Ooh, gurrrl.
You might want to grab another latte and pull up a chair, because we’re gonna be here a while.
I have made so many bad beauty calls over the years, I don’t even know where to start. My worst ones usually involve early mornings before I’ve been sufficiently caffeinated, and/or spur-of-the-moment decisions.
Eyebrows
If my left brow could talk…
Have I ever told you about Raul? Raul was a coping mechanism. It was the name I gave to a bad bald spot on my left eyebrow that happened after I decided to try waxing my own brows for the first time.
Yeah…Raul tells it better than I do, but needless to say, things did not turn out well.
Hair
The boy cut I got in sixth grade wasn’t one of my better moments. For the record, it was not my idea.
I developed boobs that year, suddenly, and for reasons unknown to me, my parents decided that I needed to hack off all of my long black hair.
It was awful. I was already a small and awkward child, and the boy cut just took it to another level…
Makeup
To save time, I’m just going to lump together all of my makeup looks from the ’90s into this category.
Boy, thank goodness this was before camera phones and digital photography; otherwise, there would be a hell of a lot more terrible pictures of me with razor thin brows, frosty lipstick and purple liner out there in Google Images, haha! 🙂
Your turn! Have you ever had an eyebrow, hair or major makeup mishap? Come on, don’t be shy.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
I used to pluck my eyebrows so thin when I was in high school! My mom would yell at me but that didn’t stop me. Wish I would have listened to her cause now I have eyebrow bald spots 🙁
self tanner during the winter Horrible
Ugh, running, smudging, messy lower eye liner .. need I say more.
Monica.
I swear I have Raul’s extended family! When I was about 19, I saw a gal on TV with amazing brows! I was always to chicken to pluck, so I had the brilliant idea of using Nair! Of course without reading on the label NOT to put on face! I quickly burned much of my eyebrows off! It took days before the pain and damage decreased enough to draw them on, and of course I would end up getting half a brow wiped off and no one would alert me! About 3 years ago I had them tattooed on and they look perfect and natural now. For years they were sparse and patchy, and the slight scar tissue never held make up well. I had alway been tempted to use a sharpie! I quickly realized how stupid that was! But finally now can proudly sport natural looking brows!
My most recent was a lip wax when I was in a hurry. I heated up the strips with a blow dryer and ended up taking off half my skin along with the stray hair. I had a nice red stache for a week or so. Lookin’ good! HAHA!
I’ve had to deal with trichotillomania, compulsive hair pulling, at a few points in my life. In 6th grade I gave myself a bald spot, the kids called me Rogaine. I also pulled out large parts of my eyebrows at one point, and they never quite grew back correctly.
I used to wear liquid liner on both bottom and top lashes, and that was a bad time. There was also when I first started to use bronzer, and I probably just looked muddy because of the freckles, and the shade was rather orangey, I’m pretty sure a picture of that exists, unfortunately!
I don’t have too many bad makeup mistakes, luckily!
And you all are making me glad I’ve never waxed my face! I somehow escaped the genetic deal that most women in my mom’s family have to deal with facial hair.
I’ve had a few mishaps with eyeliners, hello raccoon eyes, lol. But I’ll never forget the bright violet dye job I got at a salon once.A little boy about 5 said to his Mom look she’s got purple hair! That was in the 80’s before purple hair was fashionable. And the jet black colored hair wasn’t doing me any favors either!Now I color my own hair to advoid scary results.
A lot of my makeup mishaps were also from the 90s! The worst was not choosing the right foundation. I cringe when I look back on some old pictures and my neck looks 5 shades darker than my face. Yikes!
I also had the frosy lipstick. Coffee Bean from Revlon was my favorite.
Did you wear it dark lip liner and purposefully NOT blend in the edges? I did that all the time, haha!
Haha, no I never did the darker liner. I was also into the whole grunge fashion look. I just found my old pair of Doc Martens in the basement. I’m holding onto them until they come back in style. 🙂
I always wanted to be able to pull of Docs, but for some reason I just couldn’t do it. Remember Timberland boots?! I wore those instead. LOL
Me too. Mine had real steel in the toe. OMG! Because I was totally going to go and cut some lumber!
I once got a spray tan ahead of serving as a bridesmaid in a friend’s wedding. Then I went to bikram yoga class the day before the wedding and sweated in off in little rivulets.
I tend to overlook any makeup mishaps because that just washes off. But I have had some bad eyebrow experiences. I’ve have two bad salon waxings, one that left me with super thin brows that took about ten years to get in better condition. All I can say is that RapidBrow has now become my best friend.
I insanely tweezed my eye brows in high school and had the misfortune of having my class picture taken. I trimmed or butchered my bangs while wet and didn’t realize how much they would shrink when they dried. With make-up, I tried a new foundation before a cookout. It oxidized horridly and looked muddy. Not the look I was hoping for and learned not to try new make-up before testing it first at home.
