Do You Make These 7 Makeup Mistakes?

It's amazing how many women were never taught the proper way to apply makeup. As girls, many of them just mirrored what their friends did - and developed some bad habits in the process. This tends to lead to makeup mistakes that are unflattering or embarrassing.



Here are the top seven common cosmetic miscues. Are you guilty of any of these?

1. Attempting to "plump" your lips. Some women try to make their lips look fuller by applying lip liner over the lip lines. It's okay to go right to the edge of your lips, but don't color outside the lines. Instead, use a lip-plumping product or apply a dab of clear lip gloss on the center of your upper lip (it will reflect the light to make your lips look fuller).

2. Messing with your eyebrows too much. Cleaning up the area over your eyes is fine. But if you go crazy with the tweezers, then as you age, your eyebrows may not grow back, staying sparse and thin-looking. Conversely, drawing in eyebrows if they're too thin is also a bad idea. For this problem, you should take an angled brush, dip it into eyebrow powder, and move it along the natural brow line to the eye's edge.

3. Applying too much or too little eyeliner. If you're going for the Cleopatra look, keep in mind there's a fine line between "perfectly sultry" and "'80s rock star." The best bet is to draw right up to the edge of your eye and then slant the eyeliner slightly upward no more than a quarter-inch past your eye's corner. Also, don't line your eyes halfway; that looks silly. Instead, create a softer line by drawing from the inner edge of the iris to the outer edge of the eye (top and bottom) and gently smudging the line toward you eye's inner corner.

4. Going overboard with the blush. Don't you love it when makeup professionals sculpt and contour your face to give you chiseled cheekbones and a dainty nose? The reason they're professionals is because it's hard to do yourself - and more often than not, you'll wind up looking a bit clownish. Some tips: use a larger brush, avoid dark colors, and smile during blush application.

5. Clumping your mascara. Yes, this is often easier said than done. But you can avoid clumping by shaking off the excess mascara before putting the wand to your eyelashes, then wiggling the wand side to side as you apply mascara from the base of your lashes down to the tips. Also, use an eyelash comb (or old toothbrush) to comb through your lashes in order to get rid of the gunk between.

6. Caking on the foundation. You've heard it time and time again: When it comes to foundation, less is more. If you have blemishes or pock marks, try some mineral makeup for better coverage. To hide fine lines, mix in some moisturizer with your foundation. If your budget permits, pick up some gel foundation, which actually looks like real skin.

7. Displaying a foundation line on your jaw. Neck colors are often different from those on your face. So be sure to use the right facial shade and test it under natural light instead of slapping it on in your cubicle under harsh fluorescent lights. After determining the perfect face shade, blend the foundation into your neck and use a makeup sponge to make the edge seamless.

Chris Martin is a freelance writer who writes for numerous websites and is also a ghostwriter for several blogs. In addition, he is an experienced sportscaster - so yes, he does know something about makeup.

Image credit: rewaj.com