After about a week, my wavy hair started becoming curly! I had no idea that is what my hair is supposed to be like naturally. It feels so great to have stopped stripping my hair of moisture and trying to compensate by covering it with silicones, that make the hair look fine on the surface but is really only hiding the damage. My hair is finally getting the moisture it’s been needing, and it looks great, and I don’t have to spend as much time and money on styling.
Even if you don’t have curly hair, losing the sulphates is something I recommend for everyone! It makes your hair so much healthier!
😀
That if I apply a bit of mascara on the top of my top eyelashes, not just the lower part, it isn’t going to be like “it looks ok in the mirror, go out or stay in with friends, take photo with closed eyes… and bam! colores eyeshadow on my lasheeeesssss” 😀 :).
I am slowly learning to accept that I have reached the age-spotting and wrinkling years where I just won’t be able to have that ‘perfect skin’ illusion anymore, LOL, so I am ever so slowly backing off on the foundation and concealer and especially the powders. Less is more. Age is good. And stay away from getting up close and personal with magnifying mirrors whenever possible. Perhaps God’s invented deteriorating eye sight as you age for a very kind reason 🙂
I’m sloooowly learning how to wear blush without feeling like a clown. I wear all sorts of not exactly natural products on my eyes and lips, but never felt right about blush. I routinely ask MUA to show me and, while I like the effect it has to shape and enliven my face, it never felt comfortable. I decided I was going to wear very light blush every day for a week. Still don’t love it, but don’t hate it anymore. I’m going to keep trying.
From Karen, I learned the magic of highlighting beyond the the top of cheek bones.
Last month, I was looking for new foundation to replace my MUFE HD Foundation (123) and searched MBB for recommendations since I’m also a MAC NC35. I wanted to give MAC’s Studio Sculpt a chance and wanted to see what Karen had to say about it.
In her Mac Studio Sculpt post, she mentioned how she used MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium to highlight under the eyes, forehead and tip of nose.
I usually just highlight on the top of my cheek bones but gave the Mineralized Skinfinish highlighting technique a try. I loved it! Really helps brighten up the area beneath my eyes (instant bright eyes) and gives my skin a healthy glow, that doesn’t look greasy with my oily skin.
In the end, I went with MUFE HD foundation because it looks great on camera and less cakey than the Studio Sculpt. However, I’m sticking with the Mineralized Skinfinish from here on out!
Thanks Karen!
I learned how to extend my at home manicure by doing what is called the Orly sandwich. a coat of orly nail bonder, a coat of nail polish, a coat of orly bonder, a coat of nail polish, a coat orly nail bonder and right after that coat a coat of Seche top coat, just make sure you let your polish dry 2 min between each coat except the last coat of bonder and top coat. I am a flight attendant so I am contantly using my hands washing, sanitizing, opening cans, bottles, ect. my polish just started chipping today and I painted them on last wednesday. I also do a top coat every other day not the Seche orly no chip.
Dear, why do you want to wear bangs? A lesson learned a long time ago…. do not fight with your hair, embrace it