Never really had any eyebrow mishaps…I do them myself by either plucking or using one of those little eyebrow razors that really save a lot on time.
As for hair, I had a stylist for a while that when I told her and showed her how much I wanted trimmed, 2 inches would turn into 6 inches. She was a very very nice lady, but tended to put more of her vision into your hair than yours. My hair actually after it was cut always looked pretty good, but the growing out phase was a problem, and the super short layers would never go back in a braid or ponytail. Plus she once thinned my hair close to the scalp instead of midshaft to ends, and growing that out was painful. My current stylist is amazing and I’ve never had a cut from her that I couldn’t work with, and it always grows out nicely. My only other real hair mishap was when I was allergic to the 17 year cicadas back in 2004 and lost half the hair on my head from my hairline to the middle of my head. That growing out process took a few years.
As for makeup, my biggest makeup blunder was probably not knowing how to blend when I first started using it. I had the typical foundation lines along my jawline, I wore foundation a shade too dark in an effort to look more tan in the winter, and my eyeshadow was more severe than soft and blended. Now I’ve learned that with blending and using the proper makeup colors, you can work with pretty much anything. I also didn’t use the greatest of cover-ups for zits back then – the stuff I use now stays put most of the day. Setting sprays like UD All Nighter are also a godsend to help prevent makeup from rubbing off from either touching my face, sweat, or weather.
Katherine! I know this is belated but I hope the wedding went well! 🙂
Thank you! Yes, it did. Now for the fun part – name changing.
Hee hee, what a fun post. I love the photo, are you channeling your inner crazy cat lady there? 🙂
Let’s see, my beauty mishaps… I tried to wax my ‘moustache’ myself one time, with hot wax. I ended up in the emergency room and spent the next weeks in pain and looking like an idiot. There was also a time when I overplucked my eyebrows a bit. I have a unibrow (gosh I am starting to sound like the werewolf lady here…) and I overdid it a bit in the middle so my brows were way too far apart.
Just before I became national beauty advisor for a major cosmetic company I went to have my hair cut… My hair”stylist” suggested a new cut that would be perfect due to the fact that it would require less time styling… The next day I realised it was a MULLET!!! I wanted to die right there. Picture the image of a beauty company with a stupid mullet! I kept my hair up for almost a year!
I gave myself my own bikini wax. Need I say more?!
Made a few faux pas in my teens. I loved wearing dark, even black lipstick. My parents hated the black lipstick so before I’d return home, I’d try to rub it off unsuccessfully and layer another lip colour over top. I looked like a hot mess.
I don’t wear black but still wear dark lip colours occasionally. I now flaunt it and keep it on throughout the day. 🙂
I decided to trim my own bangs the night before my wedding because I, insanely, thought they were too long.
In high school, I had a neon blue shimmery eyeliner that I think I got at Claire’s in the mall. I would wear it all over my eyelid, with almost no other make-up except pressed powder. Yow!!!
I inherited my dad’s eyebrows, so they’re kind of thick. In high school, I plucked them thin and they kind of looked uneven. I also had raccoon eyes in high school and early on in college.
I totally shaved off a small portion of my left eyebrow when I was a kid (a few hairs off the section that’s closest to the bridge of my nose). I was too afraid to pluck that part, so to this day I have a few stray hairs that always need to be plucked right away. Oh, the stupidity of being a young kid with your sister’s razor…
I also was first inspired by Billy Corgan to start wearing eyeliner, so for months on end in high school, I would literally have worn eyeliner and no other makeup. I also did not know the wonders of blending until much later in life, so I had no idea how to apply concealer. See? This is what happens when you don’t have beauty blogs like yours during your awkward teenage years!
Hi Elle,
Oh, the misery I could’ve saved if I’d had beauty blogs to read! 🙂
I used to go to a salon to get my eyebrows waxed, I was adamant that I couldn’t just pluck them myself. One time, the lady let the wax sit for too long and ripped off my skin… yeah. sorry if you’re grossed out now. I couldn’t wear eye makeup for what felt like forever! It has kept me from getting them waxed since, haha.
Oh no, Megan! That must’ve been terrible. 🙁 I hope the salon at least comped you for that, yikes.
Ugh, I have made too many beauty blunders to list!! As a child of the 80s I had terrible perms, “wings” and curled bangs…*shudder*
The brown lipsticks and too light foundations of the 90s. I guess for a recent one, I didn’t learn how to fill in my brows until probably 2 years ago. My brows are thin and don’t grow since I overplucked in high school. Loved reading the comments in this post!
Hi Amber,
Ah, I feel ya! I did the wings too in the ’80s.
In the ’90s my brown lipstick of choice was MAC Paramount. 🙂
I’m not familiar with MAC Paramount! I think I used a Revlon brown lipstick, not sure of the shade. I shudder to think of my horrible hairstyles as a teen….lol
Many mismatched foundation days, brown blush, and too much Obsession perfume. Mom never told me to stop wearing it!
