Not that it matters for the sake of the rules, because my only real rule when it comes to beauty is that there are no rules (I totally believe that there are soooo many different ways to get to the same beauty destination), but I have had more than my share of lightbulb “Aha!” moments, when I realized that if I’d been doing a technique differently along the way, it would have made my life easier.
The one that springs to my mind has to do with blending eyeshadows. I used to hold my blending brush way up close to the brush head and the ferrule, which led me to kind of push hard with the brush head against my skin. The bristles would visibly scrunch and bend while I blended.
Yeah… I’ve come to realize that this just made blending so much more difficult for me than it needed to be. It’s like I was trying to jam my eyeshadows into my skin, instead of blending and moving the powders along the surface.
Now I use a gentler touch and hold the brush closer to the back end of the handle, and I pay more attention to how much pressure I’m applying on the brush. If I see the bristles are scrunching and bending, I ease up. Blending’s been a whole lot easier and faster for me this way.
Oh! — I just remembered something else. I used to move the brush v-e-r-y slowly when I blended, because I guess I thought I had more control doing it that way, but it always took forever. Then I saw somewhere (I wish I could remember where) that when you’re blending eyeshadow, it’s better to use a quicker, smoother motion.
Well, I tried it once, and hurray! It was much easier to move the powders around, and they looked smoother. Now when I blend I move the brush quickly and use a light touch.
How about you, my sweet? Have you ever realized that you were doing a beauty technique completely wrong?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S.
That’s a good one Karen!
I used to heartily rub my concealer in with my fingers, and always wondered why it never looked the way I wanted to. I find patting it in (with fingers or sponge) works much better, and a quality concealer brush works even better than that. I think you just get more coverage out of your concealer with a good brush.
There is a lot more to learn, but I definitely feel like I learn a lot from your blog 🙂
Figuring out how to use a beauty blender, and *pressing* my foundation on instead of smudging it all over. Not with a heavy hand or anything, but just pressing the product onto the skin with a rolling motion, instead of holding the blender and stiffly rubbing it around, gave me SUCH better results. It’s way easier, too! So funny how that works. I’ve found some lipsticks work really well with that method, too… pressing them in to the lips instead of swiping them on.
I’m pretty sure I’ve used the Beauty Blender sponge the wrong way, because my results are never good with it, so I’ve gone back to using either the Bobbi Brown Full Coverage Face brush or Tom Ford Cream foundation brush and my fingers.
Also I think I used an eyelash curler wrong, because no matter what I do, I end up with an “L” bend in my lashes instead of the nice swooping curl I’m after. It doesn’t help that I have really small eyes, so every lash curler is too long for my lid/lash area.
As a painter, I am so used to holding my brushes far from the ferrule I never even thought about it until you mentioned it. It’s just automatic.
Learning about eyeshadow primer was a Big Moment for me. 🙂
Yes, many times. I think the biggest revelation was when I learned how to pat in concealer instead of rubbing it in.
Most girls in the 80’s were taught to “rub in” their concealer with their hands and put it on before foundation. Bad idea to both. Patting, stippling, and buffing are much better for you. I always prefer concealer after foundation. You use less and it’s not a cakey mess!
I had lightbulb moments when I realized that you could PAT things on instead of rubbing. It makes a huge difference with anything creamy!
So many things!
Getting the gaps between lashes from below.
Brush on liner instead of thick pencil.
Make up remover instead of tortured rubbing! !
So many things, really.
This was a long time ago, probably my late teens or early 20s, but I remember I used to use powder puffs wrong. It was quite the revelation to learn you had to shake off the extra loose setting powder, and press it into your face instead of patting.
What springs to mind immediately is the blush tip you posted a few days ago, you know, to turn your head to the side while applying it. I don’t think I’ve ever done that until you suggested it and it’s made such a big difference. My whole face looks so much better now.
Figuring out that it’s best to pat your concealer in, not rub it! I used to go through so much concealer, because when I thought I was ‘blending’ I was actually just smudging it everywhere and basically taking it off. Patting it in with my fingers works 1,000x better!
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I tried the blending technique a few times since you mentioned it in a post a little while ago & I love it! I’m so used to “choking up” on my knife when I cook & I guess it carried over to holding the ferrule when came to creating a nicely blended eye look.
I’m not sure if this counts, but I used to tweeze my eyebrows completely wrong. It’s still a struggle to keep my stubborn wild caterpillars in shape, but at least now I know how to determine where my angles and curves should be.
I actually tried your brush technique with blush this AM. I’m going to leave it at “I need practice”. HAHA! I was surprised I didn’t have a big, Malice-colored stripe from cheek to forehead when I was done. There was an embarrassing lack of control on the first run. 🙂