Hi Daya,
All the girls at my school wore either Obsession or Liz Claiborne perfume. Remember that one?
I had an eyebrow mishap. It’s called “the 90s”, and I’m still paying for it!
I know, right? It’s a miracle anybody who survived the ’90s made it out with their brows intact!
I call that look “Krissy Taylor on the cover of Seventeen magazine” and EVERYONE wanted those brows!
you’re SO funny. i love the cat photo.
Thanks, Jasi! 🙂
Hi Karen, What nail polish are you wearing in this picture? I love the color.
Jan
Hi Jan,
It’s Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips in Don’t Get Catty. There’s a closeup pic in this post here: https://www.makeupandbeautyblog.com/beauty-tips/last-minute-halloween-costume-ideas-crazy-cat-lady/
Oh..if you could only see my hair now. I thought I’d save money and get a hair cut from another hair dresser that charges less. Well, now I am flaunting uneven layers and lost alot of my length. How I regret it,and am so mad at myself. Bad hair days for the next few months for me..LOL
Oh, definitely the dark lipstick of the 90s! Also long hair on top and shaved underneath when I was a freshman in HS. I think my major disasters have been more in the fashion arena, that’s where I really shine!
I had the bushiest brows till I started getting them done! I didn’t wear much makeup except for a few special occasions till I got it right. The biggest disaster was my school farewell, I have pretty oily skin and my makeup was so smudged and smeared after a few hours of wear!
EYEBROWS:
Once a girl(she was totally new at it) did my brows, she plucked it from every angle possible, it took her almost 20 mins to do one brow and I was left with what looked like a small caterpillar. Sadly I asked someone else to do my other brow. You can imagine how I looked with two entirely different brows :p.
HAIR:
Few years back, I wanted to have a short sexy haircut. The parlor lady told me she would do something wonderful and I ended up having a short bush on my head. People still laugh at me bcoz of that. LOL.
MAKEUP:
As a kid I used to think, the more the makeup the prettier you look. I used to put all sorts of color on my face and then topped it with petroleum jelly to make everything shine. Just try to imagine and u won’t stop laughing. I hope nobody remembers those days.
I wore a lot of glittery eyeshadow. In my late 20’s.
Oh, lots.
Eyebrows:
-having plucked too much in the inner parts
-same at a beauty parlour…
-overly filled dark eyebrows (I learnt to use a shade lighter pencil or gel, and not to fill too much and harsh)
Hair:
-bad hairspray on curls – they were not kept and looked as if hairbrush didn’t touch my hair for a week
-badly curled hairdo by the hairdresser the day before my yearbook photo… I looked like a 40-year old Math teacher with that hair style… I had to spend like 2 hours to comb every curl out to have a decent hair for the yearbook photo shoot
Make-up:
-runny foundation with bad or too little powder
-strong-ish eyeshadow colors all over the lid without blending (emerald green, gold, silver)
-tinted lipbalm running out of my lipline (because “I can use it without a mirror, right?”. No, gurl, no.)
-non-blended orange bronzer
-lipgloss strings and weirdly faded lip colors
Hell yes! Brows: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER let a nail shop person who “does brows” wax your brows. I asked her to clean them up and she decided to give me her pencil thin eyebrows. I walked out without paying for my mani/pedi and the brows!
Makeup: OMG. Covergirl foundation shades for ethnic girls in the 90s were awful! I look like a ghost in most pics.
Hair: The PERM! Especially when worn “crunchy” LMAO!! And who could forget Sun-In!!! Do they still make that?
How about eye Lashes!!??I was doing my eyes for a public speaking event I was doing.While I was curling my eyelashes the curler BROKE and pulled all my upper lashes out from that eye!!Yikes !! I used eyeliner to cover up,no one seemed to notice. But I returned home quickly. At that time I had no idea they would grow back in,Whew!
Eyebrows- I don’t have too many brow horror stories. I usually get them done from a trusty threader. Sometimes they over pluck and they are too thin for my taste. The only mishap was one time I tried to shape it myself on the inner brow and took off a bit too much (or so it seemed) and I thought it looked uneven.
Makeup- Before I ever wore makeup, for my 14th bday I decided to wear eyeliner. So I rimmed by eyes with black liner, no idea about primers or how to apply. Basically I looked like a raccoon by the end of the day. Also, I’m pretty sure I was wearing foundation all wrong (uneven, unblended, and probably the wrong shade) for like 5 years lol
Hair- I have many of these. How about the time I had mid length hair and went to a neighborhood barber shop (what was my mom thinking?) in Queens NY and the lady didn’t no how to cut straight so I came out with a short bob?? My hair is hard to dye, so in order to get color in it one time I bought box color in blond and my hair turned orange. Lastly, I always wanted curly hair and got a perm a few years back. It never really looked bad but omg it was SO hard to deal with. I will never spit on my super straight hair ever again!